What they don't tell you........

Now that I am 6 months into my life changing journey, I have to tell you about a few things that NO ONE ever told me about being pregnant. In the movies - pregnancy is some blissful event. You see them walking around in a happy fog rejoicing every minute of every day. Even a few of my friends led me to believe that this is how it was going to be..........

IT'S A LIE>>

Don't believe it, don't base your idea of pregnancy around it!!!

TRUST ME!!! =)

But before I go any further, let me say this - I wouldn't change it for the world! I would go through this a million times over if I had too!! I would walk through fire for this little girl doing somersaults in my belly morning and night!!

THAT being said, I want to share a few things that I was not prepared for!! The biggest shocker for me was the fact that my ever expanding belly has a hard time keeping up with my ever expanding butt!!! Seems it expands at what feels like TWICE the rate!!! Funny....I thought the baby grew in FRONT, but maybe????? For the first couple months, I looked like someone that went on a serious food binge and just kept going!! I know that any time anyone saw me eat, they were thinking -

GOD SHE REALLY DOESN'T NEED THAT!!! Put down the cheeseburger lady!!!

A few times I broke down in tears because if you know me well - you would know that a couple years ago I weighed like 180 lbs and worked my butt off (literally) to drop 40 lbs!! Now all those size 14 & 16 jeans I swore I would never wear........

well........

you should never swear........

When I finally started to "show".....I felt a slight sense of relief.....even though my butt cheeks were now bouncing twice for every one step that I took, people could now understand there WAS a reason!!! But now....all they try to do is feed me!!! NO!!! I promise little miss is getting lots of nutrition!!!

I am happy to say that the weight gain has slowed a bit and I have come to the realization - thanks to Joe's non-stop reminding =) (I knew I loved him for a reason!!)- that I am NOT fat...I am pregnant....it's SUPPOSED to make me feel better but.......

not so much =).....

Along with the weight gain comes another little side effect......it's a fabulous little thing called......SWELLING!!! Yep, you seem to blow up like a balloon by the end of the day. it's most prevalent in your feet and ankles.....I cried one night because the swelling was so bad I thought I had CANKLES!!!! I found that there were a few things you could do to help...no salt and feet up....helps some =)

There are some neat bonuses to being preggo - you get bigger boobs =).....I keep getting told by a certain somebody (JOE) that he hopes they stay when we are all done.....something tells me he probably shouldn't bank on that =) ......you can dream though!!! We all need to hope for something I guess!!! One other benefit, well half a benefit, is that your hair grows much faster!!! My hair is already past my shoulders!! I can put it in a ponytail now!! It's shiny and soft!!

There is an evil flip side to this however.......

I now feel the need to buy stock in Gillette or it's parent company....

I would swear that I can shave my legs and underarms in the morning and by night they both have TOMORROW'S five O'clock shadow!! It's UNREAL!! I almost can't keep up, never mind how hard it's becoming to even see what I'm doing because of the expanding belly!! No one ever told me that was going to be an issue...it's hard to feel attractive when you can rub your legs together and make sandpaper sounds......or maybe call crickets.....

I guess I can thank god that I did not, for the most part, get the dreaded morning sickness that everyone talks about. My version was a lot less painful and only really applied when riding in a motor vehicle. Car sick was basically what I got. If I ate it was much less of a problem.......

How about feeling like you have run a marathon when in fact you have only walked from the kitchen to the bedroom??? Yeah, and that's only like 10 feet??? You constantly sound like that person that is extremely bored or feeling ignored when you**SIGH** sooo loud all the time =)!! I had to make sure I told Joe that I wasn't doing it because of him....I literally could NOT stop =)

I really don't want you all to think I'm complaining....I'm not, this has been the most rewarding experience. Every time I feel her kick or roll, or any time I get Joe to feel her - my heart just swells up and I want to cry =)....I never thought I would be doing this. And I really never thought I would be doing this with someone as wonderful as Joe. He's my rock =)....he keeps me sane and balanced. Didn't think that was possible, did ya???

I am still terrified. I walk into her room and look at her crib and try to imagine what she will look like sleeping there. I know Joe is going to be a good Dad, but I am soo scared that in some way I will screw up and this poor little girl is not going to have the Mom she deserves. I will love her with all my heart, I just hope I make good choices for her. It's so scary to think that someone else's life is going to be dependant on me. I haven't always done the right things or made really wise choices on everything, but I hope I can for her.......I'm almost making myself cry!!!

I have 3 more months to go.....it seems like forever but these past 6 have gone by soooo fast.....

I promise tonight I will post some ultrasound pics....