My first pregnancy was a bit rough. My second was actually relatively smooth. Despite such different pregnancies, both times, as soon as baby’s out, I’ve thought: how great is not being pregnant?!
Don’t get me wrong, pregnancy has its good parts, but m a n. After that third trimester…Here are a few of my favourite things about not being pregnant:
less fatigue – newborns babies have nothing of pregnancy exhaustion. I love not being tired all the time!
bendy – a few hours after baby #2 was born, Todd said, “Hey, look at you, bending forward”. I hadn’t noticed until he brought it up, but seriously: bending. Forward, sideways, to the ground. It’s great, I’m so foldable now!
bye bye heartburn – with both pregnancies, I suffered from heartburn (though it was worse with the first, and I wasn’t taking anything for it). Having heartburn almost every meal is rough, and I am glad that taking meds helped control the damage 9 months of heartburn can do, and I seem to be back to normal!
no swelling – I hardly swelled at all this time compared to my first pregnancy (only swelling mildly in the last month). However, once baby was out, the leg and foot swelling went away immediately. I was also surprised to discover that I’d had a fair amount of water weight all over my lower half, and it’s been fun to just sort of ~shrink~ down.
clothes fit me (kind of) – I mean, I’ve still got the flabby postpartum bod, but now I can at least wear my own sweatpants (instead of Todd’s) again!
not getting bigger – your body really knows what it’s doing with second babies. Though I was able to pretty much hide my pregnancy the first trimester somehow, I basically got as big as I’d get by, like, 33 weeks. That meant I was huge for longer—and also concerned about how I could physically get bigger. Alas, that turmoil is behind me!
no more random pain – I had several unfortunately pinched nerves during both pregnancies, as well as hips that needed adjusting (round pigment releases h u r t). Baby out, pressure off…relief!
i’m more functional – at the end, before baby dropped, I couldn’t really carry my toddler, or lift much, or lean over counters—you get the idea. Now? Well, I can so all those things. It’s good to feel more human, and capable!
no more practice surges – I had Braxton-Hicks, and then prodromal labour for w e e k s. Though it wasn’t particularly hard to deal with, I was still having surges all the time. My body is finally just relaxing…for the most part.
i have a baby – and the best for last: I’m not pregnant and wondering who this little person is—he’s already here! I definitely get more enjoyment out of baby now that he’s out, especially because he’s such calm little guy (not much going on in the womb). Having a baby sleeping and cooing on you is infinitely better than being pregnant!
I’m just really excited to have myself back to myself.
What are your favourite things about not being pregnant; or what are you looking forward to the most after pregnancy?
