When I first found out I was pregnant, I was thrilled…. but didn't feel pregnant. Only sick, sore, and tired. Ok, so I felt a little bit pregnant.
As I'm progressing into the 2nd trimester (we're approaching 18 weeks in a couple days!) I'm beginning to feel more pregnant, which is a relief. Yes, really, it's a relief! It makes it seem more real.
I still don't feel 100% pregnant yet. And, I have a feeling that although I wish for that now… I'll regret that soon enough.
So what is making me feel pregnant now?
Backaches, butt aches, hip aches, I-don't-know-where-or-what-that-is-aches, headaches, mood swings, crying jags (I cried while watching CSI recently. Seriously.), increased hunger, the need to use the bathroom everywhere we go, waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, frequent doctor appointments (I don't think I've visited a doctor this much in the last 3 years), being told I'm looking more pregnant (really, that was a good thing to hear!), compliments on my “glow,” and omg oily nose. I feel like I'm in high school again with the breakouts.
And that's just the short list.
So what's holding me back from feeling 100% pregnant?
The percentage has increased now that I'm starting to show a little bit. I'm a bigger girl, so I figured it would either take longer for me to start showing or I'd just get ginormous immediately. People who know me or know I'm pregnant can identify the starting of the preggo belly…. to everyone else… I just look fatter than normal.
I'm also starting to feel more pregnant now that I've started to feel the baby move. For me, I feel repeated pushes, pokes, and/or bumps in my lower abdomen. This should totally make me feel pregnant, I know! However, I've been so cautious to believe I'm actually feeling the baby move since I know how much I've been waiting and wanting to feel movement. Plus, until someone else (like my darling husband) can put their hand on my tummy and feel something it's a fairly lone experience. I tried very hard to describe it to Brian when I first felt movement and perked up all “ooh! I think… I think I just felt the baby move…” but it's one of those things that no matter how detailed my description is, it's my experience – mine and mine alone – at least for now.
What about you? When did you begin to really feel pregnant? Was it the first ultrasound? The first sound of the heartbeat? The first movement? Or was it when you were being rushed to the hospital by a frantic partner as you cry out between contractions?
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Marylin says
Oooh, when did I begin to feel really pregnant? I think it was when people started to realise that I had a baby bump and wasn’t just really fat. That wasn’t until about 7 months though (I’m too fat generally so it takes a while for people to realise it’s a baby bump!).
I think 2nd time round I was showing sooner, and it was the same then too.
Plus I was so scared that something would go wrong that I wouldn’t really let myself get too over excited about it (LOL that was easy… not) until we hit about 32 weeks.
Darcy says
In the beginning I was SO excited that I was pregnant and wanted to tell everyone yet was terrified to do so in case something went wrong and I’d have to retract it.
I think once my start of a bump is more obvious I’ll feel much more pregnant!
Lath says
I think I really started to feel pregnant at about 18 weeks when I had a pretty noticeable bump and bubba was getting pretty active and I was finding it hard to miss.
I feel like I should have felt pregnant the entire time because I had such a terrible terrible first 16 weeks with severe vomiting and exhaustion but I think it wiped me out so much I couldn’t actually focus on bub I just had to get through each day.