The World is Not Made for Preggo's

I know that it seems like I've been really whiney lately. Well, I'm going to whine some more...

Everyone always talks about what a miracle pregnancy is and how women have such a beautiful glow. While that might be true, it has not been true for me. My peanut is a little miracle, beating the birth control odds. But, I have been terribly sick since before I even knew I was pregnant.

I ended up in the emergency room twice for dehydration (both pregnancy tests came back negative, by the way), and was dealing with nausea and exhaustion for weeks before we had a reason as to why. Since then, I have had to deal with "morning" sickness day and night almost 24/7. Leave it me to be part of the 10% or less of women who get this sick during pregnancy. I have had dry and cracked skin, chapped lips, and heartburn, all side effects of being so sick.

I have suffered from migraines for years and the only thing that helped to alleviate the pain was Topomax. Now that I'm pregnant, I can't take my medication. The doctor told me the only thing I can take is Tylonol (regular strength). So basically, nothing. My allergies are about 100,000 times worse than pre-pregnancy, and I can't take anything for that either. Why hasn't some pharmaceutical genius invented something for these issues?! If I could, I would.

When I walk around stores, people do one of two things: they don't pay attention or they pay too much attention. What I mean is, they either run into me, cut me off, or watch me struggle to pick something up. I very rarely hear "do you need help with that" or "I'm so sorry I bumped into you, are you ok". Very few stores have mother-to-be parking, which is annoying because walking a half mile from the back of the parking lot in 90+ degree heat while pregnant means you have no energy left for walking around the store (that's more for my friends who are in weeks 34-40). On the flip side, people think they have the right to come up to me and give me parenting advice and/or touch my belly without asking me first. If you aren't a close friend or family, don't touch my belly (unless you want me to rub yours too).

I have acne, back aches, food aversions, itching, shortness of breath, and have to pee every 30-45 minutes. I have to endure terrible, excruciating pain for who knows how many hours in 5 months. I have to deal with people judging every delivery and feeding decision I make after that. In short, pregnancy sucks.

Thank goodness there's a great ending to this awful journey. Can I just skip ahead to November so I can hold my baby and forget about the downside of pregnancy?!