I can't really think of anything during pregnancy that threw me for a loop. I had a textbook pregnancy- no complications and no real surprises. The one thing I can think of that I didn't expect was the shooting hip pains I experienced at the end. They were spontaneous and startling. The only thing I found to alleviate them was squatting down with my knees wide (which ended up being useful to get used to doing since I did this a bit during labor to help ease my back pain too). Other than that, I felt very well prepared for all that I encountered during my pregnancy.
Most of my surprises came during labor and postpartum. Some of it no one could have predicted- like the fact that l&d would be super busy and I'd be stuck in a triage room for awhile, haha. Or that I would have grueling back labor. But other things I think I could've been prepared for...
- I did not expect that I would reach a point in labor when I literally wouldn't be able to talk. This happened sometime around transition for me. When I was on my second dose of penicillin, my IV/entire arm was burning and stinging. At this point, I was laboring on all fours hoping to relieve my back labor and flip Camden if he was OP as we suspected. I remember staring at my arm and thinking about how much it burned and wanting to say something. But my mouth just couldn't form the words! By the time I was able to say something and have the drip turned down I was almost done the bag. A little later I was sipping on some water with Emergen-C in it (for a little boost) but the flavor started making me nauseous. I didn't want anything flavored at that point but I wanted to keep drinking water. Again, I couldn't seem to get the words out so I continued drinking that until I could finally request plain water. Even now I don't remember what I said in either of these situations but I can imagine it was short and caveman-esque ("no flavor! Plain!" Hahaha). Then, when I was ready to push, I lost all ability to form words. I couldn't muster up a single word. Jake sat beside me nomming a protein bar while the nurse set everything up for me to start pushing. The smell was making me feel soooo sick but I couldn't say anything. I tried. No words would come out. Luckily when I was ready to start pushing I was able to just look at Jake and he knew that I felt another contraction coming on and needed to push. It was awesome that he was so tuned into me at that point that I didn't even need words. Good thing because I couldn't have talked if I wanted to! I suppose my inability to talk came from my intense concentration on each contraction. My mind was so preoccupied with my labor that it literally wasn't able to do anything else! I guess I should've suspected that this would happen since I went completely drug free. But, for whatever reason, I didn't and it surprised me.
- I did not expect my butt to hurt so much. Sorry if this is TMI. I know everyone says that you'll feel pressure in your bottom when you're ready to push. But what they don't tell you is that the pressure will be so intense that it might actually distract you from your contractions (for a few seconds, haha)! Granted, that isn't a bad thing. I just didn't know that I'd feel so much of my labor in my bottom. It's hard to explain this feeling unless you've experienced it. I understand the anatomical explanation and I did expect the pressure, just not the intensity. And on the same note, I didn't expect that my butt would be so sore for the two days after delivery! Now I didn't tear so the pain wasn't from that. My whole butt was just sore to the touch. And it felt all loosey goosey. Seriously, I was a sore wiggle bottom, haha. Strange stuff.
- I did not expect to shake uncontrollably after delivering Camden. I'm not talking the I'm-overwhelmed-with-emotions-and-trembling kind of shaking. I'm talking intense, uncontrollable shaking throughout my legs. It was so bad that it really looked like I was doing it on purpose! The shaking didn't hurt, it was just a little startling and annoying. I don't know if it was because of hormones or due to all my blood loss but I didn't expect this to happen. It was kind of weird and freaked me out at first but it went away after a couple hours. I remember asking the nurse what was wrong with me and she said the shaking was normal. I didn't know that!
- I did not expect to spike a fever my first night home. I don't know if this is normal or it was one of those things no one could've predicted. But my first night home I ran a fever of 100.4 (if it got higher than that I was supposed to call my doctor). I know everyone says the first night home is a doozy. And it was with Camden cluster-feeding every 45 minutes to an hour and barely sleeping in-between. But aside from that I was feeling like total crapppp. It was basically miserable. Again, this might not be normal, but then again there has to be a reason the going home paperwork says to call if you get a fever over 100.4. Maybe this low-grade fever is common a few days after labor. Either way, I didn't expect it. On the bright side, every night after this I could tell myself, "it won't be worse than the first night home!" and so far that has held true, haha.
- I did not expect to feel sharp pains in my lower stomach every time I peed for the first month. Obviously you expect to have pain *ahem* down there. Duh. A baby just passed through. Torn or not, that sucker is gonna hurt for awhile. Duh. However, I had no idea that I would have shooting pains in my lower stomach from peeing! They started happening maybe a week after birth and lasted until I was about a month postpartum. They weren't unbearable but they did make me cringe and not look forward to peeing (which was a lot thanks to extra fluid and my copious water drinking!). I'm still not sure if this is normal but I assumed so since they went away and I haven't had any complications. I guess it's safe to expect all sorts of weird aches and pains for the first few weeks/months postpartum. It comes with the territory.
- I did not expect to retain my keen sense of smell from pregnancy. I know it's common for your sense of smell to heighten drastically during pregnancy. And that definitely happened to me. What I didn't know is that my sharpened sniffer would stick around way postpartum. I still have the nose of a bloodhound. Maybe it'll go away eventually. Hopefully before the stench of real food diapers arrives! But for now, I smell everythingggg.
That's all I can think of right now. There are probably a few other things. Oh well this is one right here- I didn't expect my memory to suddenly become awful after I had Camden! Haha. But for real, I can hardly remember much of anything these days. I guess pregnancy brain just evolves into mom brain. Even with all of these things that caught me off guard, every single one is worth it to have my little man. He's the most incredible blessing I have every received! I'd gladly endure (and I'm sure I will) many more unexpected things for Camden! :]
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