Of course, you have the common side effects:
-Nausea (during the first trimester)
-Constipation (from those hard core prenatal vitamins)
-Heartburn
-Getting plump
-sore back, legs, and feet
-stretch marks
But I had the scary bleeding during the first trimester, some serious periods of headaches, and the worst pelvic pain i can describe. The pelvis does alot of moving, stretching, and separating during pregnancy.. some women have it worse than others, but in my case, it is excruciating at times. I know pregnant women complain alot. We are allowed. But Braeden is making it really hard on this mama. I know in the end it will be all worth it!
Some hints/tips/tricks for all of you non pregnant people, or newly pregnant women. Take it or leave it. No hard feelings. I am not a pro by any means.
Maternity clothes: invest in maternity clothes. Although you may be able to get away with wearing your normal pants for a while, when it gets to the point where you need to unbotton your pants, it is time to go shopping. Pants come in two styles basically. None have buttons. You can buy ones that are lower rise, with a band about a couple inches thick. These worked well early on, but i found that they would fold down, and turn very uncomfortable, especially if you sit alot during the day. They are also more noticable under your shirts. I personally like the pants that have the full belly coverage. Yes, they are weird at first,but oh so comfortable.. and have been working for me for months now.
Bras: Maternity bras are strange contraptions...They double as breast feeding bras! Alittle too much info, but my chest got much larger during the early months. They seem to have gone down a bit, but from what i hear, once baby comes, they go back to being gigantic and painful. I experimented with alot of maternity bras, and found that i personally like the ones with no wiring at all. I found one from target that are super comfortable and cheap. I actually bought 4. I made sure that i would have some extra room for growing, so i went up in the number size, not the letter cup. Alot of the ones i tried said "no underwire", but really they all had one bar of wire on both sides that would dig into my side and hurt really bad, even when trying on bigger sizes. So try some different styles and figure out what works best for you.
Butt cushions: If you sit for long periods of time, ie a desk or in the car, and your rear end is really hurting like mine does, invest in a cushion. I have a weird one that i found at bed, bath, and beyond and it goes with me on all my car rides.
Registries: I have two registries. Yes it may be awkward to have a registry because then people think you are expecting gifts, but when people are throwing you multiple baby showers, and they plan on buying items regardless, it is alot nicer to be able to tell them exactly what you need. Yes, it is always awesome getting surprise items, and you should expect that to happen, but when it comes down to baby basics, it will be nicer in the end to have alot of it listed out so they can see what you have already and what you still need. We registered at Babies R US and Target. I must say, the customer service at babies-r-us has been top notch for us. They ship incredibly fast, and they take returns super easy. We actually bought two cribs, because one was back ordered and finally came in, so we returned the other one (obviously not assembled) and they were so nice about everything. I highly recommend babies-r-us. (They also give you bonuses based on how much off your registry has been purchased). So, long story short, don't be afraid to register. You don't need to tell everyone, but people will ask.
Furniture: We did alot of research about baby items. They whole realm of baby stuff is insane. There are so many products and alot of them are really different. After doing some research, we decided to invest the most in our rocker/glider chair. With my plans to nurse, this chair will come in handy. I wanted it to be comfortable, but also cozy enough that when it comes time to read bedtime stories to Braeden, the chair will be comfortable enough for a larger sized child and mama. We did not buy a furniture set, but bought a separate crib and dresser. They ended up matching perfectly because we decided on black furniture (if you had a specific color of wood, then it would be much more difficult to buy them separately without looking tacky. The crib was a piece of cake to assemble, but the dresser was much harder. We bought the dresser online from Target. Although it is great looking now, the 500 parts that came in the box unassembled were quite overwhelming. It took us 5 hours to assemble the dresser. So, be warned, it may be better to splurge on a dresser that comes assembled from a store. Regardless, the dresser and crib turned out great... We used a coupon from Babies-r-us and purchased the crib for $150 plus tax, and the dresser, although was a gift, was about $220. The chair on the other hand was about $400.. but it is not your typical looking chair, it is much more modern looking. Just do your research and check out youtube. They have great reviews from real people who actually demonstrate how the products work.
Stretch Marks: Every person is different, but i will share my experience with stretch marks. From the get go, i purchased a mass amount of stretch mark lotions and creams. I figured that if i started early, it would prevent the process. I was wrong. Just about a month ago i finally started showing signs of stretch marks on my stomach. They look like lighting bolts on both sides of my belly button. I have increased my lotion application but i think it is only getting worse. My advice, take it or leave it, don't spend tons of money on these lotions and creams. Just buy the cheaper ones because it likely wont make a difference.
Here are some recent pictures... they really show the progression when lined up next to each other. This boy is getting big! Sorry for such a long post ;) 12 more weeks to go!
