What were your pregnancies like?

i'm pregnant now, due june 2nd....

i had a really hard time with the first trimester, bad stomach aches, lost half a stone, hormones went crazy, but now i'm calm
had an ultrasound - the baby's legs were crossed so they couldnt try to see what sex it is!
i am in between regular and maternity clothes, but weirdly enough, i still havent gained an ounce!
are you pg marlespo?

Congratulation debz!!! Always nice to have other pregnant people around. And yep, I'm pregnant - my signature keeps track of how far along. Due March 29 - April 1.

First of all, I want to say congrats to you, Marlespo, on your pregnancy since I'm a newbie and havne't done so yet.  And I hope your pregnancy is going better than mine did.  

When I was pregnant with my son, I was sick four-to-five times a day.  This lasted from six weeks pregnant until about week twenty-four.  Even when it did stop, I couldn't enjoy eating because the only way I knew I was supposed to eat was my stomach would hurt really badly, but it wasn't the familiar "hunger-pangs."  It was a completely different feeling.  I couldn't enjoy food at all because my stomach always hurt.  The only thing which helped my sickness was a combination of swallowing small bits of ginger root washed down with a swig of red wine.  I HATED being sick!

I also suffered severe sciatic nerve pain on my left side, which to this day still persists at times.     When I got to be very pregnant, I had heartburn constantly, and because he was so up into my ribs all the time, and so strong, he ended up cracking one of my lower ribs on the right.  No kidding-it took six weeks after he was born for that shooting, burning pain to subside!

The few good things about being pregnant were that I only gained 25 lbs for the whole thing, my skin became very clear all the time, my hair grew super fast, but the hair on my legs hardly grew at all, lol.  So I didn't have to shave much.  That was a godsend when I was around 8 months pregnant and when it became difficult to bend over.  

Fortunately, my labor was pretty fast and I went unmedicated.  I opted for a freestanding birth center, with Certified Nurse Midwives, instead of a hospital with an OB/GYN.  I hated how all the hospitals here insist on you being tied down to every machine in the county, and then they won't let you eat or drink, etc.  What a bother.  Anyway, in the birth center, I labored in the Jacuzzi for 3 hours, going from 3 cm's which is how I dilated I was when I arrived, to 10 cm's.  Then I got out and pushed for about an hour and Jackson was born.  8 lbs, 21 inches long.   Labor hurt, but it was manageable for me.  I was very pleased with my experience.  Seriously, whenever we talk about having another baby, it's not the delivery I'm scared of repeating, it's the pregnancy!  If I could skip the 9 months between conception and delivery, well then I'd be just fine! lol

Good luck!  

Yeah... I haven't enjoyed this pregnancy very much, other than the obvious things like knowing I'm having a baby, feeling him kick, preparing to be parents, seeing him move... but I've had a really ill pregnancy so far as well - though by no means the worst! I had morning sickness from week 6 to week 22, with it getting worse as I went along instead of better. I ate only enough food to survive in the first trimester because I was so nauseous all the bloody time... and now instead of morning sickness I've got unbearable tailbone pain that, by the time it's nightfall, means I can't get from a reclining position to a standing position in anything less than a minute... and makes walking really, really hard. Blah! My hair seems to be the same way... lots of it everywhere but my legs! And my skin has been brilliant. My osteopath was listening to me complain about how hard it is for me to be pregnant, wondering why I never got that spurt of energy, that glowy feeling etc (though aside from back pain I'm feeling fairly energetic now, but not a burst by any means!) - and he said "So... you won't be getting pregnant again then?" And I said "h£ll no!" Just because I haven't had the best time being pregnant doesn't mean I don't want to go through it again! They tell me it'll be worth it in the end...

Wow.  What a lot of different experiences here!  I'll just throw in my two pence too!  

My pregnancy lasted about four months... WHAAAAT?!?!  You may be asking.  Well, I didn't know I was pregnant for the first five months...  I was throwing up, no periods and the whole thing, but I was convinced that this was happening for another reason entirely and I blamed it all on stress.  (I had just been booted out of my PhD program, and told to rewrite for a lesser degree, so in the course of two months I watched four years of my life slip away into meaningless toil.  Ergo, why I felt like utter crap all the time.)  I had been to the doctors' at least once a month for those five months (including an endocrinologist) and none of them guessed I might be pregnant.  Now, I didn't either, but still...  gods love the NHS!

So other than reflux/morning sickness, I felt okay until I hit six months.  Then the weight started to pile on, no matter what I did, and the tiredness settled in and wouldn't shift.  But my son liked to shift.... hoo boy!  He kicked for England on a regular basis, and it didn't help that the World Cup was on at the time... that was my only craving: watch football.  I was horrified!  (I despise sports!)

On top of all this, I had to move from Scotland to England, help to redecorate our new house, move into said house, organize an entire wedding, including a bespoke wedding dress (tricky for sizing!!!), and plan for the baby's appearance.  Plus I suffer from hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) which is almost as tricky during pregnancy as diabetes - so I had to have specialist appointments for the last months.  

Hot summer months, extremely large belly (people kept asking if I was having twins!) and absolutely horrible polyester maternity clothes from Mothercare (who you would THINK would know better than that!!!) did not leave me a happy woman.  And the kid decided to be overdue by two weeks (at least!)... when he finally showed up, it was after five hours of "non-productive labour" and an emergency c-section.  

I was terrified of the spinal anesthesia, but I'm glad I did that - because I got to see my son open his eyes for the very first time, and wow!  What a deep, rich ocean blue they were!  And the love....  Swept away!  

I hated being pregnant - and I only met women who loved being pregnant, and most of those had about seven kids!  I couldn't do it again, ever.  I love being Connor's mom, but I only ever want to be his mom.  

Hey Marlespo, I hope you're enjoying this!  And NY_2_uk - it's not all that bad, so don't be too afraid.  I personally would recommend c-section - all the birth and none of the pain!  (Feels like someone's rummaging in your tummy for groceries!)  But it sucks for trying to get your body back into some sort of shape - my stomach muscles weren't taut and wondrous to begin with, but now... bleah!  One must wait for the muscles to regrow and the nerves to reconnect, and a well-informed friend of mine tells me this can take up to two years!    Not happy... Ah well!  The boy is getting me into shape at least.

Now, a follow-up question to everybody:  what was/is your sex-life like after kids?  

Morgana

Mine was lovely. I was only sick for about 2 weeks and I never threw up. Ate all the time and only gained 25lbs and I didn't even start to show until I was about 6 months.

I was in "labor" for about a day had my kid, who came out nice and calm. As a matter a fact he never cried much as a baby. He was 6lbs 10oz., absolutely gorgeous with a full head of hair.

*sigh*  I can't wait to have another one.