Fat vs. Pregnant
OK ladies, I have to admit something to you. This is for all the ladies who have gotten pregnant in my past and were skinnier than me (read: most of you ex-pregnant ladies). Every time you complained about how big you got, how fat you felt, how you couldn’t move, how you ached because of the extra weight, how you couldn’t put your shoes on anymore, all I could do was roll my eyes and think how much of an exaggerated show you were putting on. After all, I’ve been fat pretty much my whole entire life and even at your most pregnant I still far-outweighed most of you and I had no problems putting my shoes on or rolling over in bed! It couldn’t be that bad to be as big as you were if I were bigger!
Oh boy, was I wrong. So very wrong.
Whatever your body does to your baby-making hardware is so vastly different from being fat. I started to feel differences as early as the end of the first trimester. I wasn’t even gaining any weight at all but I first noticed uncomfortableness when I put on my jeans or when I would roll over in bed. My abdominal muscles just didn’t want to cooperate like before and now protested if I wanted to do a quick roll in bed. It was like my body was betraying me.
I’m now at 34+ weeks and putting on pants (or heaven-forbid shoes and socks) is a work-out!
You know another favorite? Comfortably sitting and watching TV, getting up to go do something and then having to rush to the bathroom because gravity and your belly have conspired to squeeze your bladder to an uncomfortable size even though you didn’t really have to pee before you got up. Having a big belly is not a foreign thing for me, but having a big belly that conspires against my own biological functions is still something new.
So ladies, I apologize. I was a clueless, silent, know-it-all.
As my body prepares itself for the homestretch, I am a preparing myself mentally for more surprises and adventures. I just hope it’s as mellow as the rest of my pregnancy has been!
How did your views change before and after being pregnant?