So..........you've successfully completed a positive 'stick' test, you've had the all clear with the Doctor and come to the realisation that you are no longer just thinking for yourself but for another life too!
How do you comprehend the miracle that is happening inside your body? One minute you are out and about sipping a Sauvignon Blanc and the next the very sniff of wine sends you into very un-ladylike retching poses! What the??
I appreciate that as a pregnant woman you are told to expect cravings, mood swings, bloatedness, heartburn etc - but until that bump shows does anyone else really 'get it' besides you? And how do you deal with that emotionally?
I personally feel that maternity leave should start as soon as you find out you are pregnant and then you return to work at around the 4 months pregnant stage - is it just me or did anyone else struggle with the first trimester the most? It's so difficult to explain to your partner, friends and family (unless they have been there done that!) just how horrendous you can feel! This life has taken over your body and your razor sharp mind has now turned to mush! You want to sleep all hours of the day and the pencil skirts and stilettos just don't seem to do it anymore (please can I wear my pyjamas to work!?)
The first trimester for me, was especially difficult - I had only told a few very close friends and family of my pregnancy - yet somehow I expected the people that didn't know to telepathically pick up how I was feeling and treat me with care! I'd gone mad! My work mates weren't to know, yet the very smell of coffee would have me running for the bathroom and so I constantly sat there thinking how can I cover my nose subtly without offending everyone! I struggled with trying to comprehend how I was feeling as well as trying to live the life I had before, so as not raise any questions.......how did YOU deal with this??
I felt, for me, that after the initial euphoria of the positive pregnancy test, my body did a massive slide into sluggishness, bloatedness, mad mood swings and constant nausea - I spent most of the 3 months thinking - 'how can I survive like this for the next 7 months?..... and if I can't handle this.........??'
How did your first trimester go? How did you deal with your body all of a sudden taking over your mind? Did you let everyone know? Did you find it hard to come to terms with your new found future? How did you cope with feeling extremely positive about the future to all of a sudden crying over an odd pair of socks? Or did you have an amazingly positive experience and have some tips you can share with other readers?
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Monday 16 August 2010
Who Am I Now?
OK.... so this is probably one of the most difficult articles to write! How do you get all the feelings and emotions across to the reader in order for them to know and understand where you are coming from?
So you've done the pregnancy test and whether planned or not this baby is coming and there is no stopping it!
But who are you now? You make appointments with Doctors, you meet with Midwives and you talk about how your body is going to change, how many countless blood tests you will need etc... But who actually talks to you about changing as a person?
I want to address the issue that whilst becoming a 'Mother to be' is probably the best thing that has ever happened to you, everything you know as it stands is going to change slightly... your world is going to tip precariously upside down!
Who were YOU before you became a Mother?
Here is my story....
I worked as a Business Development Manager for a Creative Design and Marketing Company, I had been with my partner for over a year - we were living together in a house right in the centre of town and our world revolved around Wine Bars, Fine Dining and Parties! It was the life where you would finish work, make a quick change (the only thing you had to worry about was your make up was fresh and your shoes matched your bag!) evenings often went on until the early hours of the morning and then you were back up in the morning, skinny latte in hand and on the way to work again.
Office clothes revolved around pencils skirts, stilettos and crisp fitted shirts and my stomach had a flatness to it that I can only imagine now!
I was told when I was 16 the chances of me getting pregnant were slim to none so instead of being the victim I threw myself into what I knew I could strive at... and that was my career. My girlfriends were all in the same boat - plenty of time yet - career and vino first... babies later!
To go from being out and about every evening, to all of a sudden having to think about what I ate, drank and also what type of Mother I would make (does anyone else have those doubts!?) would flood through my mind on a daily basis. I was scared because everything I knew before was going to change - would it be for the better? Would I make as good a mother as my mother had to me? Would my partner still fancy me? Will I ever be able to fit into my pencil skirt again!? Will I still be the same person? So many questions!
The book I am writing now is addressing the emotional side of pregnancy and having babies/children - the fact that the person you knew you were before is going to have a new side, depth and dimension. You nights out are going to turn into nights in, your parties will probably stem around 1st birthdays! and your fine-dining turns into take-aways on the couch with hubby, while your little prince or princess in slumbering either in your belly or upstairs in a crib!
So ladies, I am asking this time for you to share your honest emotions, how did you feel? Pregnancy is the most exciting yet most scary time of your life! How was it for you? Were there questions your were dying to ask but felt you couldn't?
I would love to hear from you and I'm sure others would too - I hope I managed to get across the concept - the female mind is so complex!
So you've done the pregnancy test and whether planned or not this baby is coming and there is no stopping it!
But who are you now? You make appointments with Doctors, you meet with Midwives and you talk about how your body is going to change, how many countless blood tests you will need etc... But who actually talks to you about changing as a person?
I want to address the issue that whilst becoming a 'Mother to be' is probably the best thing that has ever happened to you, everything you know as it stands is going to change slightly... your world is going to tip precariously upside down!
Who were YOU before you became a Mother?
Here is my story....
I worked as a Business Development Manager for a Creative Design and Marketing Company, I had been with my partner for over a year - we were living together in a house right in the centre of town and our world revolved around Wine Bars, Fine Dining and Parties! It was the life where you would finish work, make a quick change (the only thing you had to worry about was your make up was fresh and your shoes matched your bag!) evenings often went on until the early hours of the morning and then you were back up in the morning, skinny latte in hand and on the way to work again.
Office clothes revolved around pencils skirts, stilettos and crisp fitted shirts and my stomach had a flatness to it that I can only imagine now!
I was told when I was 16 the chances of me getting pregnant were slim to none so instead of being the victim I threw myself into what I knew I could strive at... and that was my career. My girlfriends were all in the same boat - plenty of time yet - career and vino first... babies later!
To go from being out and about every evening, to all of a sudden having to think about what I ate, drank and also what type of Mother I would make (does anyone else have those doubts!?) would flood through my mind on a daily basis. I was scared because everything I knew before was going to change - would it be for the better? Would I make as good a mother as my mother had to me? Would my partner still fancy me? Will I ever be able to fit into my pencil skirt again!? Will I still be the same person? So many questions!
The book I am writing now is addressing the emotional side of pregnancy and having babies/children - the fact that the person you knew you were before is going to have a new side, depth and dimension. You nights out are going to turn into nights in, your parties will probably stem around 1st birthdays! and your fine-dining turns into take-aways on the couch with hubby, while your little prince or princess in slumbering either in your belly or upstairs in a crib!
So ladies, I am asking this time for you to share your honest emotions, how did you feel? Pregnancy is the most exciting yet most scary time of your life! How was it for you? Were there questions your were dying to ask but felt you couldn't?
I would love to hear from you and I'm sure others would too - I hope I managed to get across the concept - the female mind is so complex!
Friday 6 August 2010
The Positive Test
I want to know, how you found out you were pregnant! Loads of women worry about not having the perfect story to tell their children when they grow up - but in the real world those stories are few and far between and also no where near as entertaining as the real version!
Here is my story:
It was a cold winter's evening in December 2008 - right in the middle of the Christmas Party season (the only reason I put up with winter!) A friend of mine who is a hairdresser was round putting foils in my hair and whilst my 'hubby to be' was getting his haircut I nipped upstairs to do the inevitable 'pee on a stick' test. Now let's be clear - I wasn't taking the test because we had been actively trying or for that matter, because I thought I would actually be pregnant! No - I had, had a stressful couple of months with work and moving house and my period was 2 weeks late (not something I thought worryingly about) - I was doing the test to bring on my period. Anyway within a matter of minutes I go from seeing one line come up and feeling a little bit silly about the whole thing and contemplating a Vodka, Lime and Soda - to seeing the line double and declare in bright red lines - I was indeed pregnant! OMG!
Trying to act natural (totally weird I know!) I went downstairs and promptly burst in to tears - my partner was full of sympathy and cuddles and assuring me my hair looked beautiful - oh boy was he in for a surprise when he realised there would be no vodka drunk that night and I was totally fine with my hair too!
So there you go! We laugh about it now, and I am actually sure my daughter is going to love that story when she gets older and starts asking questions! So share your story - make other women feel better about not being the perfectly timed incubator!!
Here is my story:
It was a cold winter's evening in December 2008 - right in the middle of the Christmas Party season (the only reason I put up with winter!) A friend of mine who is a hairdresser was round putting foils in my hair and whilst my 'hubby to be' was getting his haircut I nipped upstairs to do the inevitable 'pee on a stick' test. Now let's be clear - I wasn't taking the test because we had been actively trying or for that matter, because I thought I would actually be pregnant! No - I had, had a stressful couple of months with work and moving house and my period was 2 weeks late (not something I thought worryingly about) - I was doing the test to bring on my period. Anyway within a matter of minutes I go from seeing one line come up and feeling a little bit silly about the whole thing and contemplating a Vodka, Lime and Soda - to seeing the line double and declare in bright red lines - I was indeed pregnant! OMG!
Trying to act natural (totally weird I know!) I went downstairs and promptly burst in to tears - my partner was full of sympathy and cuddles and assuring me my hair looked beautiful - oh boy was he in for a surprise when he realised there would be no vodka drunk that night and I was totally fine with my hair too!
So there you go! We laugh about it now, and I am actually sure my daughter is going to love that story when she gets older and starts asking questions! So share your story - make other women feel better about not being the perfectly timed incubator!!
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