Before I became pregnant, I used to wonder how pregnancy felt. I'm not talking about the symptoms I described in an earlier post. I wondered whether I'd be able to tell if I was pregnant, and if not, when I would be able to tell.
Five months in, I can say that, unfortunate symptoms aside, being pregnant doesn't feel much different from not being pregnant, from a day-to-day perspective, anyway. However, I have experienced the following physical changes.
Skin that is even more transparent than it was before
Ok, my skin is not really more transparent. The change is that my body is creating lots and lots of extra blood, making my arteries and veins stand out more and making my skin seem more transparent.
(You would think that all of this blood would make me warmer, or at least less susceptible to cold. I am neither.)
In fact, my more-noticeable veins in the palms of my hands were the first sign that I was pregnant, before the pregnancy test said so. Of course, the books and online resources don't offer this tidbit as a "helpful early pregnancy sign" so I ignored the change.
A significantly less glamorous walk
My strides have always been long and focussed. I place one foot in front of the other as if I am walking on a straight line and can place my feet only on the line.
It has become harder and harder to maintain this walking style. Early on in my pregnancy, something in my lower back felt like it was was...widening. This change made me want to modify my walk so that my feet didn't quite make it to the line. My feet preferred plodding along parallel lines in a walk that could best be described as a...waddle.
Sometimes, in the middle of the night as I drag myself out of bed and down the hall to the bathroom, I give in to this waddling tendency. However, when I am fully in control of my senses, I do my best to maintain my previous walk, or at least a semblance of it.
I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to keep this up, but I am not ready to say goodbye to my old walk yet.
The end of running up stairs
Continuing with the less-glamorous changes, I feel...heavier. I have gained around 10 pounds since August, and this weight along with my more sedentary winter lifestyle probably contribute to my becoming out of breath earlier than I would have before. However, it feels more like I'm carrying around something heavy in my belly.
Perhaps because I am.
Anyway, I don't feel it when I'm walking or lying down or anything like that. I only feel this increased heaviness when I try to do something a little more active, like run up the stairs. Even walking up the stairs two at a time is no longer possible; I can't lift my legs as high, and I just can't generate the necessary momentum to keep myself moving up an entire flight of stairs.
Baby movements
This change is definitely the most fun. For a few weeks now, I've been able to feel the baby moving.
How does it feel...well, sort of a cross between gas and other "intestinal activities." Except more magical, of course, since it's a human being rolling around in there.
But magic aside, it really just feels like gas.
You can feel the kicks and movement from the outside, too, so B has been able to feel the little guy rolling around in there. Some kicks are a bit more aggressive than others. Apparently, they're only going to get more aggressive as he gets bigger. That should be interesting.
Just before I go to sleep and whenever I get up in the night, he starts moving. And I feel him rolling around periodically throughout the day. If I am very active (for instance, going for a long walk), he is definitely less active; I read that my activity rocks him to sleep.
I suspect that getting him to go to sleep will not be as easy after he enters the world, so I am enjoying the power that I have for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment