Let’s be honest: Pregnancy is one of the weirder life experiences. There’s so much going on in those 9 months, good and bad, that it’s easy to both love and hate it on any given day (or hour). While there are plenty of things I’ll miss about pregnancy once the baby arrives, there are still quite a few things I will be happy to not experience again!
Things I’ll miss about being pregnant:
1. Special treatment
As someone who generally doesn’t enjoy being the center of attention, I’m kind of relishing all the special treatment these days. Everyone wants to know how I’m feeling and even “I’m great, just a little tired!” elicits all kinds of sympathy and understanding. I know the time is coming, roughly 0.1 seconds after the baby is born, when no one will ever ask about my well-being again, so I’m enjoying the attention for once! (I’m a middle child; we’re known for being forgotten and neglected so I’m eating this up!)
2. Getting the baby all to myself
I’m loving this time where it’s just the baby and me growing and bonding. Feeling little flips and kicks is even cooler than I imagined it would be and I take each little kick or punch as a reassurance the baby and I are in this thing together. I’ll be sure to try to help my husband bond just as much once the baby is born. I’m thinking lots of night feedings and diaper changes should help.
3. Fun preparations and planning
Nursery makeover is well underway!
Things like painting the nursery with my mom (well, watching her paint) and picking out things like cribs and blankets will always be special memories I have as a first-time mom. With so many stressful parts of pregnancy, I’m trying to really focus on the fun preparations involved, and there really are a lot.
Things I won’t miss about being pregnant:
1. Weird symptoms
I was expecting exhaustion, nausea, and mood swings. I wasn’t expecting nose bleeds out of thin air, snoring so loud that I wake myself up at night, or the nice sprinkling of gray hair that’s appeared over the past few months. (I did confirm with the all-knowing Internet that gray hair can be a symptom of pregnancy, should this not be the case just don’t tell me, okay?)
2. Unsolicited advice
“You’re going to breastfeed, right? Get an epidural? Teach the baby to self-soothe? Start a college savings fund immediately?”
There’s so many opinions and debates to be had, it’s quite overwhelming! While obviously people will continue to give me parenting advice (for, well, the rest of my life I suppose), at least the decisions about the baby’s birth and immediate care will be decided in the next few months.
3. Expecting the unexpected
As a fairly anxious (I’m being kind to myself there) person, I’m kind of over this whole not knowing what to expect thing. Pregnancy is among the ultimate lack of control experiences one can have and I’m constantly worried and dreading what’s to come. Sure I’m feeling great this morning, but what about three hours from now when I faint in the post office? I don’t want to be the person always waiting for something bad to happen but with pregnancy being so unpredictable, and so different for every woman, I have a hard time relaxing just waiting to see what’s going to happen next.
There’s plenty to love about pregnancy for sure, but definitely lots of things I won’t miss after this journey.
What things will you miss most about pregnancy? What things will you not miss at all?