I'll be the first to say I knew pretty much nothing about being pregnant. Here are some things I've learned so far!
1. You can plan all you want, but ultimately your life is in God's hands.
Carson and I had a plan but we firmly believe that God knows what's best for us, our family and our future. Our relationship has grown in ways that I never imagined were possible. You think you love someone a lot--more than anything--but even a week later, a month later, your love has grown into a new realm that just blows your mind. This experience has opened us up to so many new and exciting possibilities, conversations, and friends. We get to figure out what kind of parents we want to be. How we want to raise our baby. What qualities we want our child to have. I pray daily that God will continue to guide us along His path that He has chosen for us.
2. People will be very forthcoming with their questions and opinions.
I'm at the point now where people don't know I'm pregnant unless I tell them and so far the information I've gotten from people has been really enlightening. I imagine I'll get to a point where I don't welcome their insight as much. I've loved how open mothers are about their experiences and what has worked best for them. However, there have been times when people say things that I feel are a little inappropriate. My least favorites interaction has to be: "Were you trying?" Rude. We've only gotten this question from strangers. I would feel completely different answering a friend asking the same question. Second least favorite: "We're trying for number X!" Awkward. We only get this one from strangers too. Too much information.
3. You don't show immediately.
I'm still surprised how little I'm showing. If people don't already know I'm pregnant, they wouldn't know unless I told them. I never really thought about it before, but I didn't think I would get this far in and still be this small. I'm trying to not wish to be further along or bigger because I'm sure when I'm there, I'll miss being this size!
4. You're pregnant for a whole MONTH longer than anyone ever talks about.
That whole 9 months thing is not true. You're full term at 9 months but really you go 40 weeks...or TEN months. I had no idea. Also, the doctor counts your weeks weird. Even if you can pinpoint the week or day that you got pregnant, they count from the first day of your last period...or something totally impossible like that. My doctor always says I'm a week further along than what I've counted, but when they measure your baby in the ultrasound they give you an estimated number of weeks which was pretty spot on with what I had figured.
5. If someone you know has a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend that has a cold, you'll probably catch it.
I used to be obnoxiously proud of my immune system. I made it through a whole year at Reynolds & Reynolds, where someone was practically sick every.single.day, without catching anything. It was basically a badge of honor. When you're pregnant though, your immune system has to be less Warrior Hero so it doesn't fight off the baby. I was sick for about 2 weeks around Christmas and I feel it coming again now. I'm sure it doesn't help that once a week I'm surrounded by 4 year olds at Awana. They like to sit in your lap and touch you and spread their germs everywhere. The unfortunate thing is you can't take normal cold medicine. (Yet another thing I didn't realize at first.) No DayQuil or NyQuil for instant relief.
I pretty much learn something new every day. It's been fun though! My new favorite response to "How's everything going?!" is "Swimmingly". It feels appropriate and it sometimes makes the other person a little uncomfortable. Success!
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