When we found out that Hannah was pregnant for the first time, we instantly thought about all the cliché symptoms women experience when growing a baby. We expected her to get morning sickness, crave chocolate and ice cream all the time, and have to go to the bathroom 20 times a day. While she did get some of these symptoms, there were also a ton of pregnancy-related things that we hadn’t heard of (at least I certainly hadn’t).
Many of the things that happened to Hannah during her first pregnancy, I honestly wouldn’t wish on anyone, but she made it through like a champion. As we started round two (with our baby boy who is due in only three short weeks!), we thought that we knew exactly what to expect this time—wrong! The second pregnancy has been almost completely different from the first! I am in no way complaining because it’s been much easier (for both of us) this time around, but we have been continuously shocked by how different it’s been. Everything I was planning on doing to help now seems like it doesn’t apply anymore!
Even though I’ve decided that every pregnancy is essentially a mixed bag of crazy things that happen to a woman’s body, I thought I’d share a list of some of the unexpected side effects of growing a baby I found most shocking. Just a heads up, some of these get really real. But don’t worry, I got Hannah’s permission to post about them. (She’s posted two lists similar to this on her blog, here and here.)
Weird cravings
I fully expected Hannah to be constantly craving sweets and desserts (since she basically does all the time anyway, and I expected her to just use pregnancy as an excuse), but there have also been weird cravings, like onion rings, BLT sandwiches and corndogs. (Bleh!)
Loud breathing
This one has just been a side effect during the second pregnancy, but Hannah’s resting breathing sounds like a hibernating grizzly bear. At first, I always asked her if she was OK because she was so out of breath, but now I’ve mostly become accustomed to it.
Snoring
While Hannah is pregnant, she snores! When it started happening during the first pregnancy, I was sure she was faking it, because I didn’t think anyone could seriously snore that ferociously without intending to. Now I’ve learned it’s the real deal, and if I want to get a good night of rest, I better fall asleep first! (I will say that the snoring during this second pregnancy has been significantly calmer, but still present.)
Burping
This has been, by far, the biggest shock of all. Pregnant Hannah burps CONSTANTLY. Eating makes her burp. Drinking water makes her burp. Lying down makes her burp. It’s painful for me, so I can only imagine how painful (and annoying) it is for her!
Excessive sneezing
The sneezing hasn’t happened as much during the second pregnancy, but it was intense during the first one! She experienced frequent sneeze attacks like I’ve never seen before! Personally, I think sneezing is kind of fun, but not at the rate that Hannah was going. She especially didn’t like it because her abs were always sore, and it hurt to jolt them so much.
I’m sure everyone has a long list of crazy pregnancy side effects, and I’m sure I’ll have a few more random things to add to Hannah’s list when baby No. 3 comes along in the future. What it all seems to prove to me is that despite what the movies say, there’s no way you can expect to expect everything when you’re expecting. Good luck to all you pregnant women out there … and to your husbands!
The post What I didn’t expect to be expecting while my wife was expecting appeared first on Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine.
