Here is what I have to say to that... YOU LIE!!! There are way too many people out there that claim that being pregnant was just the "best time of my life" and "I loved every minute of it!" Honestly? Let's look at this concept rationally...
First, I am currently pregnant with my third child. My husband and I are VERY excited and are anxious in meeting our newest love. But I already can't wait for the next 6 months to fly by. Now don't get me wrong, there are some aspects of being pregnant that I like. For example, feeling the baby move inside is a pretty cool feeling. And I'll give you that being able to eat everything in sight with little guilt goes a long way, but really besides that, you can't convince me that the pros outweigh the cons.
The prize at the end of the tunnel does really make the whole thing worth it, thus the reason I've decided to do this for the third time. But really, let's start...
1. Feeling nauseous sucks. This third time around, I actually felt like the room was spinning, like after a night of heavy drinking. But wait, there was NO party involved. That's super fun. I'm one of the lucky ones, I never actually vomited with any of my pregnancies. I feel awful for all those poor women that are sick for 12-14 weeks. Or even worse, the whole 9 months. I'd rather you just shot me.
2. Feeling fat and bloated is never fun. Even worse is that first few months that people can't decide if you're pregnant or just putting on a few pounds. Feeling self conscience at every turn about how I look is annoying. I feel like just walking around with a sign around my neck that says, "Yes, I'm pregnant. Stop starting at my pudge."
3. Random craving. Really... hot sauce. I want to drink it straight out of the bottle. This is not normal. I can't find food that is spicy enough. My husband almost had to call the fire department to hose off his face after trying one of my noodle soups. Never feeling satisfied is frustrating. I don't consider being frustrated about food part of the "best time of my life".
4. Exhaustion. I currently sleep 9 - 10 hours a night and have to fight myself to get out of bed in the morning. I want to take a nap about 15 minutes after I wake up and when I get home from work I have enough energy to sit on the couch and watch my kids play. Let the excitement begin.
5. Waking up at 3am and being awake for hours during the 3rd trimester. "This is your body preparing you to get up with the baby." Who makes up this stuff? I already know that sucks. Who doesn't? I want to sleep through the night while the baby ISN'T waking me up. I remember being pregnant with Katie, I would wake up at 3am and not be able to sleep again until 5am. Then the alarm would go off at 6am for work. So for people that claim they loved being pregnant every minute... are they forgetting about these 120 each day?
6. Random aches and pains. While pregnant with Gavin, I had this random numb feeling in one small spot just below my rib cage. Though it was numb, it actually hurt. It was more like pins and needles in one little spot. I could never make it go away.
7. When you go past your due date. I love the phone calls, "So, did you have that baby yet?" Yeah, just forget to tell you and decided to keep it all a secret. Really?? It wasn't annoying enough that Gavin decided that he didn't want to leave the womb for an extra 10 days, but the phone calls and emails reminding me that I was past my due date didn't made me want to go postal.
8. The delivery. They ONLY good part about this is the actually baby in your arms, after it's all over. I did not enjoy the labor pains, the needles, the doctors feeling me up every 10 minutes, the pushing, or only eating ice chips and chicken broth while the hubs enjoyed a nice club sandwich. Not cool.
These are just a few of the reasons why I can't be one of those people that claim, "Oh, I loved being pregnant." I just don't. And honestly, you didn't love all of it either... you know I have some very valid points here. You just don't want to admit it. But I am here to tell you, it doesn't make you a bad person to admit that you didn't love being pregnant. It's OK. You're not alone.
I will say, I will be parking in the "Expecting Mothers" spots at Babies R Us however. I'm going to milk that for all it's worth. I might not even go shopping. Just park in the spot and walk around the parking lot. Just because I can.
