Doh! Not only do I bump a thread, but I make a coding mistake as well. Sorry ya’ll.
DoperChic
I had a fantastic pregnancy. I didn’t have any morning sickness, I didn’t get the bloated face, hands, feet, or legs like some women do or even the dark line down my stomach. I felt great, I ate healthy and I didn’t gain a huge amount of weight. My daughter was settled kind of back and up, which means she did kick into my ribs and there was one morning where I walked with a limp from how she was sitting but that was all the discomfort I felt. Even with having to go to the bathroom so much, it’s not a major discomfort.
The best feeling of being pregnant is when the baby moves. They get lulled to sleep when you’re moving and I could tell when she was awake because I’d lie down to go to bed and she’d get active. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! You do get tired more toward the end of your term but still, I felt great. My delivery was also only over an hour, I had only a few contractions and she came so fast I ended up having her naturally. She came so early in the morning that the drive to the hospital was quick and we got a great parking spot right in front 
. My doctor almost didn’t make it, he basically “caught” her at the right moment. The pain was intense but some women “forget” enough and have several kids. All in all, I loved being pregnant.
Yeah, another one here who had relatively easy pregnancies.
First one, had borderline gestational diabetes which was controlled by diet. Latter part, had swollen ankles which was remedied by raising legs when sleeping. Other than that (and the back labor which led to a c-section) it was fine. No other complications, no morning sickness, etc.
It’s scary for any prospective mother. I was scared because all my life I had been a gung-ho party mama…would I be able to tie it all down, grow up, stop partying and devote my life to the little bean?
I pulled it off.
I had my second baby in January and it was also relatively easy. No swollen ankles this time, but I did get gestational diabetes (it runs in my family on my dad’s side). It was controlled by diet and insulin injections. I just went for a blood test which revealed that it hasn’t continued (the diabetes–although I will still have to watch my sugars for the rest of my life). This second one was a planned c-section, which went along with no complications. While they were in there they tied my tubes.
I wondered about doing that…if it was the right thing. But it’s too late now. :\
Shoots. I forgot to add that yeah, when the baby moves inside you, it is so awesome.
I am going to miss that, and the cute little hiccupping they do.
I won’t miss the weight gain.
I’m another that adored being pregnant, in fact I volunteered to surrogate for a relative that was infertile shortly after having my son. Luckily, she and her husband were able to conceive, but I’d have done it in a heartbeat.
No morning sickness, although I did have some weird hip dysplasia issues, but trivial compared to the happy glow thing I had going for nearly 9 months. My complexion went to hell in a handbasket from the hormones, but it didn’t bother me at all. Walking around thinking “I’m creating a person” was a great compensation.
Breastfeeding took off more weight than I’d originally gained, at my son’s six-week checkup I weighed in about fifteen pounds lighter than pre-pregnancy. About the only real complaint I can identify with was being tired, but again it was like I didn’t actually mind it at the time.
Seven hour labor, only about half being hard labor, I was another one that went “huh, I could do that again, no problem” while the doctor was still stitching me up.
Wonder if jellen92 is still around and if she ever got pregnant?
I had that with my third, and it was agony. Aside from that, I had amazing pregnancies, felt great, loved every second of it.
Well, there were some weird glances when my entire shirt would move because I swear I had the most hyperactive babies in the world. Some days it was like a scene from Alien… Luckily they were a lot calmer once they got out 
I loved being pregnant! Although, based on my experiences, you’d never know why but, really, I’d do it again in a hearbeat.
I knew I was pregnant the night that chicken fettucini alfredo made me puke. It was the chicken - it just tasted sour. I took a test the next day (First Response) but I couldn’t tell if there were two lines or not. So I waited like 3 days, took an e.p.t and, sure enough, I was pregnant.
My son’s almost a year old (next month) and I’m only now becoming comfortable eating chicken again.
I had “morning sickness” for months 1-4 and 7-9. And brushing my teeth made me sick, too. Months 7-9 weren’t that bad. It wasn’t everyday or anything, but it was bad enough for me to remember. I went into labor (not hard labor, but it was relatively painful) late, late the night of May 16. Alex James was born on his EDD, May 20. I opted for the epidural (warning: EXTREME TMI). Lucky me as I “ripped to [my] anus” according to my doctor. I, for some reason, did not receive an episiotomy. Alex wasn’t really big, but I was pushing too fast and didn’t get the assistance from the doctor that I needed.
I gained about 30 pounds. If not for the fact that I am terribly lazy, I’d probably be back to my pre-mommy weight by now. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee it. Exercise is key, during and after your pregnancy. If you aren’t already fairly active, start now before you become pregnant. I don’t know why, but that’s what “they” say. Something about the stress beginning an exercise plan can put on your body or something.
It wasn’t the best experience, but it certainly wasn’t the worst, either. And I have a wonderful little guy now.
I decided that I did not want to use painkillers during birth because of the risks and I just did not like the thought of not being able to feel part of me. Also I had group B strep and that meant the short the time she spent in the birth canal, the better for her. I researched what the risks were and made the decision for me.
What helped me was that my husband gently massaged my hand and this reminded me to relax. Kelly my gently massaged my belly, and this helped comfort me. I did not close my eyes during the contractions. Instead, I focused on something and thought about it. Mostly the trees out the window or the pattern in the curtain. I also thought about things I had recently read. If you close your eyes, you get drawn into the pain and it gets overwhelming. Keeping my eyes really made a difference. I also promised myself that when I got through this contraction, I will take a nap, and I did. I took lots of one minute mini-naps. It really was not that bad. I also wore my own nightgown and that helped immensly.
What I hated is that I had morning sickness the whole 9 months, and gestational diabetes during the last trimester. I had to take insulin shots 4 times a day, take blood tests five times a day and keep track of every ounce of food I ate. Keeping track of the food was the most difficult part. I had trouble gaining weight, but in the end I magaged to gain what I was supposed to the last 3 months. They saw that is imortant so your baby won’t be as likely to be obese.
I loved the feeling of her inside me. It was so neat that she responded to my voice and to light. I could feel her turn around, and kick and hiccough. I felt her move very early and that was a delight to me. She seemed to like music and spicy food.
The last two months, I was put on bed rest. I had preterm labor twice. I had to lay in bed all day, and just get up to bathe and use the bathroom. That was the pits. It seemed that when I sat up there was not room for her and I would start having contractions. I kept her in and gave birth on my due date.
The hardest thing to think about facing again is that during the pregnancy, I was not myself. The hormone levels really changed how I felt. Instantly after I delivered the placenta, I felt like me again. It felt so good just to be able to think again.
The coolest thing, hands down, about pregnancy is feeling the kid kick you.
Mine, however, liked to mess with my head. Would she respond to my voice? Noooo. If she went a while without kicking me I’d have to get my husband to talk to my stomach, and THEN she’d start breakdancing.
I was tired the whole time but then I sat around like a lump. I had 3 weeks of nonstop throwing up but at least there was no nausea. Ate whatever I wanted and only gained 20 pounds, which was nice. I was really really overweight when I got pregnant so my OB the entire time was just waiting for my blood pressure to go sky high, or develop diabetes, etc. Never did. Even at the end I had to tell some people I was pregnant: I was one of those “is she pregnant or is she just fat?” pregnant chicks.
It’s funny, too, when you can’t get out of bed without help. This usually starts around the end of the 7th month when you get that “beached whale” look when you’re laying down 
If you decide to reproduce don’t let any of the Milk Nazis tell you that you’re a horrible mom if you don’t breastfeed, and tell the anti-epidural people to kiss your ass. You have got to do what is best for you and the baby, and as long as you two are healthy, it doesn’t friggin matter how you birthed the kid.
High points:
Getting acquainted with your kid in the womb. IME, they do reveal some personality in there – first kid: hyper in, hyper out. Second kid: gentle, peaceful in, gentle-peaceful out. I’m not talking birth here, but pattern of movements, kicking, etc.
Not worrying about your waistline.
First time pregnant (for me at least): mega-boobs.
Getting to see your kid on the ultrasound. Now they’ve got really technical, 3D ones, which must be even better.
Incredible sense of smell. As in, super power! I could smell if a vanilla bottle had been opened in a kitchen as many as several hours earlier that day, even if it had been almost immediately re-capped.
Second trimester. Energy came back and morning sickness went away.
Buying lots of gorgeous little hats and socks. My husband has a secret belief that we decided to have a baby to satisfy my craving for little hats and socks. He’s wrong, but I do really like them.
And lastly, feeling very powerful, Mother of the Earth type of thing: I created life! I’m holding the future! And all of that.
Low points:
Labor. I had two difficult ones. My experiences seem to counterbalance most of the easy/relatively pain-free ones here. I delivered vaginally and both times, it was indeed as bad as you see in the movies. That said, it was worth it to get my daughters.
Pregnancy complications. I had gestational diabetes, managed with diet & exercise, but ended up with further complications anyway, just as if I hadn’t followed the diet. Pre-eclampsia. Heart problems. Pre-term labor, both times. Eye problems. Fainting. Hemorraged after childbirth the second time and needed a blood transfusion. Most people do not seem to have this level of trouble, though; I was just unlucky.
Morning sickness. I barfed maybe once but certainly felt constantly nauseated and barely able to keep my food down, though it lasted only 8-10 weeks.
Post-pregnancy: Being pregnant the first time kicked my gallbladder into disease, so I had to have it out. I had two episiotomies and now have permanent scarring and pain from them. Again, this is not typical. I’ve got either bad luck or crappy doctors. :rolleyes:
My arse has never, ever been as small as it was; I’m just not sure those ligaments ever tighten back up all the way. Although I lost my baby weight each time, the same pants just didn’t fit the same. And contrary to most of the ladies’ experiences here, my boobs are smaller & flatter than before I had kids.
In sum, the first time I didn’t hate being pregnant. I was okay up until about 27 weeks, when things started to go down the crapper. The second time, I really really hated almost every minute of it.
But I would go through the whole bloody awful thing again to get my daughters. Most moms I’ve met seem to say the same.
Mrs. Furthur
[QUOTE=DoperChic]
Ha! That’s funny…I was reading this thread and didn’t even realize it was an older thread until I came to my own post!
It went great, thanks for asking. Will was born on 7/31 of last year. It was an induced labor (due to the high risk stuff I mentioned) and it ended up being an emergency c-section because he had the cord wrapped around his shoulder and neck. All went well, though. He’s now eight months old, crawling all over the place, HUGE!, starting to pull up on things, and teething. I’d love to be pregnant again soon, but we’re going to wait until the end of the year.
I am pregnant for the first time right now and I am learning that being pregnant makes people give you advice, opinions, and generally make comments to and about you. Sometimes it is fun and you get good wishes and advice, and sometimes people say things that make you go WTF?
I read all the books and did research like crazy about anything and everything pregnancy related before I got pregnant, and that was all well and good, but it is still so odd to me sometimes that I am actually one of those women I was reading about. Pregnancy and parenting was something other people did, not me, and sometimes I feel like it isn’t real.
Some days I hardly think about it at all, it’s mostly life as usual. Other days it’s alll I can think about. I awaited each new milestone and obsessed over it too much at first, now I am relaxing a little more and it is starting to feel more real to me (I am 6 months along). I have to say it took me a while to enjoy the movements entirely. I was a little weirded out by them at first and they took me by surprise - the concept that something was alive in there and it wasn’t just my body anymore was odd. Now I am used to him and I love feeling it, but no one writes in the books how they were weirded out by the baby moving so I didn’t know what to think for a while :).
It really is a whole body experience, some good, some not. My hair and nails are stronger, my skin is breaking out, some days I am so tired and sore and other days I feel fine. My 5th month was a period of HUGE growth for me and I spent that worried that I was going to grow like that every month, then this month I am evening out and seem to be back on track. I was worried about weight gain too, but suprisingly the growing stomach doesn’t bother me. I am able to stay pretty active and try to get out and walk a lot. I am learning what is normal for me and not to rely on the books so much, something I will have to remember when I turn to baby books for help. I seem to go through phases of symptoms and then they go away and new ones take over. Today I am so freaking HOT!
My husband and I are closer than ever, he is so excited and scared and supportive of me all at once. I know he is going through his own personal worries and experiences with this too.
Overall it’s been a positive time in my life and it’s going too slowly and too quickly all at once. I am trying to just enjoy the ride.
OK, this will be the most unasked for post on this topic:
I’m a male, and a sterile one at that.
The OP said:
“I’m not the most maternal person on the face of the earth”
I might have been the least maternal. I actively disliked kids - how many times have you heard that?
OP also said:
“Not to mention the terrible pain of childbirth”
Well, I’ve had plenty of kidney stones, and I asked in another thread which was worse - all 17 or so of the people who had done both said stones were worse by far.
Cher3 said:
“you will fall in love with your kids like you’ve never fallen for anyone else”
There it is. That’s it exactly. This has happened to me, with my stepchild. I would be afraid anybody I told wouldn’t believe it, though now I bet Cher3 would understand after reading that post. For what it’s worth, I’d have thousands of stones if that was what it took to have my stepchild, or even just to help her or give her what she needed. In a heartbeat. Sign me up right now. Sign me up every time. Because I got to be with the most wonderful person in the world, and got to become part of her in some way. I honestly could not even imagine this before.
Dangerosa said:
“Plus, it is tearing out your heart and having it walk outside your body.”
That’s what I felt as my stepchild has become adult and gradually grown independant. That’s much more painful than the thousands of stones. But I have to say I am glad she’s building her own life - and she’s doing it very nicely. Glad because I want her to have the nicest life in the book.
You can’t come out of this without pain - if you do it right, your heart breaks, and unbroken hearts are wasted. But pain is only pain, there isn’t anything wrong with it.
You know what? The world needs good mothers. If you think you can do that, then you should do it. And if you can think of some way I can help, please tell me; I’d be so happy to.