When you think about it, pregnancy is pretty insane. You are literally growing a human inside you. That’s why it makes sense that being pregnant leaves you feeling a little bit exhausted, emotional and erratic.
It also only makes sense that your behaviour may change slightly. In fact, you may find that you are acting completely out of character. Don’t worry – it’s perfectly normal to lose all sense of normality during pregnancy. It’s part of the fun.
To ease your fears that you are losing the plot, let us share some of the strangest things that all pregnant women do (even though most of us don’t like to admit it).
During the first trimester being pregnant means….
You become addicted to weeing on pregnancy tests.
You know, just to make sure that you are, indeed, pregnant.
You panic every time you pee.
For most people, going to the toilet is no big deal. For pregnant women, especially during the early stages of pregnancy, it can send you into a panic.
Why? Because there is always the chance that when you go to the toilet, you will see blood. And blood, although not always, can be an indication that something might be wrong.
Although light spotting (and even heavier bleeding) doesn’t mean you are miscarrying, it can still be terrifying.
You cry over pretty much EVERYTHING.
There’s no milk in the fridge? Your favourite couple got voted off MKR? A puppy looked at you? Cue the waterworks.
You make a massive meal and then sit there staring at it.
Because you were starving an hour ago. And now that you’ve crumbed the chicken, steamed the veggies and fried the rice to perfection, the smell and sight of your meal is sending your stomach into nausea overload. And thus sitting there, cursing your stomach and silently crying over the fact that you can’t eat is pretty much all you can do.
You feel your breasts every ten seconds.
Sore breasts, although annoying, are also a good sign that things are progressing well during pregnancy. And so it only makes sense to feel yourself up every few minutes to make sure they are still sore.
During the second trimester being pregnant means…
You frame a photo of your uterus.
Or most likely place it on the fridge. Or upload it to Facebook for the world to see. Because sharing photos of one of your organs is perfectly acceptable during pregnancy.
You chase your partner around the house screaming at the top of your lungs, “He’s kicking, he’s kicking”!
Once your baby starts to kick, you want to share this with your partner. And, for the first few weeks, you can almost guarantee that anytime bub kicks, your partner will be outside/at work/in the toilet.
You sleep with 17 pillows.
The more pillows, the better chance you may actually get a decent night’s sleep.
You send your partner text messages that contain nothing but a list of names.
And get a one word response: “No.”
You take a photo of your stomach every two days.
Do you have a bump yet? Has it changed? Has the baby dropped? Probably not. But it’s still necessary to take a photo.
During the third trimester being pregnant means…
You use your stomach as a personal coffee table.
Why? Because you can.
You rearrange the furniture five times in a day.
No, you’re not crazy. You’re nesting. There’s a difference.
You consume your body weight in pineapples.
Or castor oil. Or spicy foods. Or anything else that someone once said they ate before going into labour.
You strip down to your knickers, place a floral crown on your head and drape a piece of fabric over your body.
Only during a maternity photo shoot would you ever consider doing this.
You carry a towel with you everywhere you go.
And not because you like to visit the beach often. Oh no. It’s because you never know when your waters might break. And having a towel on the seat of your car, over your bed sheets and on top of the couch cushions simply means you will have one less thing to clean up when you return home. Because no new mum wants to deal with dirty nappies, leaking breasts AND an amniotic-fluid stained mattress.
Yes, pregnancy brings out the best and the worst in us all. But, the unexplained behaviour will be 100 per cent worth it when you have your little one in your arms.
And, let’s be honest. Erratic pregnancy behaviour is only the beginning – there are also plenty of weird and wacky moments in parenting to look forward to!
