What They Don’t Tell You About Pregnancy

Things keep on moving around The Young Mommy Life and your girl is neck deep in deadlines and schoolwork and not so fun stuff. I’m grateful for my new blogging buddy Tamara, who recently found out she’s expecting her first baby in the fall! She offered to come by and share some of those “I had no clue” moments she’s discovering about pregnancy. Read and enjoy!

by Tamara Floyd

When we announced our first pregnancy, via Facebook and Twitter, the response was great (over 100 likes and comments).  I was told it was the news of the decade.  I jokingly responded that I was happy to make dreams come true for so many.

But honestly, I was still shocked and in disbelief that this was really happening.   In marrying my husband, I received a lot of advice and my pregnancy was no different.   But still there are some things that people don’t tell you about pregnancy. You just have to feel out on your own.

1. There will be tons of unwelcome and unhelpful advice.

As a married couple one of the first things people ask you is “When are you’re having kids?”  And every sickness or ailment has to be a sign of pregnancy.   Once you are pregnant, parents are equipped with their scarest child/pregnancy story.  And the advice is somewhere in between, “Everything you loved about your pre-baby life is over,” and, “You might as well hang up all your dreams and ambitions.” Nice.

2. You get the real story.

Now that I’m a mom-to-be my parents are sharing the real story about their pregnancies and child rearing.  Yes, its true; I, too, was dropped on my head as a baby.  I probably got it worst, as I’m my parents first parenting experiment as the oldest child.

3. People become consumed with your weight.

My hubby and I waited until 12 weeks or 3 months (at this time your chances of miscarriage decrease substantially) until we announced the pregnancy publicly.   At that time I was not showing physically but nausea, fatigue and sleeplessness were prominent.  Immediately my midsection became the center of attention.  People wanted to know how much weight I had gained.  I started getting question like “Are you showing yet?”  Pregnant or not, I didn’t want to talk about weight gain!

4. My husband stinks (dirty or clean).

I was somewhat warned about my changing sense of smell but I was nowhere prepared.  Cuddling became a challenge.  He would lay next to me and I get a whiff of his scent.

“Ugh, what is THAT?”

“What?” he said.

“What is that, why do you smell like that?”

“Um, I just showered.” Oh. But still.

Oh and cologne is just as out of the question. So is any hint of sweat. Or mustiness.

5. I’ve got serious food issues now.

Everyone knows food becomes very important to a pregnant woman.   But if you can’t have what you want to eat…no good can come from it.  I have been in the grocery with a specific craving for a tasty sweet.  And to my dismay they didn’t have the orange popsicles with vanilla ice cream filled center that I wanted.  With all my might I had to fight back tears.  What the heck is going on?

What pregnancy-related “Oh wow” moments have you had? Were you prepared for the changes?

Tamara L. Floyd is a branding, media relations and product ambassador.  She’s been married to her husband, Ben, for five years and they now are embarking on their newest lifetime commitment of parenthood in the fall. Floyd is also the creator of www.naturalhairrules.com, a site dedicated to encouraging others to be who they are naturally by nurturing themselves from the inside out.