When you're pregnant, especially for the first time, you're bombarded with information. Books, magazines, Web sites and, yes, newspaper articles attempt to explain everything you can expect. All this information is intended to prepare moms-to-be to the utmost for the entire nine months. It doesn't.
It turns out there's a great deal of difference between understanding pregnancy intellectually and experiencing it yourself, a fact to which moms who've been there can attest. Read on for real-world insight into some of the shocks you may encounter along the way.
I just found out I'm pregnant and I don't get to see the doctor until WHEN?!
For some women, the biggest surprise of pregnancy is the first. An expectant mom typically calls her OB/GYN about 10 seconds after getting a positive result from a pregnancy test only to learn the doctor doesn't need to see her until she's in her 10th or 12th week. Her next thought? "How on Earth am I supposed to do this alone for almost two months?"
Heather Roland, a doula at ThedaCare's New London Family Birth Center, said expectant moms don't have to figure things out by themselves.
"We have a nurse educator that they can meet with when they have their first positive pregnancy test," Roland said.
The nurse will review nutrition, exercise and lifestyle factors during pregnancy to help a woman start off on the right track — before she has her first check-up with the doctor.
Wow, is it 7 p.m. already? I really should hit the hay.
Women know they'll be tired when they're pregnant.
"The big surprise is how something so small can have such a big impact on a woman's body," Roland said. "I don't think moms are aware of how tired they'll get."
The only solution? Sleep and lots of it. Jehan Brown, a Neenah mom to 17-month-old Ruby who is pregnant with twins, said of her first pregnancy, "I just was surprised by how much stuff didn't get done." The reason? She was sleeping instead.
But women can hold out hope against exhaustion. Roland said, "Some moms find themselves more fatigued than others, while some women say they never felt better than when they were pregnant."
Ugh. I'm not feeling so well…again.
Nadine Pfeifer of Appleton, mom to Tina, 17 months, and Sarah, 4 months, didn't have the cravings she expected during her first pregnancy. Instead, she had some strong food aversions. "I couldn't hear the words 'broccoli' or 'chicken,'" she said. "I couldn't read them on a menu. And I usually love them."
The same thing happened to Brown, who said, "Even just driving past a Taco Bell would make me sick, and that was my favorite place to go."
"Nausea is one of the things that really freaks moms and dads," said Tammy Larmour, also a doula at New London Family Birth Center.
And it can be severe. That was the case for Laureen Endter, mom of two and café manager at The Mom and Pop Place in Neenah, who hasn't forgotten her battle with the queasies during her first pregnancy even after 14 years.
"I used to keep a Ziploc bag in my car when I was driving," she said. "I stopped counting (how many times I threw up) at 74."
Like everything else, not all women feel sick when they're pregnant. And especially during labor, it can be a sign that things are progressing. But should you experience nausea to the extreme, you needn't accept it as part of the pregnancy package.
"There is medication we can give that's safe for the baby," Roland said.
I know you're happy for me, but PLEASE don't hug me.
One of the earliest signs of pregnancy is breast tenderness. To a woman who experiences it monthly during her menstrual cycle, that may not sound like a big deal. But during pregnancy, it's more pronounced — by a long shot.
That tenderness can interfere with interest in sex, not that there aren't a dozen other factors at work there.
"I just felt less sexual," Brown said. "I felt like a vessel. I was preoccupied."
Other women find during pregnancy that sex is the best it's ever been.
"Some couples try for quite some time to get pregnant, and sex during that time becomes a mission to make a baby. Once pregnant, the stress of trying to become pregnant is gone and emotionally, sex becomes more gratifying," Roland said, adding, "Hormones and increased blood flow to your sexual organs and breasts may cause some women to experience an increased sex drive."
I'm happy. I'm weepy. I'm angry. And it's only been 46 seconds.
Ever had PMS? Imagine it on steroids, and you'll begin to comprehend the struggle with emotions some women experience during pregnancy.
"I've always been a crier, but I found (when I was pregnant) that I was even more quick to go to tears, even over embarrassing things like hearing a song on the radio while I was driving my car," Brown said.
While heightened emotions may be a well-recognized side effect of pregnancy, no wise person would ever point that out to a pregnant woman when a bout occurs.
"The worst thing someone can say to you is, 'Oh, you're just hormonal,'"
For some women, the biggest surprise of pregnancy is the first. An expectant mom typically calls her OB/GYN about 10 seconds after getting a positive result from a pregnancy test only to learn the doctor doesn't need to see her until she's in her 10th or 12th week. Her next thought? "How on Earth am I supposed to do this alone for almost two months?"
Heather Roland, a doula at ThedaCare's New London Family Birth Center, said expectant moms don't have to figure things out by themselves.
"We have a nurse educator that they can meet with when they have their first positive pregnancy test," Roland said.
The nurse will review nutrition, exercise and lifestyle factors during pregnancy to help a woman start off on the right track — before she has her first check-up with the doctor.
Wow, is it 7 p.m. already? I really should hit the hay.
Women know they'll be tired when they're pregnant.
"The big surprise is how something so small can have such a big impact on a woman's body," Roland said. "I don't think moms are aware of how tired they'll get."
The only solution? Sleep and lots of it. Jehan Brown, a Neenah mom to 17-month-old Ruby who is pregnant with twins, said of her first pregnancy, "I just was surprised by how much stuff didn't get done." The reason? She was sleeping instead.
But women can hold out hope against exhaustion. Roland said, "Some moms find themselves more fatigued than others, while some women say they never felt better than when they were pregnant."
Ugh. I'm not feeling so well…again.
Nadine Pfeifer of Appleton, mom to Tina, 17 months, and Sarah, 4 months, didn't have the cravings she expected during her first pregnancy. Instead, she had some strong food aversions. "I couldn't hear the words 'broccoli' or 'chicken,'" she said. "I couldn't read them on a menu. And I usually love them."
The same thing happened to Brown, who said, "Even just driving past a Taco Bell would make me sick, and that was my favorite place to go."
"Nausea is one of the things that really freaks moms and dads," said Tammy Larmour, also a doula at New London Family Birth Center.
And it can be severe. That was the case for Laureen Endter, mom of two and café manager at The Mom and Pop Place in Neenah, who hasn't forgotten her battle with the queasies during her first pregnancy even after 14 years.
"I used to keep a Ziploc bag in my car when I was driving," she said. "I stopped counting (how many times I threw up) at 74."
Like everything else, not all women feel sick when they're pregnant. And especially during labor, it can be a sign that things are progressing. But should you experience nausea to the extreme, you needn't accept it as part of the pregnancy package.
"There is medication we can give that's safe for the baby," Roland said.
I know you're happy for me, but PLEASE don't hug me.
One of the earliest signs of pregnancy is breast tenderness. To a woman who experiences it monthly during her menstrual cycle, that may not sound like a big deal. But during pregnancy, it's more pronounced — by a long shot.
That tenderness can interfere with interest in sex, not that there aren't a dozen other factors at work there.
"I just felt less sexual," Brown said. "I felt like a vessel. I was preoccupied."
Other women find during pregnancy that sex is the best it's ever been.
"Some couples try for quite some time to get pregnant, and sex during that time becomes a mission to make a baby. Once pregnant, the stress of trying to become pregnant is gone and emotionally, sex becomes more gratifying," Roland said, adding, "Hormones and increased blood flow to your sexual organs and breasts may cause some women to experience an increased sex drive."
I'm happy. I'm weepy. I'm angry. And it's only been 46 seconds.
Ever had PMS? Imagine it on steroids, and you'll begin to comprehend the struggle with emotions some women experience during pregnancy.
"I've always been a crier, but I found (when I was pregnant) that I was even more quick to go to tears, even over embarrassing things like hearing a song on the radio while I was driving my car," Brown said.
While heightened emotions may be a well-recognized side effect of pregnancy, no wise person would ever point that out to a pregnant woman when a bout occurs.
"The worst thing someone can say to you is, 'Oh, you're just hormonal,'"
Encouragement and support prove much more helpful.
source : How To Get Pregnant