Things Only Pregnant Women Will Understand

1. The rollercoaster of emotions

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Many pregnant women will relate to the rollercoaster of emotions that you feel throughout those nine months.  They are so changeable that in one single morning, you can go from weeping into your pillow to raging about the lack of peanut butter for your toast before skipping happily to work.  But you can find comfort in this, knowing that negative feelings will probably pass as fast as they reared their ugly heads!

2. The indescribable feeling of that first kick

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In early pregnancy, many women report their desperation in feeling that first kick from their baby, and the wait is almost unbearable!  But the truth is, many women actually miss the kicks at the start, only to find out at their antenatal appointment that the windy bubbly feeling they had inside their belly earlier was probably the real thing!

3. Your changing body

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Many people will comment on how your bump is growing, and how great your hair looks, but only pregnant women will truly understand how much your body actually changes during those first 9 months of motherhood.  They quickly find out that the growing belly is only the start and there are plenty more changes to follow!

4. The vulnerability in discussing your birth plan

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When you're pregnant, you very quickly realize that at the end of it, you have to give birth, and depending on your preferences, a lot of thought tends to go into the birth plan.  And it's a very personal plan, meaning that you have to open up about your choices to someone that you've not known for very long.

5. Those strange cravings

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Everyone knows about pregnancy cravings, right?  But not everyone knows how weird they can be until they actually experience it.  Like, have you ever craved taking a bite out of a raw potato that still has dirt on it?  Or combining pickles with everything including ice cream?  Thought not...

6. And aversions

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But unfortunately, with those odd cravings comes the aversions too which means that everything that you love to eat is at risk of being avoided for at least nine months, maybe longer! Some women have even reported not being able to hot food.  And no we don't mean spicy, we mean actually hot, or warm cooked food!

7. The bewildering advice from well-meaning loved ones

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Now you know that the people around you are just being supportive but they just don't seem to know when to stop dishing out bewildering and, quite frankly, unwanted advice from their own experience.  You get it, they've been pregnant too, but all you want is to experience it for yourself!

8. The never-ending comments on the shape of your bump

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When people comment on your growing bump, they do it so often that you have been able to develop the ability to just block out the noise they make when they make a comment.  And you're like: "Yes, there is a bump, it's growing, it's big, it's small, whatever... Now can we talk about something other than my body?!" (whilst trying your hardest not to sound rude).

9. The inevitable gender predictions

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With all of the bump comments come the inevitable floods of gender predictions.  Like, have you heard of the nub theory that can be seen in scan pictures?  And did you know that a smaller more compact bump means that you're having a boy?  You wish they'd just leave it, you know none of that is foolproof anyway.

10. How organized do you have to be?

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When you research what you need for your baby, you might be hit with many endless lists filled with things that you've never heard of.  And people will probably also crawl out of the woodwork offering you items that you didn't know you needed.  As your pregnancy progresses though, you do soon come to realize that you don't actually need as much as they tell you!

11. The tiredness

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There's nothing that can prepare you for the tiredness of pregnancy.  It's like nothing you have ever experienced before but despite this, you're generally expected to carry on as normal in your life and at work.  So taking little sneaky naps during the day has become the norm.

12. The realization that the 'baby brain' is an actual thing

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Along with the tiredness comes forgetfulness. You just don't know why but you feel like you're living in a hazy bubble at the moment where memory seems to fail you a little and it's a place where you can never find your keys!  You never thought it was even a real thing when your friend kept referring to it, you just thought it was an excuse!

13. Your new superhuman senses

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With all of the woes of 'baby brain', at least you've developed superhuman senses, right?  Think of all of the good you can do in the world with your newfound heightened senses of smell and taste.  No wait... it only works on your aversions and makes you nauseated which is just good for no one...

14. Finding a comfortable sleeping position

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As your beautiful bump grows, you're no doubt experiencing issues in the bedroom, and no we don't mean those kinds of issues.  The main issue is that you just cannot get into a comfortable position without feeling like your bladder is about to burst or your pelvis is about to crack.  Now this is over dramatic but that's just how you feel in the small hours when you've had a total of 4 minutes of sleep!

15. Then when you finally do, the dreams that follow

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So you FINALLY get to sleep, but no, the sleep gods aren't going to make it that easy for you.  Now you have to deal with intense dreams that might make you question your sanity a little.  Dreams of huge purple tentacles reaching down your throat and pulling out a frog, or dreams that you're holding your baby and it falls apart.  Their vividness may freak you out so you tell loved ones about them who respond by making really helpful gender predictions again.

16. The joy of finding the perfect pregnancy pillow

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But when you do finally get some proper rest, it's not down to yoga or advice from your midwife, but it's because your new pregnancy pillow is just so perfect you've replaced all of your friends with it and called it Janet.  Janet's all you need now, everyone else can take a hike (not really).

17. The sacrifices you willingly make

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Before you get pregnant, you might have never been able to imagine your life without soft cheese or margaritas.  However, now that you're pregnant, you are more than happy to cut those out of your diet for the health of your baby.  When we say: 'more than happy', we actually mean: 'less than happy but will just have to live without it until the baby's out...'

18. The bathroom breaks

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When you're pregnant, you'll probably be more than familiar with every single public restroom within a 10-mile radius of wherever you go!  In fact, you've got some favorites that you enjoy visiting more than some of the others.  Restrooms seem to be where you spend much of your day.

19. The maternity wear

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Trying to find fashionable maternity wear that fits your aesthetic and personality is more than challenging.  In fact, clothing that is made specifically for pregnant women tends to be less than trendy and you find yourself trying to squeeze into your regular clothes for as long as possible.

20. The urge to nest

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Nesting is just a part of pregnancy, and it generally happens towards the end.  Even if you've never been great at 'keeping house' so to speak, you get this sudden urge to buy soft furnishings and prints to adorn your walls.  It's a strange feeling but kills the time waiting for your little one to make an appearance.

21. The change in your walk

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The way you walk feels different.  It looks different too!  And it just might be something to do with that watermelon you're carrying.  Nobody told you that when it drops towards the end you're actually going to get that pregnancy waddle that you thought you'd avoided!

22. The struggle to agree on a name

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Deciding on a name for your baby is certainly one of the most challenging tasks, especially as everyone involved in the decision-making has different preferences and certain names that make them squirm (especially if they're a teacher!).  And the kid has to live with it for the rest of their lives.  No pressure or anything.

23. The comparisons of your baby to various fruit

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The pregnancy tracker apps that compare your baby to various fruits and vegetables are just precious, aren't they?  It starts off as a sesame seed and grows into a watermelon!  And there's nothing more exciting than logging on each week to find out which fruit you're carrying.

24. Taking at least 10 pregnancy tests

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When you first get the hunch that you might be pregnant, you might be experiencing many pregnancy symptoms including a missed period.  And sometimes, other than this symptom, some women don't really feel any others this early on leaving them perhaps not believing it's real!  That's why your draw might be full of used pregnancy tests that are all positive and you just don't have the heart to throw them away!

25. Feeling your baby hiccup

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One thing no one tells you about is that you can actually feel your baby's hiccups!  Some women report that they feel hiccups when they've just had some caffeine or cold water and it feels like little rhythmic tapping.  It's certainly one of the joys of pregnancy!

26. Analysing all of your twinges

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With the highs inevitably come the lows and with those comes the worry.  In fact, it's so new to you that you're analyzing all of the twinges you get, Googling them, and fearing the worst.  And this is especially more frequent as you impatiently await your labor towards the end.

27. Wondering what kind of parent you'll be

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Every new parent spends quite a significant amount of time during pregnancy wondering what kind of parent they'll be. Whether they'll be like their own parents or something different. They might even wonder (and worry) whether they'll have the patience of Mary Poppins or whether they'll turn out like Harry and Zinnia Wormwood...

28. The constant anticipation

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There are so many questions that you have and you're constantly in a state of anticipation; wondering who your baby will look like, whether they're a boy or girl, when your labor will begin, and what kind of parent you'll be.  You worry whether it'll all go smoothly or whether there'll be complications and no matter how much your hypnobirthing coach tells you to be present, you just cannot stop living in the future!

29. How much in awe you are of your own body

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You don't realise it but pregnancy gives you this newfound appreciation for the wonders of your body.  You experience it growing and nourishing a new life, changing and growing to nurture your new baby until they're ready to come into the world.  It is pretty amazing and you wonder whether you'll have any unkind words about your body in the future.

30. The bond with your baby

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Even before your baby is born, and even before you feel them kick, you begin to bond with them.  They're very much a part of you and will be forever.  Whether or not you get that rush of love to begin with, your bond starts way before anyone else's and that's pretty special to have it all to yourself for a while.