So last week I went into great detail about my experiences with pregnancy horror stories. This week I intend to discuss those little strange things that happen that you don’t normally hear about. I’m sure it may have been secretly stashed away in some random pregnancy guide, but alas I did not see it.
Nose Bleeds: I’m the type of person that has never really had nose bleeds. Maybe once or twice if the air has become too stuffy. So imagine my surprise when I go to blow my nose in the morning and I’m instantly greeted with a tissue full of blood. Now clearly I’m not freaked out by the sticky red liquid as obviously I’m a woman. But to have it come out of my nose and continue to come out of my nose was a bit disturbing. This didn’t just happen once, but multiple times during my pregnancy. The culprit? Hormones.
Pelvic Popping: As the months progressed I began to notice a strange phenomenon. Whenever I would turn over in the bed at night, my pelvic bone would pop loudly and painfully. For only lasting a second it was definitely a rude way to wake up. I found myself trying different ways to avoid that bone crunching gasp, but it was no good. Even if I turned very very slowly it still ended up popping at the end of my flip. I finally found that having a gigantic pillow between my legs helped a bit. But overall it was with me til birth. The culprit? Hormones.
Cravings: It is entirely possible to not have weird cravings. I’d watched the crazy romantic comedies where the husband is running away from a screaming pregnant chick to get her ice cream and pickles, but I never actually experienced that myself. Thankfully neither did Dustin. There was one thing that I wanted a lot of and that was fries. Nice salty McDonalds fries. But, I love fries any day of the week so just because I wanted them and could now get them on a constant basis doesn’t convince me that they were real cravings. I had been accused by some gleeful work ladies of having cravings because of my cucumber and cheese sandwiches. But I was sorry to disappoint them with the fact that I’ve been eating those kind of sandwiches for years. Maybe it was that strange diet that prevented me from having the dreaded pickles and ice cream curse.
Water Breaking: I am so glad that this happened when I was at home. If my water had of broke while I was at work I would have been devastated. It is not as mild as the movies would have you believe. What To Expect stated this: “By now you’ve no doubt lost a night or two’s sleep over when and where your water (your amniotic sac) will break — because you’ve heard (or seen on TV) one or two horror stories about a pregnant woman’s water breaking in an inconvenient (no, make that humiliating) time and place (like in the middle of a busy sidewalk at lunch hour, or at a jam-packed mall on a Saturday morning). But your reality show will probably be a little different. First, because fewer than 15 percent of women experience a rupture of the membranes before labor begins, and, second, because if your water does break in public, it’s less likely to come as a torrential tidal wave, and more likely to come as a slow leak, a trickle, or a small gush.”
I have highlighted the last description for a reason. I was fortunate to have my water break at home. It was very convenient as at about 1am I got up to go to the bathroom. I pee and then splash! I hear a bunch of water hit the toilet bowl. Awesome! I thought. My water couldn’t have had better timing! I was quite smug about the whole thing, even breathed a sigh that it wasn’t at work. So we pack up and away we go to the hospital. When we get there I explain to the nurse that my water had broke. She escorts us into the exam room. I change into the awesome hospital gown while she goes and gets a few things she needs. Apparently nurses don’t really believe you when you tell them your water has broken. So in order to convince them, my body decided to do something unexpected. I was sitting on the end of the exam table when all of a sudden fluid began to pour out of me. I instantly stood up in reaction and flooded the floor with yellowish liquid. OMGOOSES! I thought something was wrong because to me I’d already had my water break and it was the mild “small gush” What to Expect had described. This stuff also wasn’t clear as to me that’s what I was expecting with “water breaking”. So what the fuck was this?? The nurse returns and sees whats happened and says, “Oh yeah clearly your water broke.” Thank you Captain Obvious. It turned out to be normal but definitely wasn’t “What To Expect.”
There are tons of pregnancy websites out there that do a great job informing you about the pitfalls of being pregnant. Whattoexpect.com did an awesome job for me. Just keep in mind that you may experience some things they don’t cover. As long as you and your doctor are aware of them it should be no problem. So if you’ve experienced or are experiencing some of the same things I did, feel safe in the comfort that you aren’t alone.