The only predictable part about crying while pregnant, is that it will happen. If not daily, then at least once a week.
- By the end of your second trimester you finally start looking pregnant, and you start appreciating the beauty of your pregnant body. You are feeling ready for a roll in the hay, but your hubby may start backing up when you start advancing in this direction.
Unless you have a very rare condition called Placenta Previa, in which case your doctor would advise you to abstain from sex, it is safe throughout the entire pregnancy to engage in intercourse. So while your hormones are raging with lust, most fathers-to-be develop some kind of “Goddess complex” towards their wives and deem them too “precious” to have sex with at this stage of their pregnancy. This can put any woman on an insecurity spiral. Although you are being told how beautiful and glowing you look, it’s hard to feel this way when all you see is your huge tummy and your other half backing out the bedroom door when you start flirting… - By your third trimester you’ve gotten used to crying at any hint of a soppy ad or movie and if you’re lucky enough to only gain pregnancy weight you would be slightly less uncomfortable than women who gain a little bit extra. Aches and pains you thought were reserved for the elderly now plague you daily. Joint pain, back pain, leg pain, headaches and heartburn – now all part of your daily dose of pregnancy symptoms. You can’t seem to get a single night of uninterrupted sleep and you wake up tired most mornings. So, on top of the pains, the discomfort of carrying an extra 10+ kg with you – mostly all in the front, the cravings for weird foods, the constant hunger and thirst, the emotional roller coaster you are constantly on, you now have to deal with fatigue as well. I’ve convinced myself that it’s just my body’s way of preparing me for the sleepless nights once baby is here, but that does not make it any easier to deal with.
- You are now constantly aware that there is a living thing inside of you, because besides the obvious huge belly, it moves. Constantly. And no, not gently and slowly. It moves rapidly and kicks hard and if you could see the inside of your stomach it’d be full of bruises from where you’ve been punched or kicked. It pushes down on your bladder so that after every 30 minutes you feel the need to wee…even though you might not actually need to. It kicks you in the ribs so hard that you gasp for breath. It does somersaults and plays football with your organs…Your organs which have moved out of their normal spaces to make way for this little life, so you generally just feel churned upside down and inside out.
You might now have a clearer idea of why it would be dangerous to mess with a pregnant woman and be better equipped to sympathize and support her. Even when she’s wrong. Even when she’s looking like she’s just the same ol’ gal you fell in love with. Trust me – she isn’t. Not now. She might be again though…one day…when all the hormones go back to normal and all the weight she’s gained melts away. Right now though, she’s tough and she’s vulnerable, she’s protective and emotional and irrational at times – she’s a hormonal time bomb looking for a place to explode! So handle her with care…but not like an invalid!
Lucia is a mum to four young daughters, living a live full of adventure and frills, quiet moments in between giggles and screams. She makes her living capturing memories, mostly with photographs, occasionally with writing. She loves whimsy and fantasy, spiritual depth and parenting on the go. But mostly they try to just keep our lives honest and real. You can find her at her websites Fairies and Rock, Four Shades of Pink, on Facebook and Instagram.
