All pregnancies are not created equal

Within moments of seeing that little positive sign on that white stick, I was frantically grasping at any parenting book I could find. An emotional concoction of fear and excitement raced through me as I began to read paragraph after paragraph about what I was in for the next 8 months of my life. I was so excited to experience all the greatness of pregnancy until I was smacked with the horrifying truth. Some moments of pregnancy suck.

Yeah, I know, I’m a terrible person. How could I possibly think that creating a life was exhausting, nauseating, painful and stressful? (Sarcasm) Not only are there some not-so-fun parts of pregnancy but each pregnancy is vastly different. My first child was a beautiful girl and I was also 18 so my experience was much different than my other two. I have since had a boy and another girl, and even these pregnancies were dissimilar, although only a little over a year apart. I am fortunate to have experienced a wide variety of pregnancy symptoms but here are some of the immense differences I’ve noticed between pregnancies.

Your moms pregnancy experience is not yours.

I have read over and over again, that how your mom experienced pregnancy will be telling for how you experience it. This is entirely false. Neither my pregnancies nor my labors were even remotely like my mothers. My mom is perfect. No stretch marks, no morning sickness, blah blah. I’ve got all of those terrible things including a much easier delivery process and no need for C-sections. See, it’s not all bad.

Weight gain

With my daughter, I gained a total of 20lbs. Not too shabby. I also lost it within the first 6 weeks. Breast feeding burns a ton of calories and all I did was sleep, eat and pump so I didn’t have much snacking time. Halfway through my pregnancy with my son, I had only gained about 5lbs! It was also all belly and I finally was able to take cute bump photos. Then, I had another girl and holy crap! I couldn’t stop eating. I never lost the weight from my son and found myself at my heaviest… definitely not my happiest moments but I’d do it all over again for this little pain in the ass lovebug.

Fatigue

I was sooooo tired!! With my daughter I felt so energetic and ready to take on the world. With my son, I couldn’t even take on the grocery store without feeling like I needed a nap halfway through. They say the second trimester gets better… well it didn’t with my son. I now know that it’s because he sucked all the energy out of me and has used it to become the insane kindergartener he currently is. How someone can have this much energy is beyond me!

Different cravings

My first pregnancy I craved healthy food. Grilled chicken, veggies, brown rice. I was the queen of health! With my son, I would take a poptart over everything. It’s become so bad that my daughter asked if the baby would come out a poptart. Probably not… right? With my third, I just wanted a margarita… I wasn’t sure though if that was a craving or because the other two were stressing me out!!!

Pregnancy Symptoms

Ugh! The strangest things would make me sick with my son. From prenatals to chocolate, all of it made me want to throw up. I thought being pregnant itself was hard but the nausea makes it ten times worse. It was debilitating and the worst. That was until I had my youngest, which came with sciatic pain. Woah, that’s an intense, uncomfortable pain I don’t wish on anyone.

There is something so incredible about growing a life. From feeling your child’s first movements to the incredible first moments post-birth, there are so many incredible moments that come along with being pregnant and I am so fortunate that I haven’t had to endure the struggles of infertility. However, I must mention, pregnancy is not for the weak. So cheers to all of you strong, brave mommas! Because whether it’s your 1st pregnancy or your 10th, you’ve endured an incredible feat and don’t let your husband forget it!