5 Pregnancy Surprises I Wasn’t Expecting

Today marks 6 months since my baby girl was born, & it certainly been quite a wild ride!

Very thankfully, just within the past few weeks, Camryn has started to get the whole sleeping at night thing. However, my sensitive, light sleeping baby seems to like keeping me on my toes & I know that it could be short-lived, so I’m enjoying these nights of decent sleep however long they last (pretty please, let them continue!).

With this milestone and because one of my best friends is in the midst of her pregnancy, I’ve been thinking back to my days with a baby bump. I think that while women hear a lot about pregnancy and birthing a baby, it is really something that you could never totally fathom unless you’ve experienced it.

There definitely were some things that I didn’t expect to happen that did, and I thought it’d be fun to share my top 5 surprises. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty!

The unpreventable swelling.

Before getting pregnant, I assumed that a lot of swelling happens to expecting mothers because they aren’t taking care of themselves well – eating a lot of sodium and processed foods, not exercising, and so on. Boy was I wrong!

My pregnancy was pretty smooth until week 30, when all of a sudden I started being plagued by a few really annoying symptoms – one being that my feet, calves, and hands were swelling like crazy. No matter how much elevating my feet and icing I did, the swelling became an ever-present thing, and it being the middle of summer didn’t help me. I started to not fit into a lot of my sandals and shoes, and my wedding rings got too tight. My midwife said it was perfectly normal – it happens to 75% of pregnant women – but I felt so bloated and didn’t recognized my above pictured feet when I would catch a glimpse of them!

Of course, as with any pregnancy symptom, the swelling was happening for a reason: Both body fluids and blood flow drastically increase during pregnancy to nurture the body. Extra fluid also helps prepare the pelvic joints and tissues to open for delivery. My body was producing 50% more blood and body fluids, and it showed (My Pilates instructor later told me that my feet were more drastic looking than my baby bump!).

Pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome.

Another fun symptom that got pretty terrible around 30 weeks was pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. Research indicates that carpal tunnel affects 31-62% of pregnant women, but before getting it myself, I wasn’t even aware that it was a thing.

Carpal tunnel would make my right side throb at night, from my shoulder down through my hand. I was waking up every hour or two would throbbing pain, and would be forced to prop myself up and ice my arm to try to get some relief. I think this was due to the swelling and to my baby pinching a nerve, and as soon as I gave birth, both the swelling and carpal tunnel swiftly disappeared (thankfully!).

Random hardcore heartburn.

My dad has gotten heartburn regularly for years, and I would always wonder what it felt like… well, now I know the answer. With pregnancy brings the fire that travels from your chest up your throat, known as heartburn. This symptom actually started early on in my pregnancy, and it didn’t seem to have any rhyme or reason. It didn’t matter if I ate spicy food or not, and I’ve always been a small meals and snacks kinda girl, so eating large meals wasn’t the culprit either. Heartburn came and went as it pleased throughout my pregnancy, and I’m happy to report that I have not had it since my baby bump days.

So what causes pregnancy heartburn? During pregnancy, the body produces a hormone called progesterone, which causes the valve between the esophagus and stomach to relax. This results in stomach acid passing into the esophagus and irritating the lining, causing that burning sensation. Also, towards the end of pregnancy when the fetus is getting big and the uterus grows to accommodate this, more pressure is more on the stomach and intestines. That pressure alone causes discomfort, but it can also cause food back up into the esophagus. Good stuff!

Baby making her debut a month early.

I had a strong feeling that my baby, due the beginning of September, would arrive in August. But everyone made me feel like I was just wishfully thinking, and I would hear feedback like, “It’s your first baby? Oh no, she probably won’t come until mid-September.”

I trusted my mama instincts and was pretty sure that she’d arrive sometime in August. However, I was not expecting her to come within the first week of the month! I wound up delivering the day after my own birthday, and now, my husband, our daughter, and I all have birthdays within 1 week of the year.

Water breaking…just like in the movies!

I had read that a small percentage of pregnant women experience their water breaking before they experience any contractions. I also read that my water breaking probably won’t come as a flood of liquid, but rather a slow trickle…so imagine my confusion and shock when I was woken up at 2 am in the beginning of week 36 to crazy gushes of water pouring out of my body! IT WAS WILD.

Rather than rush to the hospital, I took my sweet time after my water broke. I laid in bed watching Criminal Minds as I immediately started to feel mild contractions, preparing myself mentally for having a baby that day. I had been practicing hypnobirthing, so in the early morning hours as I packed a hospital bag, I listened to hypnobirthing audio and got myself in the right headspace.

Yes, my baby was coming a month early, I did not have a hospital bag ready, and most of my baby shower gifts were still at my parents’ house – hell, the carseat we had JUST purchased a few days before was sitting in its box, and the entire thing came with us to the hospital! – but I was dead-set on remaining calm and relaxed, and it worked out wonderfully! Check out my empowering birthing story.

Tell me… Parents, did you or your significant other experience any of the same symptoms? Non-parents, do any of these symptoms surprise you?