By Sandy Hemphill, Contributing Writer, BabyMed
It’s really happening!! You’ve gone from suspicious and hopeful to true and confirmed pregnant and life will never be the same. So many things are already happening even though the baby is too small to notice right now. No worries. That will all change soon. And quickly. Here are some things to do and expect, now that you are expecting.
#1 -- Embrace the miracle.
Don’t let anybody tell you having a baby is nothing more than biology. Sure, biology plays a tremendous role in the process but the miracle of life is very real and it’s happening to you right now. You’ll soon be too busy for quiet moments of reflection so seize the moment now while you still can. Embrace the miracle that is happening in your body and in your life. And if you are of the biological mind, know that one of the most awe-inspiring scientific processes in the known universe is well under way and it won’t stop until it feels as if your heart will absolutely explode with a love bigger than the Big Bang itself.
#2 -- Savor the secret.
You’ll want to sing it from the rooftops and shout it from the highest mountain but don’t rush to make the news public. Instead, savor the secret long enough for you and your partner to enjoy the intimacy of a private secret for a while. Celebrate together but alone. Sing about it. Talk, talk, talk about it. Make love. Laugh, fantasize, play. Wrap your heads around your new roles in life. Once the cat’s out of the bag, you be drowning in good wishes, advice, personal pregnancy tales, dos and don’ts galore. You can’t turn that off so languish in your quiet intimate secret for a while.
#3 -- The first three months are the hardest.
No two pregnancies are the same so expect the unexpected, even if you’ve already had kids. If morning sickness is going to happen, it’ll probably happen now. So will bizarre food cravings and the desire to sleep 48 hours a day. Crazy hormonal changes will bring joy, tears, fears, and awestruck wonder so don’t fight it. It’s all part of the process. You can’t be pregnant forever.
#4 -- Food becomes foreign.
You may crave things you’ve never liked before. The mere thought of some of your all-time fave foods may make you queasy. The urge to eat may become obsessive and it may all come right back up again once you’ve given in to the urge to eat everything in sight. Your sense of smell will become vivid enough to alter the thought and taste of food, too. Pregnancy weight matters, even in the first weeks, so before overindulging too much, ask your doctor how much you should be gaining each week and try to sync cravings, nausea, and doctor’s advice the best you can.
#5 -- Morning sickness is not guaranteed.
Some women, especially first-time moms, look toward the dreaded morning sickness of early pregnancy as confirmation that a baby is truly on the way but morning sickness is not guaranteed. Some women never feel nausea. Others breeze through the first months only to get morning sickness a little further along. Some are sick like crazy during one pregnancy and feel fine throughout the next one.
#6 -- Fast and furious: all body systems are working in overdrive.
Weird things are going to be happening from head to toe as your body becomes a baby factory so learn to accept strange body behavior. Such as? Nosebleeds as blood supply increases. Mucus production that means a nose that needs constant blowing and strange things happening in the panties. Body odors become more potent (maybe because you smell things differently now) and the skin seems to morph into somebody else’s entirely. There’s a lot that goes into making a baby, including growing a placenta, which is the only organ that develops in the human body after we’re born and it’s strictly a woman thing that only exists during pregnancy. Everything happening is happening at a fast and furious pace and all systems are working in overdrive. Speed matters because nine months may seem like a long time but the major production in progress is actually happening in a very short space of time.
#7 -- Don’t over-scrutinize the baby daddy; he’s already landed the job.
Some women report looking at their baby’s father with closer scrutiny than every before. Is he truly the one? What kind of a father will he be when he can’t even pick up his own clothes? Can he teach this kid to ride a bike? Will he trade his burgers and beer for a healthier diet when it’s time to be a role model? Lighten up. He’s re-evaluating you, too, but you’ve both already landed the job. You’re in it together for sure now. You’re a family. Enjoy the journey with love, laughter, respect, and acceptance.
#8 -- She’s in the mood but, oh, darn. Now she’s not. What about him?
Pregnancy is like a hormonal roller-coaster ride, with wild horny peaks and don’t-touch-me valleys and fluctuations that happen at break-neck speed. It’s part of the package. The male libido doesn’t change much when a baby’s on the way because guys’ hormones aren’t affected so closely. But men do think twice about sex. Will it hurt the baby? Will the baby know what I’m doing to it’s mom??? Can it feel me, see me, hear me? The baby is totally unaware of the sexy games that created it in the first place so don’t stop on its account. It is not watching you. You can’t hurt it, either. Instead, seize the moment when it arises, knowing all is safe, fun, and it nourishes the relationship as you grow from being a couple to a family.
#9 -- Pregnant or possessed by demons?
The same hormonal roller coaster that makes sex a little tricky doesn’t stop in the bedroom. The ride continues 24/7 with demonically unpredictable emotional peaks and valleys. Aim for a smooth ride. The demon has a short life span and will soon die off naturally.
#10 -- Tune out unsolicited advice. Mute the horror stories.
If you take to heart everything that everybody tells you about their own pregnancy, you will doubt there’s ever been a normal pregnancy in the history of humankind. It ain’t so. It’s just that nobody considers their own pregnancy as routine, normal, or uncomplicated. Truth? Almost all of them are. Don’t let the horror stories get to you. Tune them out, silence them, change the channel. Got questions, fears, or anxieties? Tell your medical team. They’ve heard it all, seen it all, and they’ve got the medical knowledge and experience to deliver safe, true, and factual guidance.
Sources:
Morey, Beth. "8 Things I Wish I'd Known About the First Trimester Before Living It."Beth Morey Words & Art. Beth Morey, 19 July 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
deHoop, Thomas A, and Arthur T Ollendorff. "Pregnancy / First Trimester."Net Wellness. University of Cincinnati, The Ohio State University, Case Western Reserve University, 19 Mar. 2006. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
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10 Things Nobody Told You About the First Trimester
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