5 things I didn't know about pregnancy

As to not offend anyone on my second ever blog post, I just have to add a small disclaimer. The things that i have listed which i experienced during my pregnancy may not be what others have experienced during their own pregnancies. I have been very blessed to be able to carry and give birth to a healthy, beautiful little girl and I love her more than life itself. So I apologise if what I am about to say in this post offends anybody as that is not my intention.

Here goes nothing. Call me naive but why did nobody warn me about how not fun pregnancy is? When imagining carrying my child I seriously underestimated how uncomfortable and unpleasant it might be. I know there are probably a lot of woman out there who enjoy being pregnant and giving birth but I am most certainly not one of them! I had a fairly easy pregnancy so I shouldn't be complaining but honestly, I didn't realise how much I wouldn't enjoy it and the following are some of the slightly embarrassing  reasons why:

1. Everything hurt! - I knew it wouldn't be comfortable but I didn't realise just how much. From my legs to my back and upwards everything ached including my "you know what" - ahem. I can understand why though, everything is stretching, softening and loosening in preparation for child birth.
2. Gas - Ok, this one is a bit embarrassing, I suffered from uncontrollable gas! More often than not I accidentally let one rip and there is only so much you can blame on the dog.
3. Drool - another glamorous, strange symptom of pregnancy. This one came as a bit of a surprise, I mean who would know that pregnant woman can often produce 3 times more saliva than normal? TMI ahead, the number of times I woke up from sleep with pools of my own saliva on the pillow was ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that if I happened to have my mouth open for an extended period of time I'd end up drooling like a dog. 
4. Breathing difficulties - this affected me the most in my third trimester. Breathing became so laborious, (Excuse the pun), that it got to the point where i'd be awake until the early hours of the morning tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable so I could sleep. You know that feeling where you are continuously trying and trying to take a deep breath but just can't? Well that was how it was when i was trying to sleep!
5. Rude comments from total strangers -  I think this had to be the most difficult thing for me during pregnancy. I'm 5ft1 and there is very little space for a baby to fit so I was VERY out front (i'll post a picture). In total honesty, I felt huge - think beached whale proportions - which was made even worse with passing comments from complete strangers. The amount of times I got an "Oh my god are you having twins?" got very old very fast. Every time i would respond with a definite “Nope” i’d receive an instant "are you sure?" in reply. I would never dream of speaking to a stranger the same way that i had been spoken to on numerous occasions throughout my pregnancy. I knew what I looked like, I saw it in the mirror everyday and I most certainly didn't need a complete stranger gasping at the size of my baby bump. This aspect of pregnancy was extremely difficult and definitely did not help with the way i saw myself and most definitely had a negative impact on my self esteem.

I know everyone experiences pregnancy differently but in my personal experience these were five aspects that contributed to a not so enjoyable pregnancy. I ummmed and aahhhed about posting this because I didn't want to come across in a negative light. On one hand, no I didn't particularly enjoy being pregnant but on the other hand, yes I would 100% do it all over again because the gift I got in the end made it all worth it!