This post is not written by me….but, as you see below, I “allowed” my wife to write her experience here and share it with our readers. Actually, I asked my wife for a guest entry as this is a very personal blog.
We will publish her report on 10 months of pregnancy today, tomorrow and Wednesday for you to follow and comment on. Let us know what you think! And, of course if we hear anything about the arrival of our first child, we let you know!
The last nine (ten) months by Jenny Ballueder
Volker has allowed me to write a ‘guest’ blog entry about the past nine months! As I’m sure you know we are awaiting the arrival of our first child and now his due date has come and gone with not much happening, I thought I would put down a few words describing the past nine months.
First of all, the biggest myth about pregnancy is that it lasts nine months! It lasts 40 weeks (if your lucky) which is TEN months! So when someone asks you how pregnant you are it takes a while to convert the number of weeks to the number of months, taking off a month to make sure if fits to that ‘nine’ months con! Now at the end of the nine (ten) months all the trials and events don’t seem so bad as they did at the time. I think having a medical background is a disadvantage because you are fully aware of all the things that can go wrong and you need to know what every pain, sensation, feeling you have is and what it means. It has not always been easy to get a straight answer!
I have been exceptionally fortunate to have had no ‘real’ problems or complications with my pregnancy and that the baby has not had any problems at all. However that does not mean I enjoyed my pregnancy or felt particularly well for any of it!!! Nine (ten) months is a looooooooong time!
So when did this all start??!!! Way back in September I had two dreams that I did a pregnancy test and it was positive, the second one woke me up it was that real, so I got up and did the test. Initially it didn’t show up anything, so I just sat there on the loo a bit disappointed because I was sure I was pregnant (my period wasn’t even due for another four days)! I am used to the pregnancy tests at work which give you an instant result, but the home ones actually take a few minutes to show a positive result, so I checked the stick again and here was a VERY faint blue line appearing! Was there REALLY a line???! Left it a bit longer and yes there was a line, not particularly strong, but was definitely there. I just sat and cried! Was a very overwhelming experience. Took a while and two more tests to sink in! So that is how it all began!
The first few weeks of pregnancy are not easy. Morning sickness kicked in pretty much bang on at 5 weeks. Another common myth about pregnancy is that you only feel sick in the mornings! Errr no! How about all day and all night!!! And no, dry crackers don’t help! But eventually I figured out that eating does help a bit. My saviour was barbecue mini cheddars and original lucozade. These alone got me through the first few months! I lost quite a lot of weight – over a stone and people got suspicious as to what was going on! We weren’t really sure about telling folk our news before the 12 week/3 month mark, but told a few people because they would have guessed anyway! Tricky situations arise when you refuse that glass of wine! Pretending you are really hungover works! Going to work on the train and tube isn’t easy! I would walk to the station, sometimes vomiting along the way, get to the station and have to board a train when you know you are going to be sick again! I always carried a bag just in case! Surprisingly London commuters don’t bat an eyelid! Was once hiding under my jacket spewing into a bag and no one even noticed or chose to pretend not to notice! Morning sickness is like being seasick, but you just can’t get off the boat! The other thing that is tough is the extreme tiredness you feel. The only similar tiredness is the morning after a night shift, but that is not even as tired as you feel! Would be heading for bed at 8pm, and it was a struggle to stay up that late!
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#1 by Andrew on 09/06/2009 - 11:44
Antia will back you up about 24 hour morning sickness that lasts the whole pregnancy! You poor women!
#2 by Volker on 09/06/2009 - 13:23
Oh dear, when is she due?
I feel so sorry for any woman that has to go through it. Honestly, whilst I was thinking of 4 children earlier last year, I think 1 or 2 are more than sufficient. At least in terms of “getting” them
Speak soon,
Volker
#3 by roseanne delaney on 09/06/2009 - 22:49
so excited for you, my computer has been off for so long.wishing all three of you health and happiness, remember its all my fault really,
love and hugs
roseanne.xxx