Things I wish I had known about Early Pregnancy

September 25, 2019 Pregnancy

Things I wish I had known about Early Pregnancy

Baffling and overwhelming at times, but so exciting, pregnancy is one hell of a roller coaster. Affecting you physically, mentally and emotionally there are a few things that I wish I had known about early pregnancy. I really thought that those first few months would be easy… but I was wrong!

It is so hard to keep it secret –

Okay, so apart from the massively tell-tale sign that I (total boozehound) had given up drinking which inevitably lead to lots of incredibly difficult to field questions… (‘I’ve changed my medication’ ‘I’m on a diet and thought this would help’ ‘I’m having a dry month’ – none of which were terribly convincing) there is also the fact that you have a huge secret that (after reeling from the initial shock) you are so excited to share with family and friends!! But can’t… quite yet!

The exhaustion –

Okay, so I was prepared for tired. Tired I thought I could handle. What I wasn’t prepared for was total and utter exhaustion that would have me yawning by 2pm, struggling to keep my eyes open by 4pm and completely comatose by about 8pm.

Oh, I was a laugh a minute, an absolute riot, the life and soul of the party… (not!) I didn’t really want to go anywhere or see anyone. I just wanted to hibernate undisturbed in my bed or on my sofa, glued to Netflix.

Side note: I feel like exhaustion is a recurring theme all the way through my Pregnancy Diaries so far. Fingers crossed it levels out in the second trimester.

The hormones –

I was a hormonally-fuelled pregnancy demon for several weeks in my early pregnancy. So angry and frustrated and unable to articulate exactly why I felt the way that I did.

It was miserable, mostly for me, but the husband also got more than his fair share of my hormonal terrorism.

These hormones do start to level out as the placenta develops and starts to shoulder the hormonal load. I think that it would have helped to know that this phase was only going to be temporary.

The anxiety –

Maybe it’s because so much can go wrong? Or because it’s a brand new, life alteringly scary situation to find yourself in? Maybe it’s because my pregnancy is considered a bit more high risk? But I found that early pregnancy came with a fair amount of anxiety. Every twinge or ache had me racing to Google (not recommended btw) as I desperately tried to reassure myself that this latest symptom was ‘normal’.

It’s so hard, but the best thing that you can do is relax. I’m lucky to have a great little support system, with loving family and friends that all reiterated constantly that I needed to stay calm.

But despite my best efforts, I have been a bundle of nerves and haven’t really allowed myself to get too excited just yet (hopefully I will calm down a bit in my second trimester). I’m so jealous of the mums-to-be that can be excited and upbeat and positive right from the start, seemingly secure in an idea that everything will work out perfectly, while I seem to worry about every different possibility.

You feel different practically straight away –

I definitely did not expect to feel so different so early in pregnancy. The fact that symptoms come on so early was a huge shock to me. I was very naive in my assumption that you didn’t really feel pregnant until you get bigger. I had no idea that the cravings (all the sugar) come early, the breast pain, the peeing all the time (!) and a whole host of other treats start pretty much as soon as that second line on the test shows up! In fact, in my case a couple of the symptoms had started before I even had a positive test, including heightened sense of smell.

Symptoms come and go –

Despite the fact that early pregnancy can come with some strange and unpleasant symptoms, I had never considered before the fact that the presence of these weird little feelings might be somewhat comforting and a lack of them (or sudden disappearance of same) can be cause for yet more anxiety.

Pregnancy symptoms come and go, and the lack of symptoms should not be cause of undue alarm. If you have any concerns you should address them with your healthcare professional, especially if you also experience cramping or spotting

If you haven’t already you can catch my first trimester Pregnancy Diaries here: Month One, Month Two and Month Three.

Anything that you wish that other mamas had told you about their pregnancy experiences? I know that each pregnancy is very different – but it sure is a whirlwind of new feelings and emotions.