So now that I am a little over 7 months along I'm starting to experience ALL of those changes your body goes through during pregnancy. I've decided to start a list of those changes. For those of you that are currently pregnant or planning to become pregnant, this might scare you, but at least you'll be prepared. For those of you that have ever been pregnant, I'm sure you can certainly appreciate what I'm talking about!
1. Ever-expanding belly - Ok, this one is obvious and I knew it was going to happen eventually. Although, I have to admit, for the first 5 months I didn't think my belly would ever grow. And now....well, it won't stop! (Refer to pictures!)
2. Swollen feet and ankles - This just started for me. Didn't think it could happen to me, but what do you know, my shoes are starting to feel a little tighter and all I see when I look down is a pair of cankles. Oh well, I guess it matches the giant calves that I already had pre-pregnancy!
3. Blurred vision - This one's weird. Ever since being pregnant, my vision has drastically deteriorated. I already wear contacts, but my prescription must have changed. I read this is normal though and it should return to what it was pre-pregnancy. In the meantime, watch out roads, there are pregnant women driving around that can't see!
4. Shortness of breath - I definitely wouldn't consider myself any sort of athlete, but on the other hand I wasn't exactly out of shape pre-pregnancy either. So it's quite strange for me to not be able to go up a single flight of stairs without huffing and puffing!
5. Porn-star boobs - Sorry, there's just no other way to put it! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd be a C-cup in my lifetime without the help of a gifted plastic surgeon. Lucky for me, or maybe lucky for Brian, pregnancy has made this possible without any surgery at all!
6. Loss of memory - I'm not sure if it's the hormones or it's because the baby is the only thing on your mind, but you really do start to lose your memory. As an example, Brian and I were coming home from a friend's house and I was driving. I pulled into the garage, shut the garage door and got out of the car. Only problem was that I left the car running. Luckily, Brian was there to ask me what the hell I was doing!
7. Loss of mobility - I always wondered why pregnant women waddled and had such a hard time getting off the couch...Now I know. It must be quite hilarious for Brian to watch me lift my pregnant butt off the couch or out of the car. Occasionally I actually need a little push. Or when getting out of bed in the morning you sort of have to do a little rolling action to get the momentum to lift yourself out of bed. Believe me, if you've ever seen and/or experienced this, it's not pretty! There is no more gracefulness when you're pregnant!
8. The linea negra - Unless you've been pregnant, you probably have no idea what this is. It's actually a dark line that goes right down the center of your belly. I just noticed this a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately it goes away after birth.
9. Stretch marks - I have been lucky enough to not experience this...yet. I'm not holding my breath though because I'm certain they're coming.
10. Charlie horses - Now this I definitely wasn't expecting! Anyone, pregnant or not, can relate to be awakened to the excruciating pain of a leg cramp in the middle of the night. Only when you're pregnant, it happens almost every night. I think I have the technique down though on how to stop it once you feel it start. Flex the foot and that seems to work. Unfortunately sometimes it's too late and all you can do is curl up in the fetal position until it passes...or scream...or both.
11. Baby kicks - This is the good change! Starting at about week 20 I could feel Alexa move every once in awhile. But now she moves ALL day long. It feels like she's doing somersaults in my belly. I wish I could see what she's doing! She seems to be most active while I'm at work, of course, trying to concentrate. It makes it pretty difficult to concentrate with her moving so much! Brian's freaked out by the movement and actually got a chill when he felt it! I suppose this is one of the many reasons women have babies!
That's all the main body changes I can think of. I'm sure there are plenty more that I'm either forgetting about or haven't yet experienced. With all of my complaints though, the end result is definitely going to be worth it! Only 11 more weeks (hopefully less though)!
