Having done this pregnancy thing three times, I felt quite confident that I knew what I was in for this time…
Having had a few kids, I feel like I know a thing or two about growing a human and this whole pregnancy deal but it turns out there are things you just never know about until they happen to you – even if you later find out it happens to practically every other (or every second) pregnant women out there.
Here are just a couple of things I have learnt this time around;
1. Morning sickness can COME BACK
When I hit 15 weeks and my morning sickness subsided I was thrilled, having lived through 9 months of feeling constantly sick with Ellie (or, maybe it was Kahlei. Or Jasper – honestly, at this point I am lucky if I remember anything) I was delighted to be able to actually eat something other than corn kernels and feel like a somewhat normal person.
Then, at 25 weeks, it all came rushing back and the best* part? It’s been worse than those initial weeks. More food aversions, more vomiting, more constant ickyness. Of course, I turned to the ever trusty Google and found out that it’s normal for morning sickness to return in the third trimester. Why didn’t anybody tell me??
2. Pregnancy can upset your gallbladder
Gallbladders and gallstones have always been things I’ve heard of but never really thought or worried about. That kind of issue happens to older people than me (no matter my age) and, having no real knowledge of the issues I suppose I assumed it was a ‘lesser’ ailment.
However, 19 weeks ago (thanks Instagram), I discovered gallbladder issues are terrifying and horrendously painful. After ending up in the ER, thinking I was having a heart attack it took just over week to discover I had pebbles in my gallbladder. Not even fully fledged stones.
As my attacks became more frequent and painful I did more investigating and found it can be common for these issues to arise in pregnancy.
Now on top of not sleeping because I need to wee/am uncomfortable/someone is calling me/I can’t stop my brain from running through stupid name suggestions, I can add not sleeping because I am in immense pain complete with vomiting for hours on end. Up until the last couple of weeks I was having 1-2 attacks a week but have had a greatly needed break (which is why I forgot to add it into my whole whinge post the other day). Unfortunately, my pain-free streak was broken with an extreme attack the other night.
3. Movements can feel different when bub is in a transverse position
At my recent growth scan we discovered Patch is now in a transverse position, due to already needing a c-section this information hasn’t given me more anxiety but it has explained why movements have recently been soo different. 
A week ago, at my midwives appointment bub was head down and I was receiving good strong kicks to my ribs and pelvis aching wriggles below and then it was suddenly all weird wriggles and bumps just under my ribs with the occasional pop just below my belly button. Mostly, it feels like a perpetual Mexican wave is happening. Such a funny sensation.
Obviously, all my other kiddos were head down in this bigger stage as I’ve not felt anything like it. It’s particularly horrible when I’m having a gallstone attack and Patch is partying and pressing on just the right place to cause the pain to be even worse (which I didn’t know was even possible).
Sometimes I can feel the outline of bub’s head, which is cool but also makes me worried it’s not protected enough.
4. Pregnancy in summer is the worst
In fact, pregnancy in summer should actually be illegal. If morning sickness is bad, the summer heat makes it a million times worse. Pregnancy exhaustion is bad but, in the summer? It’s like being a huge waddling, melting marshmallow. Everything hurts and being hot makes you feel sorer, heavier, slower.
I had Kahlei at the very start of December, but those 4 days of summer did not prepare me for what it would be like. Thank goodness for pools and the beach!
What did you learn about pregnancy the hard way?
* Sarcasm. It is not the best part.
Linking up with Essentially Jess for #ibot
