Well, there is no such thing as TMI when it comes to Heartfed so this post is not for the squeamish or sensitive. It is very much for those looking for the honest truth, the good the bad, and the yucky . Yep, you read that correctly. Although I do believe pregnancy is a beautiful thing, it comes with plenty of carveouts that will differ from person to person. Today we are going to chat about a few of the most common. Here we go!
Women who have gone through pregnancy typically fall into one of two categories; those that have a magical experience OR those that have a horrendous experience. Do you have a picture of these mamas in your head like I do? As I write this I am without a doubt thinking of which category my friends and family would have put me in and the images they connected with them. OMG! We can save that for later. Now, back to our mamas.
The first type of mamas are those that say “my pregnancy was magical”. For story sake we will call these mama’s Missy. Missy is typically singing from the hill tops, filled with joy, and has an ACTUAL glow beaming from her cheeks. The kind of glow that we normally only see on movie screens or at weddings. This is about the time that the mamas who say “pregnancy was horrendous” are calling “BS there is no ACTUAL glow during pregnancy, at least not for me” and she’s not wrong either. We will call these mama’s Britt.
As we go through some common occurrences of pregnancy I will share how Missy and Britt both experienced and perceived them. This is to remind you that EVERY PREGNANCY is different. Every person is different and every child is different. You might fall into a Missy or Britt category or a mixture of the two.
I, myself, had two drastically different pregnancies. My first pregnancy, I was 100% Missy and could not for the life of me understand all the complaining and whining that Britt was doing. BUT….OH MY GOODNESS BUT…my second pregnancy I was Britt. I was Britt the barfer for what felt like FFOOOOORREEEVVVERR. I was Britt, the OMG why do I have this pain, and Britt, the ugh is this baby every coming out. It was like night and day.
Enough about me, lets get back to these mamas.
NAUSEA: now you may or may not have nausea. Missy might not have any, or might have some and shake it off. Some days might be all up to her perspective and if its bad enough to put a damper on her day. Britt might have it all the time and want to remind others that it is not MORNING sickness, but rather 24hour sickness. Both of these mamas are right. Both of these mamas are experiencing symptoms at different levels. AND both of these mamas can be carrying a healthy, happy baby.
If you are experiencing nausea to the point that it is affecting your day to day life and making it hard to get out of bed, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE reach out. Reach out to me, reach out to your doctor, reach out to anyone you feel comfortable with because there are ways to help ease your symptoms mama and you are not alone!
Constipation: again, you may or may not have constipation. Missy may be proactive about her probiotic rich foods and supplements and have no problem throughout her pregnancy. She is feeling good enough to move her body everyday and get her digestive system going. Britt on the other hand may feel stuck and the nausea isn’t helping as she cant keep down enough food to build up her gut health and exercising isn’t exactly an option. Excuse her as she goes to vomit in the bushes please.
If you are experiencing constipation, reach out! There are so many things we can do to help you ease your symptoms and decrease your chances of hemorrhoids. Which, YES YES YES are so common in pregnancy.
Next up is…..
Cravings. YUM YUM YUM! Missy may have no cravings at all or just want more greens. But then there is Britt, eyeing the cookie dough and fresh bread. Oh, how fresh bread is ALWAYS the best! Cravings can come and go for so many reasons. It could be a nutrient deficiency, it could be a growth spurt, it could be that you just want a certain food that day.
As for me, I always wanted cravings and to have the story of my sweet husband driving to the store at 1am to get me pickles and chocolate but the closest I ever got to that was needing whole milk when I ate my grape nuts, haha! I did however have plenty of aversions during both of my pregnancies.
Either way, I say be mindful of what you put into your body but also FOLLOW THAT INTUITION of yours. YOU are the one that knows your body the best and YOU get to make your decisions. With that being said, I am here to help make those cravings into well balanced meals and manage your blood sugar levels.
To end this first blog post I just want to say to all the Missy’s, Britt’s and in-betweens, I am here to support and love you mama.