Every Pregnancy Is Different

August 16, 2010

Things could not be more different between the last time, when I was pregnant with Nathan, and this time.

I think I went into this pregnancy with the naive notion that this pregnancy would be a breeze, just like last time. I guess I should have realized how incredibly lucky I was that time and also acknowledge the fact that my body has the added stress of being in a very physically and mentally draining job.

Just for fun, I'd like to do a comparison to look at a few differences (so far).

The Bump
When I was pregnant with Nathan, I didn't really show until almost the middle of my pregnancy. This time, I popped early and you could tell I was pregnant by about the third month. People have been telling me it's because after the first child, your body has already been 'pre-stretched' so it just shows faster. The size of my bump may or may not have been influenced also by some cravings.

The Cravings
With Nathan, I was very conscious about my eating and I was careful to avoid any junk food and fast foods. The only thing I actually craved was Caramilk. I went through those chocolate bars like it was no one's business, but other than that, nothing. This time, I did not have so much self-control. Within a span of 20 minutes, I'd crave McDonald's, then pizza, then sushi. The oddest craving I had was pickles. That's weird enough in itself because I normally don't like pickles, but I specifically wanted the pickles from a McDouble burger - the one bite that had the pickle in it was mine. The rest of the burger went to Andrew.

The Aversions
With Nathan, again, there wasn't really anything I had to avoid. Nothing made me feel sick and it was pretty enjoyable that way. This time around, certain smells of foods and certain flavours made my stomach turn. My aversions were so bad that even thinking about certain things would make me feel sick. For instance, for months we had to avoid eating, talking about or even thinking about Pho. The thought of the smells and flavours would make me gag uncontrollably.

The Other Symptoms
I never felt any discomfort when I was carrying Nathan, nor did my sleep get interrupted. Sleeping is horrible this time around. There was a period of time when I'd get up frequently throughout the night because my bladder was going crazy. Then once that settled, it was insomnia. I spend most of the night tossing and turning, exhausted but wide awake.

Exhaustion was another factor. Taking my lack of sleep into account, in addition to having a full time job this time around, my energy levels were at an all-time low. There was a point when I'd come home, eat and then sleep right away. Poor Nathan suffered. Poor Andrew suffered even more. Luckily, they were both super supportive of me. Nathan would call me over to play with him and I'd accidentally fall asleep. Next thing you know, I hear Nathan asking me to lift my head so he can slide a little pillow under my head, and then he'd cover me with a blanket.

Then there was Andrew. Not only did he have his full, sporadic work schedule, but he also took it upon himself to do all the house work plus get Nathan ready for the rest of the night, making his dinner and preparing him for bed, and get lucnhes and backpacks ready for the next day so that I could go to bed and not worry about having to get up early.

I'm so incredibly blessed, and even though this pregnancy wasn't a breeze as I had hoped, I'm still really enjoying it!

Three and a half more months until baby's here!