Carrying and nurturing that miracle is not always a beautiful and joyful time. This pregnancy has been almost 100% different than when I was pregnant with Harper, so I have been blessed to experience a whole slew of new "ugliness".
Pregnancy Mask
One of the few similarities with the two pregnancies is the appearance of a pregnancy mask. I read about it in all my books, but I have yet to meet anyone who it has actually happened to other than myself. It's a darkening of the skin on the face caused by an increase in hormones. It made me incredibly self-conscious with Harper, and was the #1 thing I was anxious to go back to normal after she was born. All I was told and read is that it will fade on its own. It did, but never fully went away. When I became pregnant with this one, it was the very first thing to show up. And what an entrance it made! The darkening was so obvious on my forehead that I was actually asked more than a couple times what the smudge was. I hadn't told anyone yet that I was pregnant, so needless to say I found some better concealer pretty quickly!
While going through my pictures from our trip to California, I came across a few pics that showed it pretty well. Here's one I snapped of Harper and I after my spa day. I hadn't yet put makeup on and wasn't using a flash, so it showed up really well. What you can't see is the darkening that is also apparent on my upper cheekbones under my eyes.
Thankfully it has already faded a significant amount. Either that, or I've just become used to it. Since this is my last (planned) pregnancy, I will be taking steps to help get my skin back to its normal color once I'm able.Sciatic Pain
I experienced this very intensely with Harper but it has been off and on with this one, and much less intense. Sharp shooting pains down either (or both) sides of my lower back into my rear end making it incredibly difficult to walk. So much fun!
Round Ligament Pain
I didn't have this with Harper until the very end. I won't explain exactly where it happens, but it's not pleasant and I've been experiencing it since about month 4 and it's only gotten more and more intense. So much so that on occasion when I stand up, I have to regroup, then take baby steps to get moving. I've even pondered the situation where if I were faced with having to run for my life, I'm not sure I could at that moment due to the pain.
Numbness
Something else I experienced at a much higher degree with Harper than this one so far. My hands would go numb all night long and I had to find positions to lessen that so I could sleep. Also, my outer left thigh was practically completely numb from my hip to my knee. I even went to the chiropractor for several appointments a few months after giving birth to try to get aligned so I could develop feeling again. That didn't work, but I eventually began to have tingling start and the numbness dissipated somewhat. It still hasn't fully gone away, and it did get slightly worse again with this pregnancy, but nothing like it was before.
Snoring
More than anything, this is the hardest to admit. Jon began to speak of my snoring during my third trimester with Harper. He began to only occasionally mention it, but not giving it too much thought, I blew it off. I had, after all, been living with his snoring for two years at that point, so I chalked it up to payback. That is, until he decided to record it with his phone. The sound I heard the next morning was horrifying. I couldn't even believe it was me!!! I was absolutely mortified and apologized endlessly. He mostly thought it was cute, and was so proud of himself for being able to prove to me that I actually was a freight train. The snoring stopped when I gave birth, which he thought was even more adorable.
Cue pregnancy #2. Having known this was probably inevitable, we started to joke about him gearing up for the third trimester snoring. In some conversation the other night, snoring was brought up, and I mentioned that I was almost in my third trimester, so he'd have to let me know when I started snoring.
He says "oh.. you've BEEN snoring!"
Me - "WHAT?!?! For how long?!?!"
"I first noticed it in California"
"WHAT?!?! That was in October, over two months ago!!!!"
"Yup, that's about right"
I'm not sure if my shock was greater hearing that or first hearing it recorded. He said he didn't want to make me feel bad, so he hadn't brought it up. I again felt the need to apologize profusely, then thanked him for not telling me sooner. I probably wouldn't have been able to sleep had I known I had started it much earlier this time.
Those are just a few examples of the things to look forwad to with pregnancy. Though it truly only scratches the surface. I made no mention of stretch marks, swelling, or other things too personal to put on a public blog. But it's a start.
What about you? What other ugliness do you dread about pregnancy?
5 comments:
LOL! Oh my Baby. I love you so much!
Nothing! I leave that to my babies' mommas. ;)
At about seven months, my feet starting swelling. By the time I had Mia, my legs were swollen so tight all the way up through my knees. It was hard to bend them. I had no shoes that fit. I could barely squeeze my huge feet into my Crocs. No problem with my blood pressure, just water retention since the little angel was cutting off circulation to my legs!
I think we have very similar pregnancy's, because with the exception of a couple things, I had EXACTLY the same things! Jon actually ended up sleeping on the couch the last trimester being that he is a light sleeper, and he couldn't handle the snoring.
One thing that I will NOT being looking forward to when we have another is my nose swelling. :(
Holly! I had the mask too!! It was around my eyes and was like dark really large freckles. They went away eventually. It will all be over before you know it!
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