Things People Never Tell You About Being Pregnant

There are some things people never tell you about being pregnant. I think there are two reasons for that, one – every pregnancy is SO different, I really don’t believe that any two pregnancies are experienced and felt the same way; two – people forget, whether it is because it was so traumatic that they blocked it, or because ‘pregnancy brain’ is actually a real thing, I don’t know. So today, while I am still pregnant and have not yet forgotten anything, I am going to share all the things about my pregnancy that I didn’t know or wish I had known. I kind of ordered them by when they appeared for me, so I started out with the first trimester and ended off with some of the fun things about nursing!

Top: H&M | Shorts: AE | Bikini Top: Old Navy (matching toddler mini-me suit here) | Floppy Hat: Old Navy | Z’s Top: Old Navy (similar here) | Z’s Suit: Old Navy (similar here)

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Things People Never Tell You About Being Pregnant

The first thing is the pure exhaustion, yes people do talk about how tired they get when they are pregnant, but I never realized what they really meant till I was experiencing it. Your body is working 24/7 to create a HUMAN and it really takes a toll on your energy level. I have always had the worst insomnia, but when I am pregnant I can lay down and fall asleep in seconds. By six o’clock I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Naps are my friend.

Dehydration! This is a big thing for me. I walk out in the sun for five minutes and am drained of everything. I have to track my daily intake of water constantly, otherwise I get really sick and start feeling the effects of dehydration HARD.

Flashes of light?!? This is one I really never, ever heard of. Dehydration can cause you to see flashes of light in your vision. Despite my effort to stay totally hydrated I still see them several times a day. If I am lucky I will see a whole display of shooting stars in front of my eyes that can last up to 15 seconds… While taking the pictures above at the beach I got to see one of those shooting star shows. This can also be a sign of pre-eclampsia, so if you are seeing light flashes make sure to tell your doctor and make sure your blood pressure isn’t high!

Blurry vision. I will admit I have a harder time reading the road signs when I am pregnant, I actually went in and got my vision checked because it was bothering me and they said everything would go back to normal after baby. My vision was still good enough that it didn’t warrant a prescription, but it is surprising for sure to experience small changes like this.

You can actually feel your skin stretch! It will suddenly feel like this cold burst of electricity running along your stomach in thin lines… I don’t know how else to describe it.

You start producing milk BEFORE you have the baby. How come nobody told me this?? It is just a small amount of the stuff that comes before milk, I can’t remember what it is called… But really, I could have avoided some awkward moments had I known this before becoming pregnant.

Birth plans can give you ease of mind, but are somewhat… unnecessary… because LABOR IS CRAZY. It is different for everyone and every birth, I have had friends who told me labor was totally pain free for them, they didn’t even know they were having contractions. For me it was worse than any pain I could possibly describe or comprehend. No amount of breathing, relaxing, back rubbing or position changing could do anything to alleviate my 34 hours of torture. Thank heavens for the epidural which I got 3 hours before Zoey made her appearance. When I was pregnant with Zoey I got really annoyed by all the comments I heard and read saying that birth plans are stupid. Now I am joining in the chorus. Make a plan for ease of mind if you need to, but expect the unexpected.

You have contractions AFTER you have the baby while you nurse and they can be just about as painful as labor! That was the meanest secret people hid from me… There I would be, trying so hard to get a latch, get the milk flowing and feel that feeling of success that comes with giving your baby what they need, and when I got everything working properly my reward would be doubling over in excruciating pain and tears. That was a fun little bump in the road. I don’t remember how long that lasted, maybe a week? It did get better day by day though.

Those are the top things people never tell you about being pregnant that I can think of. Although I am sure every pregnant woman out there has her own list of things that she wishes she had known that are completely different. So I guess the last thing I will say is be prepared for anything, I cannot count the weird symptoms I have had that have concerned me and have turned out to be totally normal. What things do you wish you had known before you were pregnant???