Thoughts on Pregnancy

I was talking to Nick last night about pregnancy. With 15 days give or take left (as few as no more days and as many as 29 if they made me go all the way to 2 weeks over), I have been thinking about the whole process.

I have not been a fan of pregnancy. I know many women who, despite really difficult pregnancies, truly enjoy the whole process and are willing to do it again and again despite the hardship it imposes.

Before I get too far into this post, let me take a look back at the hard things I faced in this pregnancy:
-All day nausea from week 6 to week 16
-Slightly higher than desired weight gain
-Disgust with all things meat for the 10 nauseous weeks
-Several days of sciatic nerve pain down leg
-Discomfort in abdomen
-Pain upon standing in pelvic bones that subsided the longer I walked
-Hampered ability to work out
-Very very very mild swelling in hands and feet

So all in all, I would say that I really didn't have it too bad when you consider that some people have massive swelling, high blood pressure, are put on bed rest, throw up every day to the point of hospitalization, etc.

This made me start to wonder what it was about pregnancy that I really disliked - or that basically has made me consider (very seriously) whether this is something we will do again. I was talking with Nick about this last night trying to pinpoint it. I mean, I really have had a fairly easy pregnancy, all things considered.

I think there are several factors.
-I never get sick. Like-it is super rare. And so to spend 10 weeks in a state of nausea was a real shock to this non-sick getter.
-I really really really love to work out. It is not something I do grudgingly to get a better body, it is something that I truly love. I love to run outside, I love to lift weights, I love the feeling of being super sweaty after a hard workout, I love the soreness that says you did well, I love the accomplishment, I love the progression, the endorphins, the smell of the gym - I just love to work out. Not to say you can't work out when you are pregnant, but during the sick period, I lost my will to go to the gym - and then I was worried that if I started back up after 10 weeks off, that I would damage something - so I just stopped going. I don't think that I realized how much I love working out until I didn't do it anymore - and it has been a long 9 months of no gym.
-I didn't particularly enjoy the fact that my body really wasn't mine for 9 months. I don't really know how to explain it, but I just feel like for the last 9 months, my body has belonged to the pregnancy and not to me. I have eaten differently, my body has inevitably changed, I don't work out (much), there are foods that I have avoided, etc. It is a strange thing to feel like your body doesn't belong to you - and 9 months is a long time

Honestly, reading the list makes me feel selfish that I didn't take to this experience as well as I would have liked. It even makes me feel a little guilty to write this because we struggled to get pregnant and then when it did happen, it wasn't exactly something that I loved. I guess that is life though. Some people struggle to drag themselves to the gym because they just hate working out but they love being pregnant, regardless of the changes and hardships it imposes. Each person is different.

I suppose if everyone LOVED being pregnant, there would be an enormous over abundance of people because women would always want to be pregnant. Perhaps most women are just more reserved about admitting that they aren't fond of pregnancy. Or maybe I am an anomaly - who knows.

That being said - I am thankful that I have made it this far without any real complications. I am thankful that I am almost done with this phase of my life. And finally, I am excited, nervous, etc to start this new chapter in our lives.

I am going to put one final thought out here - because I know that everyone always wonders these things - so I will just go ahead and help you out so you don't have to wonder. While I always thought I would have multiple kids (2 being the "magic" number), this process has changed my outlook on the whole pro-creation, child bearing thing. We are going into this with the idea that we will be just as happy with 1 as we would with 2. We are ecstatic about our impending arrival and we aren't thinking about the next step (meaning, we aren't already planning for #2). We are open to adding a second in the future, but we are open to having just this one. Only time will tell - so if you were dying to know what our plans were for the future, there you go - vague but I don't want to say, "I will never do this again" and then eat my words - but I also don't want to say "we are definitely planning on having more" and then have everyone anticipate a sibling for years with no result.

And as a final thought: GO DUCKS!!!! BEAT LSU!