Pregnancy Surprises

Pregnancy is full of surprises to say the least!  I feel like you spend 9 months figuring everything out...just in time to get back to "normal".  At least that's my perspective from where I currently sit - the second to last day of my pregnancy.  I'm scheduled for induction tomorrow evening, and if there is an "induction God", she will see to it that the delivery occurs by/on Tuesday...and not prolonged any further.  So since my pregnancy is coming to an end, I thought it was a perfect time to share a few of my experiences.

Back pain...or lack there of
This is probably a bit more specific to me maybe than others, but given my scoliosis I totally expected to have horrible back pain.  I regularly had back pain pre-pregnancy and had convinced myself that I should not carry a child...despite several consultations with by OB, high-risk OB and chiropractor.  LOL!  I knew best, right?  

Well the only back pain I experience was some persistent rib pain in my thoracic region, which was completely controlled with my regular chiropractic visits.  I didn't experience any of my typical pre-pregnancy back pain.  This was probably the biggest surprise!


Cravings & Aversions
I have no idea how a body determines what it's going to dislike and what it will crave.  It seems so different for everyone.  
* 1st Trimester:  Aversions to pizza & most meat.  Craved mac & cheese.
* 2nd Trimester:  Aversions to some meat (mostly large pieces, like steak).  Craved iced tea & fruit.
* 3rd Trimester:  Pretty much the same as the 2nd Trimester with the addition of some cookie & popsicle cravings.

I have to think that I lucked out with my cravings.  Most of my cravings were pretty low-calorie, which I think contributed to me only gaining 19 lbs.  (Book normal is 25-35 lbs.)


Exhaustion
The 1st Trimester exhaustion was crazy.  No one who hasn't actually experienced it can even possibly understand it.  I always thought pregnant women were just "tired".  The type of exhaustion these women experience cannot be classified as "tired".  It's truly in a another league!  I'm not sure if age plays a factor in this, but due to my level of exhaustion throughout my pregnancy, I barely exercised.  Even when the crazy exhaustion of the 1st Trimester had subsided, I was still ridiculously exhausted - too exhausted to get up early to exercise before work & way too tired by the time I returned home from work. So other than a few walks here & there, I haven't exercised in 9 months.  Ouch!  I'm in for a rude awakening post-delivery.  Eek!


Learning New Aches & Pains
I spent 30+ years learning the cause of aches & pains that I had experienced...but you can pretty much throw all that out the window during pregnancy.  Plan to relearn causes for aches/pains that you experienced previously...and decipher causes for new aches/pains.  Conditions like heartburn that may have never been an issue before will probably rear its ugly head at some point - probably the 3rd Trimester - of your pregnancy.


I'm in no way a pregnancy expert, but I would guess that you may feel similarly towards the end of your pregnancy.  Here's to wishing for a smooth delivery!  Cheers!