5 Surprises About Pregnancy

As a soon to be a mom and being my first pregnancy, I had very little knowledge of what it was to be pregnant. I have had a lot of “aha” moments these last months and found myself asking many questions to moms. Here are five surprises about pregnancy I never knew about.

ONE: You have to learn how to push the baby out. I thought it would come naturally, but no. Apparently, there are techniques ways to help to push the baby out. Which is why Lamaze classes are so important. The goal of Lamaze is to help pregnant women understand how to cope with pain, facilitate labor and promote comfort by relaxation techniques, movement, and massage. Also because you want to push when only during the active labor stage that you don’t cause any tears.

TWO: Every women pregnancy is so different, so it’s sometimes hard to relate to others. I didn’t have much morning sickness, besides feeling slightly nauseous in the morning. And I had no loss of appetite. Contrary I ate everything in sight! However, I did lose my craving for coffee!! Which if you know me, coffee was like life fuel. Hoping it comes back later. For other women, they had totally other symptoms. Some can’t eat meat, dairy or sauteed vegetables.

THREE: Morning sickness isn’t the only struggle that one bears during pregnancy. There were so many odd things happening to one’s body that every week it’s something new. The first trimester is typically morning sickness, tiredness, heightened smell and changing taste buds. And by the second trimester, when you think you’re in the clear, other symptoms creep in. As the blood flow is being redirected to make a new life, I had random bloody noses, varicose veins, shortness of breath, face spots and dizziness. Also tiny pains around my ribs from organs readjusting.

FOUR: It is easy to distinguish those who have had a baby. Those who have been pregnant will hardly ask, “how many months are you?” Since of course, we track our pregnancy in weeks and stop thinking as months. Also, something I did before was touch a women belly on top, when that’s just the squished organs. The baby lowers down.

FIVE: It’s important to have a workout regimen before getting pregnant as it’s hard to start a new workout routine when pregnant. This is because it is important to know your body and it’s a limitation. For instance, I lift heavy weight, which can be dangerous for other women who have never tried. Since I have done it for many years, I knew when it was time to reduce weight. As my core no longer felt stable. Also as pregnant women, it’s important to not overdo our workouts. We want to prevent problems, like a weakening pelvic floor and diastasis recti.