I am now four and a half months pregnant. So, I'm about halfway there, and let me tell you, some of the changes I've experienced feel like they are right out of a sci-fi novel.
1. Diarrhea can be a very real part of morning sickness.
During the week leading up to my first missed period, I was losing all my meals from both ends. Nothing stayed down or in. My stomach made the loudest sounds, and I thought I had food poisoning for days before I saw the small pink line on my First Response.
2. Body parts you never knew you had will hurt.
Early in my second trimester I started experiencing round ligament pain as my uterus stretched. The round ligament holds your uterus in place. Raise your hand if you knew you had a round ligament? Well I didn't, so when it began hurting, it was a very WTF moment. Tylenol, a heating pad, and the chiropractor were my saving graces.
3. Stress can cause intense pain, almost like it is a physical illness.
Last week I began experiencing some work related stress, and the back, chest, and stomach cramps, which were small nuisances in my early pregnancy, became intense; so intense they would wake me up and keep me up for hours. This time, even Tylenol did not help.
4. You will forget a lot; the type of "looking for your phone while you are on it" forgetfulness.
Today I ordered lunch and paid, but because I was also on the phone, my pregnancy fog allowed me to walk right out of the restaurant without my food. Like, who does that? Pregnant people do that.Then I got to my car and thought I forgot my phone. Guess what...I was still on it. My brain is a mere shadow of its former self.
5. Your nose might get bigger; like, noticeably so.
My cousin, who had five children, told me this several years ago. I laughed. Now, I'm marveling at how my belly and nose seem to have some inexplicable connection that causes them both to expand as my baby does. After researching it on several parenting blogs, I realized the connection was not in fact inexplicable, but caused by increased estrogen levels, and increased blood flow to the body's mucous membranes and blood vessels in the nose.
