The Unknown Changes During and After Pregnancy

There is no doubt that your body will undergo dramatic changes both during and after pregnancy and some of them will come at you like a flash of lighting, while others will gradually make their presence. Some of those changes will be minor and others will be extreme. There are the common and unavoidable changes that everyone experiences and there are the strange, unpredictable and unique changes only you will experience. Whatever the case may be, every woman who ventures down the path toward child bearing will encounter a variety of changes to her body. Here are a few of mine that I had the pleasure of experiencing through both my singleton pregnancy and triplet pregnancy.

A heightened sense of smell  was present in both pregnancies, along with an uncontrollable urge to smell the strangest and maybe a the little unsafest of things. I could smell anything near or far and some were great while others made me nauseous. With Emily I couldn’t stand the smell of BBQ chicken or salmon and both are two of my favourite foods. With the triplets I couldn’t stand the smell of ranch dressing or sweet potatoes . When it came to the smells I loved, the urge I had to smell chemical cleaners especially bleach, lemon dish soap and both laundry detergent and fabric softener was on another level. I loved to wash the dishes just to smell a sink full of warm soapy water and at work I loved the smell of the floor cleaner when the porter came by to wash it. I loved the smell of fabric softener and after the laundry was done I would always grab a towel and bury my face in it! I knew smelling the chemicals was unsafe so I didn’t actually smell them directly, I only just the smell of them through the air. It was the strangest thing, but as soon as Emily and the triplets were born, I never thought of those smells again.

Next, I was obsessed with having a bath. I wanted to have one every day and just fill the tub with copious amounts of bubble bath. A bath would help me relax and give me a chance to put my feet up at the end of the day to help reduce some of the swelling I had throughout both pregnancies. As I got bigger it became harder and harder to fit in the tub comfortably, especially when pregnant with triplets, but I didn’t let it stop me! Once again, as with the strange smells, as soon as Emily and the triplets were born, I never thought of having a bath again. Maybe the fact that I had no free time played a little part in taking the thought of a bath out of my head, but that’s just a thought 😉

Now the swelling. The swelling was so bad. It was so unbearable sometimes and made the task of walking around or standing all day very difficult. With Emily the swelling started around 4 months and the triplets around 5 months. This was a change to my body that came on gradually at first and then full force towards the end. My legs were the worst and I pretty much had no ankles for the duration of my pregnancies. I really wish I took a picture of my legs and feet at the end of my pregnancy with the triplets, it would have been a crazy sight. I never knew your hands and feet could gain weight or swell as bad as they did for me and Dan thinks I have loose skin on my feet now from the swelling. My fingers and toes were little sausages and I couldn’t wear any rings on either hand for so long. Thankfully all the swelling has disappeared and I no longer have a horrible case of sausage fingers, sausage toes and cankles.

Another big change I noticed was with my hair. While pregnant my hair started to grow faster, it became thicker and so luscious. I did not expect this change from pregnancy, but it was very welcomed one. Little did I know that after the babies were born, all that new found healthy hair would begin to fall out. Every time I had a shower or brushed my hair, it would fall out in big clumps, it was so sad. On top of that I began to notice really short strands of hair all over. The main areas being all around my face from ear to ear and the sides on the top of my head. The hair is about 1 to 2 inches long and is just a pain to deal with. I cannot do anything with it. It’s so short it won’t reach to a ponytail, it cannot be straightened and it makes my hair so puffy. I really don’t know what to do about it, other than wait patiently for them to all grow out and catch up to the rest of my hair.

The last change I noticed was how emotional I became. This is one change I think all women experience at some point during their pregnancy and even after too. I felt like I would cry over anything, especially anything involving children or animals. It could be a happy commercial, a sad news article or even a song on the radio, they would just make me so emotional and I would cry. I remember listening to the radio on the way to work and I would cry when a specific song came on. I would think about my life and somehow relate back to the song and just cry. This wasn’t really a bad change, but I found my self crying a lot for no reason. I guess it doesn’t hurt to have a good cry every once in a while.

All of these changes I experienced took some time to get use to and I noticed them in both pregnancies. Growing a little baby takes a lot of work and your body goes through a lot to make it happen. With increased hormone levels and the amount of energy you use, it is no wonder so many changes happen. There is so much information out there about all the possible changes you could experience, it is enough to scare anyone away from the idea of being pregnant yet women still continue to have children. In the end all the changes are totally worth it and to most they are only temporary. After having 4 babies, being pregnant with 1 and then triplets and going through the changes I had during pregnancy, I would still have more babies and the idea of being pregnant again is just as exciting as it was the first time around.

 

If you could tell someone one change that you experienced that you did not expect what would it be?

If you had multiple pregnancies did you experience the same changes for both or were they completely different?

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