What I Didn't Expect While Expecting

There's a classic pregnancy book called What to Expect When Expecting, and I thought I'd share a few of the things I didn't expect during this third pregnancy. Not all though, as some are truly gross and embarrassing.

1. The stares - I don't go out much anymore. There are two main reasons - it takes up too much energy and people stare and then talk about me as I'm going by. Yes, I know my belly is big and I'm waddling, but could you be a little more discreet?

2. The breathing - I no longer breathe through my nose, as I need lots of oxygen with each breath. So I am now a loud mouth-breather. Also, if I stand up, I am out of breath. If I walk 15 steps to the kitchen, I sound like I just ran a 5k.

3. The heat - with two babies, my metabolism is extra high (it's worse than being pregnant in South Florida). That means that even though it's 30 degrees outside today, the heaters are not turned on. Todd goes to bed with two layers of clothes and three layers of blankets. I go to bed with shorts, t-shirt, cold water, and a fan blowing on me all night.

4. The size - I am wearing a lot of size medium workout/fleece pants that I wore pre-pregnancy (woohoo!!), coupled with XL and XXL pregnancy shirts. And they're still not completely covering me. At church a few weeks ago a friend's husband was talking to Todd. Here's what he said. "So I guess I haven't seen Megan in a while. WOW."

5. The numbness - my hands are continually numb (even while I'm trying to type this they are falling asleep). I have developed pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. My hands must hang over the edge of the bed/couch at night in order to not fall asleep.

6. The morning sickness - typically morning sickness ends around the start of the second trimester (about 14 weeks in). My morning sickness began April 5th (it was at the zoo and I predicted that I must be pregnant) and hasn't let up.

7. The thirst - I drink about 3/4 gallon of milk and easily over 64 oz. of water daily. Combine that with 11 lbs. resting on the bladder, and that's another reason why I don't get out that much! I leave the bathroom and sometimes turn around and go right back in.

8. The food - with twins, I have the pleasant task of eating as much protein and calcium as possible. That means a HUGE bowl of ice cream each night (it is for the babies, of course) and ordering steak whenever possible. I'm supposed to consume a lot of iron as well, with the suggestion of eating liver, but gladly will take the little iron vitamin instead. This is the only time in my life where the experts want me to eat more protein than fruits/vegetables and I fully intend to take advantage of it.

9. This is normal - I bring in questions to my ob each week about new aches and symptoms that have developed, and it's ALL normal.

10. The kindness of others - it all began early in the summer. Every time I rode the bus, someone offered their seat. Friends from church offer to bring over meals. And my favorite has been Todd. I am completely amazed at how unselfish he has been, helping out as much as possible. Washing dishes, taking care of all the needs of the boys, vacuuming, picking up, grocery shopping, doing laundry, basically everything except cooking supper (and that's only because we don't want to die of food poisoning nor eat hot dogs each night), he's kindly and without complaint taken over everything for me.