Pregnancy – The gist of it

This is what I’ve learn so far from my first pregnancy and the current one up till this stage. Each pregnancy is a different experience so I’m just highlighting out the common ones.

• You’ll feel like a big fat hippopotamus
• The only way to keep your balance while on the move is walking like a penguin. You won’t be able to keep your legs together. Believe me. So imagine a cross breed between a hippo and a penguin, that’s how you’ll look like.
• Tasks we take for granted like cutting your toe nail will prove to be a challenging act. Even putting on your pants will be painful for some people like me (the hormones from pregnancy will loosen up all your ligaments especially the pelvic part to aid delivery. Unfortunately the hormones are not target specific therefore it’s like all your body spare parts coming loose)
• Getting your blouses stained is normal, especially on the part where the tummy bulges. Simple things like eating, washing your face or brushing teeth gets unnerving because you’ll notice that part gets wet even if you bend your head forward.
• Calf will cramp like mad. Get your hubby on AUTO mode so that every time you jab your elbow into his rib bone in the middle of the night, he’ll get the que. I got it so often during my first pregnancy that Harby has developed the skills of pulling my leg muscles straight with him remaining on lying down position. Amazing, no?
• Your tummy becomes public property. You’ll have people commenting your tummy is big/or small. The best way to handle is just smile and acknowledge their comments.
• You’d wish you had longer arms. This is because your tummy will prevent you from getting anywhere nearer to the dining table.
• Do not listen to everything everyone say. Otherwise you’ll go mad. “Aiyo… cannot eat too much por (nutritious) food already, otherwise baby get too big. No, you have to eat por. If not how to have a healthy baby? This food too heaty. That food is too cooling. Aiya, that one pregnant lady cannot eat one lar….” These are just a portion of things you’ll hear from well meaning people. But like I said, if you listen to everything you’ll go mad. Just follow some common sense. Too much of anything is not good. Eat what you want to eat in moderation. A happy mummy gives birth to a happy baby.
• You want to remain like a stone. Explanation? Well if you are sitting, you dread standing up again because it takes up 80% of the entire body energy and 10 billion brain cells just to get that butt off the floor. And when you are up, you would avoid sitting down again. See the vicious cycle?
• You’ll swell up like a puffer fish. Face and legs are the common ones. However swelling can happen at the darnest places, believe me. If you are prone to water retention, you’ll swell more.
• Backache is the default setting. So unless you announce that you are free from it that day, itmeans you have it. So Harby, this means I need that massage every day.
• Lack of sleep is another common thing. You’ll find that getting into a comfortable position that will last for at least 30 minutes is almost impossible.
• Get use to people telling that you’ve gained weight. Some people especially those not pregnant before just don’t get it. They'll keep on repeating the same comment (intentionally/unintentionally) over and over again. I am pregnant and pregnant makes me hungry. I eat when I am hungry. Since I am always hungry, therefore I am always eating. See the simple logic?Baby is the priority now. So get over it.
• Heck. Towards the end of this period, you won’t even care how you look like or what people think or say. The only thing in your mind is “GOD when is this baby coming out?”
  

If you think all these is hard, wait till you go through child birth. And if you think child birth is hard, you ain’t know nothing yet. Child birth is the easy part… surprise, surprise!!! The hardest part begins the moment the baby is out. Mark my words! ;) The best part is pregnancy makes the person forgetful (the standing/sitting action somehow killed too many brain cells?). You’ll notice you tend to be more absent minded while pregnant. This is how our wonderful nature works… it makes you forget everything so that you’ll stupidly and willingly, AND happily agree to go through the entire process again. Here’s to Malaysia’s population (I'm done with my quota). Cheers.