How uncomfortable was your pregnancy?

[oobiecoo]

Dh keeps mentioning how well I''m dealing with pregnancy. The only big issues I''ve had were with all-day-sickness for a couple of weeks and now I have alot of back pain. I get insane heartburn but it really doesn''t bother me that much. No hemoroids, no swollen feet... nothing like that. Yet.

So how uncomfortable was *your* pregnancy? Do symtoms and discomfort generally get WAY worse at the end?

 

[jewelz617]

It was ok until the 8th month. Then the back pain, fatigue, swelling and carpal tunnel set in. Oh and sciatica. Early pregnancy was a cake walk compare to the end. I couldn't breathe or sleep, or even eat much. It was a bummer.

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

Hey oobiecoo!

I''m not pregnant, but just wanted to say congratulations to you and I hope the good luck continues for you!

 

[Pandora II]

Awful and yes it gets worse!

- 26 weeks of morning sickness - throwing up up to 20 times a day before starting medication (and even with the meds still felt icky). I had hyperemesis.

- terrible backache - I got an inflamed joint where one of your ribs joins a vertebra, it was incredibly painful. In the end a full body compresssion stocking was the only thing that helped. That was on top of the spinal issues and nerve pain I already have and take the equivalent of 60mg of morphine a day for!

- really bad odema in my feet and legs starting at 34 weeks. I could barely walk by the end and I was retaining so much water I put on 75lbs most of which I lost in 2 weeks pp. I didn''t realise how painful odema can be, but it''s very uncomfortable. Again I was in compression stockings by the end.

I also had bad antenatal depression, but that was mainly due to the stress of the courtcase I was battling, even so it lasted nearly 5 months.

The labour was all supposed to be the straightforward, easy bit and even that went tits up!

Sorry, I''m all doom and gloom!

 

[E B]

Pretty uncomfortable, but not the worst I've heard of.

Weeks 5-10: Mild morning sickness
Week ~20-33: Baby foot in ribs
Week ~25 on: Heartburn like the fire of a thousand suns
Week ~28 on: Swelling

It was all worth it, though. I mean, I'm going to attempt to do it again, so it couldn't have been that bad, right?

 

[cara]

Hey, but you got a beautiful girl out of it, Pandora? Didn't always turn out so well in years past.

My first tri was really not fun. I didn't have hyperemesis like P but was supernauseous and pretty miserable for a solid month, and halfway miserable for another one. Unlike her, I went on meds early and they help but don't cure it. Oh, and constipated badly with heartburn and stomach tenderness... Its like the whole digestive system got a good workover that left it much less functional! (Voice in head talking to strange evolutionary processes that control this pregnancy thing: Is it *really* necessary to make me want to crawl in a hole and moan for the whole embroyo stage? That's what it takes to get a healthy baby out?)

Still somewhat nauseous at 17 weeks, but overall feeling much better and more functional! We'll see what the second half of the pregnancy brings...

 

[packrat]

London I carried way low, like, between my knees it felt like, so I had to wear a big brace for support. I always felt like she was going to fall out. I had a little heartburn. Trapper, I carried super high, so it felt like he was swinging around on my ribs. And in the beginning, I had heartburn bad enough that I thought I''d have to go to the ER a few times. I''d had an umbilical hernia my whole life and it was irritated when I was pg w/London and absolutely miserable w/Trapper. Sciatic pain w/both kids, and I still have it now and again.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/15/2010 5:31:38 PM
Author: cara
Hey, but you got a beautiful girl out of it, Pandora? Didn''t always turn out so well in years past.

My first tri was really not fun. I didn''t have hyperemesis like P but was supernauseous and pretty miserable for a solid month, and halfway miserable for another one. Unlike her, I went on meds early and they help but don''t cure it. Still somewhat nauseous at 17 weeks, but overall feeling much better and more functional! We''ll see what the second half of the pregnancy brings...

Yes I did, but I very nearly didn''t make it and definitely wouldn''t have in years past. Daisy was worth all of it, but I don''t think we''ll be risking it again - especially as my chances of another major PPH are dramatically increased due to having had one this time. DH is still traumatised!

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

Date: 4/15/2010 5:27:03 PM
Author: Pandora II
Awful and yes it gets worse!


- 26 weeks of morning sickness - throwing up up to 20 times a day before starting medication (and even with the meds still felt icky). I had hyperemesis.


- terrible backache - I got an inflamed joint where one of your ribs joins a vertebra, it was incredibly painful. In the end a full body compresssion stocking was the only thing that helped. That was on top of the spinal issues and nerve pain I already have and take the equivalent of 60mg of morphine a day for!


- really bad odema in my feet and legs starting at 34 weeks. I could barely walk by the end and I was retaining so much water I put on 75lbs most of which I lost in 2 weeks pp. I didn''t realise how painful odema can be, but it''s very uncomfortable. Again I was in compression stockings by the end.


I also had bad antenatal depression, but that was mainly due to the stress of the courtcase I was battling, even so it lasted nearly 5 months.


The labour was all supposed to be the straightforward, easy bit and even that went tits up!


Sorry, I''m all doom and gloom!

I''ve never been really big on the idea "push presents" but I must say that in your case, some HUGE diamond earrings would be in order. wowza! I''m sorry you had to suffer like that!

 

[cara]

Date: 4/15/2010 5:38:20 PM
Author: Pandora II

Date: 4/15/2010 5:31:38 PM

Author: cara

Hey, but you got a beautiful girl out of it, Pandora? Didn''t always turn out so well in years past.

My first tri was really not fun. I didn''t have hyperemesis like P but was supernauseous and pretty miserable for a solid month, and halfway miserable for another one. Unlike her, I went on meds early and they help but don''t cure it. Still somewhat nauseous at 17 weeks, but overall feeling much better and more functional! We''ll see what the second half of the pregnancy brings...

Yes I did, but I very nearly didn''t make it and definitely wouldn''t have in years past. Daisy was worth all of it, but I don''t think we''ll be risking it again - especially as my chances of another major PPH are dramatically increased due to having had one this time. DH is still traumatised!

Completely understandable on the future children thing/risking life and limb. My wimpy self was threatening such things with just a few weeks of nausea under my belt, and my health was never in danger!

 

[fieryred33143]

I had a really easy pregnancy. I never got morning sickness (had one episode with chef boyardee and will never, ever, ever eat it again

).

I had some minor discomfort. I had hip pain early on but that went away by 2nd tri. My feet were swollen pretty much all throughout 3rd tri. But no back pain thankfully. I didn't sleep comfortably though because DD would get hiccups in the middle of the night every night that kept me awake and I'm a belly sleeper so sleeping on my side really sucked. I couldn't be on my back, otherwise my body would go numb.

The last 3 weeks before she was born, I felt this pressure that seriously made me believe she was going to drop out at any point.

But other than that, smooth sailings. I'm actually afraid to get pregnant again because of it.

Oh yes and my heartburn was INSANE! I felt like I was on fire all the time.

DD was born with a head full of black hair so that OWT was true for me lololol!

 

[E B]

Date: 4/15/2010 5:57:09 PM
Author: fiery

DD was born with a head full of black hair so that OWT was true for me lololol!

Me too! Only Henry's newborn hair fell out and now it's grown in all wispy.

 

[MustangGal]

I had the most un-eventful pregnancy ever. Even went 2 days late and didn''t feel that horrible. I took the stairs every day at work, cooked, walked etc. like normal. The last month I couldn''t tie my shoes anymore, but that was about as bad as it got. The delivery made up for it though!

 

[lovinsparkles]

0-6 weeks: awesome -- lots of energy
6-18 weeks: all day "morning sickenss" -- awful
18-22 weeks: evening "morning sickness" -- pretty bad at first to just uncomfortable toward the end
22-32: fine, some tiredness/easily winded
32-present (37 weeks): normal aches and pains and tiredness, but very tolerable

I think it varies for everyone. Due to the nausea, that first trimester was far and away worse for me than the third (so far). But for someone with little morning sickness, probably the 3rd would be the more uncomfortable portion. Yay for you feeling pretty good so far!

 

[lili]

I was really lucky w/ my pregnancy.
-- no ms
-- no tiredness (just a couple of days in the first trimester where i had to take a catnap)
-- no heartburn (though my DD was born w/ a headful of air)
-- no cravings or aversions
-- don't think i was hormonal either

Like Mustang, my pregnancy was pretty uneventful.
I was walking 3miles 3x a week, walk and took the stairs to my 3rd office.
I worked til I delivered (at 39wk5d)....in fact, I was thinking about going into work the morning my water broke.

I did have a bit of swelling in the legs and sore back (but that was because I'd sit in front of the computer too long) during my third trimester,
but they weren't uncomfortable enough for me to issue an eviction notice.


My delivery was smooth and quick.

I keep telling people that my DD made me pay for them (easy pregnancy and delivery) later though by refusing to nap and sleep

-----
how far along are you already?

 

[jaysonsmom]

I had a easy 1st pregnancy:
-no morning sickness
-slept well, and slept a lot (went to bed at 9PM every night)
-slight swelling of the feet in the 3rd trimester (wore clogs to work).

Then came the 2nd pregnancy:
-all day nausea for whole 1st trimester, sometimes threw up just brushing my teeth.
-partial placenta previa, so not allowed to walk up and down stairs (only once a day the doctor said).
-severe lower back pain throughout second and thried trimesters, making it hard to sleep
-felt lots of pressure "down there" like the baby was about to fall out the last month.

Congrats and Good Luck Oobiecoo, hope your discomfort stays away!!

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/15/2010 5:43:58 PM
Author: Guilty Pleasure


I've never been really big on the idea 'push presents' but I must say that in your case, some HUGE diamond earrings would be in order. wowza! I'm sorry you had to suffer like that!

Antique 1905 18k yellow gold hand-carved ring set with 3 OEC's - centre is 0.80ct, sides are 0.60ct - and 4 single cuts. Stones are H/I colour but face up very white (they have a good whack of fluorescence

).

I call them Friday, Saturday and the biggest one is Sunday!

Sorry for the crappy photo...

 

[somethingshiny]

While preggo with JT, all day sickness for 7 months. Also broken ribs (not caused from JT but worsened by his size), dislocated pubic bone, excruciating hip pain. Migraines, back ache, the worst heartburn of my life, constipation and severe fatigue. Total weight gain 21 lbs and delivered a week early via emergency c-section.

This pregnancy, all day sickness until around 20 weeks, MS for another 4 weeks. Big weight loss. Immediate pubic bone pain due to prior dislocation. Immediate hip pain. Braxton Hicks from around 23 weeks any time I walk half a block or equivalent. Headaches (although thankfully no migraines!), back ache, constipation. Oddly enough, at our recent US, the tech mentioned how much hair LO has, but I really haven''t had too much heartburn. Still under pre-preggo weight at almost 27 weeks. Baby has a heart condition that we pray she''ll grow out of. Lots of tests and monitoring for her. Definite planned c-section.


But, I''ve had many miscarriages, so I''ll take the crappy 9 months any day!

 

[waxing lyrical]

I had easy peasy pregnancies with my girls. Mild food aversion and fatigue. I felt great with them. With ds1, I felt like crap from 6-22 weeks. Nauseous and under the weather. I also had a significant case of fatigue. Strong food aversion and a really sensitive gag reflex. I was also huge. I had uterine overdistension from my polyhydramnios (too much amnio fluid) starting at 29 weeks. The edema I had sucked big time.

My pregnancy with ds2 was also fairly easy. Mild queasiness here and there from 6-12 weeks. Some fatigue. Not much else to complain about. I did have a lot of anxiety, but the pregnancy itself was easy and straightforward.

I did have the usual heartburn, sore hips, aches/pains and pelvic pressure late in pregnancy, but none of this stuff really bugged me.

 

[Kaleigh]

My pregnancy with my lovely daughter was more uncomfortable than I was carrying my son. With my DD, I had such reflux... She kicked my upper stomach something fierce. I slept upright, I was huge towards the end. I gained 28 pounds with both. BUT with DD I looked as big as a house. I had a wedding to go to right before she was born, people parted ways as I walked by... They said you poor thing.

I was in PAIN at the end, everything hurt. I was like get this baby out!!!

With DS, total opposite. No pain, I was tiny. Just a little basketball. He came 3 weeks early and was 7 pounds.

I think the biggest thing, was that I had C sections. I don''t dialate. No matter how big the contractions..

With DD was in labor for 48 hours with DS 24 hours...

I was like take him already, I don''t need to keep trying for a V birth...

I wish I had an advocate, my husband clearly isn''t a hospital kinda guy...He fainted when I had DD....

Best thing I can say , is have someone in your family, or have a friend be there for you if need be...
I could have done that, as my best friend is a neo natal nurse, but the thought didn''t occur to me...

 

[lili]

it''s interesting to hear how 2 pregnancies are so different.
makes me worry that i may not be so lucky the second time around.

 

[swimmer]

Good Luck Oobie!

Well, for the first 4 months even I couldn''t really tell I was pregnant, no ms, no fatigue, no weight. But some broken ribs just wouldn''t heal and the cartilage is probably stabbing into my gallbladder. Lovely. No pain or even much discomfort now at 36+ weeks but I nap like it is my job now. Still swim a few miles, yoga, or the elliptical for an hour every day, even doing a race tomorrow. No swelling, but am not comfortable wearing plat rings while it is getting warm out. Have gained 30lbs, and blood pressure is the same as pre-preggo (slightly more than a vampire''s). Feeling pretty good about this, but wishing that I had some BH to see what it is going to feel like and start stretching out those muscles. I just know this little bugger is going to stay put till 42 weeks...so we shall see how i feel then! I think my comfort was mostly that I wasn''t big in the summer, no way to regulate temp with him on board. I cannot imagine doing this in the heat and feel so badly for women who have to go through that!

 

[PumpkinPie]

so funny how my responses to tehse threads dictate whether I want to start TTC There have been some pretty sweet threads lately about letting go of your kids and having them grow up etc., and they made me feel all gooey and baby wanting.. This thread makes me think..let''s put it off for a bit longer

 

[AussieNic]

With DD9, morning sickness, which disappeared around 11-12 weeks. Huge aversion to the smell of onions (not good when you are in charge of picking up toasted steak sandwiches loaded with onions for the office lunch) 38 weeks, developed high BP, sent 200klms away to hospital I was to deliver at, with checkups every 2nd day, bordering on pre-eclampsia.

DS, 21 months, took 7 years to conceive, tried naturally then finally moved onto IVF. (Still have 8 snowbubs in storage) M/S till somewhere around 13-14 weeks. Not sure if it was the 3 different medications i was taking all twice daily to stay pregnant that had that affect on me? or if it was just this pregnancy? ended up depressed (quite bad to the point my DH was going to take the car keys to work with him so i couldn't do anything drastic) pleaded with DH to not tell my OB about depression i had, (had spent 6 months taking drugs to get pregnant, and I didn't want any more) BP moved up a little in the last tri, but not as bad as with DD. Last trimester ended with heartburn pretty bad, and was given more medication to help settle it down. Swollen feet bad in the last 4 days leading up to booked c/s. Tried to keep my feet up as much as possible, yet, it still took about 3-4 weeks after DS's birth before my feet fitted back into my shoes like they did before. (Also arrived at the hospital for c/section, thinking i was having braxton hicks and found I was already 8cms dilated lol.. ooh, forgot to add, super super tired as well...but i think it was the drugs i was on for the first trimester.

 

[Mara]

fairly ''uneventful'' pregnancy, thankfully.

M/S and nausea almost 24/7 for about 8 weeks and it lasted until about 15-17 weeks. i didn''t enjoy food all that much until almost 20 weeks.

2nd tri is supposed to be a honeymoon, for me it was more around 20 weeks. i enjoyed the 3rd tri the most.

had heartburn when i''d never had it before, ugh! sciatic nerve pain was horrible for me in my right hip/butt and i''d also never had anything like that before. i still have it a little sometimes too.

uncomplicated yet not fun (ha!) labor and delivery.

all that said, i definitely did not enjoy it and i don''t plan to do it again. i got very lucky overall but i didn''t like how i felt totally unlike myself for 10 months, how i didn''t (and still somewhat don''t) enjoy food (i was a huge foodie), and lost total control over my body which now i am struggling to get back.

good thing the kid is cute.

 

[gailrmv]

Mine was really not bad. The beginning, I was exhausted and had some ms but not too awful. It was hard because we weren't telling anyone except closest friends and family, so not only did I feel bad, but I had to pretend I was feeling good. Esp at work. That was hard! Almost puked during meetings but managed to hold it together. Nausea came back a few times later in my pregnancy, but not too bad.

For the most part, after first trimester I felt pretty good. I'm very fit and exercised throughout my pregnancy, and I am sure that helped. Also, just keeping a positive attitude and not dwelling on aches and pains.

The last few weeks it was hard to get comfortable to sleep, but that was it. Nothing else too bad even at the end.

I had a horrible L&D, though, unfortunately. The worst part of the whole ordeal was recovering from an unplanned c-section. Those first few days were so overwhelming, learning to care for a newborn, learning to bf, and trying to take care of myself while in pain.

I really didn't mind being pregnant. I would do it again. I hope L&D will go better, either VBAC or planned C section. At least I will know what to expect.

 

[qtiekiki]

Both of my pregnancies were fairly easy.

1st pregnancy
- No morning sickness
- No bloating
- No nauseousness
- No heartburn
- No swelling
- Fatigue, but at least I was able to nap/sleep.
- No constant peeing
- Slept well

2nd pregnancy
- No morning sickness
- Bloating throughout 1st trimester
- Occasional nauseousness during 1st trimester
- No heartburn
- No swelling
- Fatigue, but harder to find time to nap/sleep with a toddler to chase around.
- No constant peeing
- Slept well

3rd trimester was more uncomfortable for me because there's just more weights to carry and balance out. So my back and feet were sore in the evening. Also there were more pressure on the cervix, and it started a lot earlier with the 2nd pregnancy (which is normal for subsequent pregnancies).

Both L&Ds went smoothly.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Mine was pretty easy. The last few weeks are trying, even when everything is absolutely fine. I have quite low blood pressure, so I got dizzy a lot, but I remember going on day trips with DH and going out for dinner the week before my due date, so even if I''m looking back through rose-tinted glasses a little bit, it can''t have been that bad. I mean, I remember having a really nice time, not overwhelming discomfort or anything.

You get there gradually, too. You have time to adjust.

Congrats on your pregnancy!

Jen

 

[lizzyann]

Yes, I''m with Mrs. Mitchell. In the beginning I had very little morning sickness. The main things I noticed later in pregnancy was a little heartburn and VERY swollen ankles/feet and hands.

 

[Sha]

I had a great pregnancy. Morning sickness kicked in from weeks 8-14 but it wasn''t horrible, then there were swollen feet from week 21 onwards. Outside of that, no other ailments. I was cute and ''glowing'', and felt just as active and energetic as I did before, so I worked out at the gym and did all my regular activities up till month 8.

I worked down to my due date as well (almost) - finished work on the Friday, and went into labour on the Saturday ( a week early).

I guess pregnancy affects every woman differently, and perhaps each pregnancy is different as well. My friend who was pregnant the same time as me had terrible morning sickness throughout her pregnancy and could hardly eat anything. She also had a lot of back pain. The whole time was torture for her.

There was a thread on here recently about missing pregnancy - I really do! It was a great time. I even miss labour/delivery, even though I had a pretty painful natural birth. The whole experience was just amazing and life-changing, though. I would love to do it again.