Today's blog is a flashback to a 3 part post about my personal experience with pregnancy. I know that there are hundreds of websites that talk about pregnancy and the changes that women go through during this period, to try and make it a more understandable experience to you. So, what else would be new with my post here today that would tell you something any different from what you here from your mother's or mid-wives' tales? Well, probably not much to some and maybe plenty to others, but I just would like to share the process of what happened to me personally, and how I coped with it as it might be of help to any woman out there. And also, sometimes the knowledge that a real person has been or is going through what you are experiencing right now is sometimes much more comforting than hearing about it from old timers or reading about it from books. In my writing I'm gonna mix up science with real experience, cause that is how pregnancy actually is. After all, it's nothing but biology and I'm a doctor :D. But don't worry, it's still going to be more personal than being a biology class :D.
So, getting to the point, this post is about the 1st 3 months of my pregnancy.
Month 1:
Al-right, this month is where it all beings and usually you never know until at least 2 weeks had passed from hitting the jack pot i.e. fertilisation, which is the process of the sperm fusing with the ovum and BANG!! the 1st seed of your baby. As this all happens outside the womb, and it takes 5 days for this seed to move and be implanted into the womb then about another 10 days for it to keep duplicating until it produces enough of the hormone, which appears in the blood and urine that tells the good news "YAAAY, YOU'RE PREGNANT", to be traceable. Therefore, no symptoms can be felt at this period.
Al-right, this month is where it all beings and usually you never know until at least 2 weeks had passed from hitting the jack pot i.e. fertilisation, which is the process of the sperm fusing with the ovum and BANG!! the 1st seed of your baby. As this all happens outside the womb, and it takes 5 days for this seed to move and be implanted into the womb then about another 10 days for it to keep duplicating until it produces enough of the hormone, which appears in the blood and urine that tells the good news "YAAAY, YOU'RE PREGNANT", to be traceable. Therefore, no symptoms can be felt at this period.
Then comes the next 2 weeks of the month which can be symptomatic if you are really eager to notice. For me, it was textbook. The thing is I was taking a medication to regulate my periods and wasn't really thinking about getting pregnant at that point. All I was waiting for was my next period and will the medication work and make it arrive on time. Well, we all know that didn't happen :D, and I was worried sick cause I never thought that was because I was pregnant. All I could think about was "what the hell is wrong with me?? Even western medication can't find a way with my body!!!!". On the other hand, I was feeling symptoms but again because early pregnancy symptoms can be very close to an approaching period, I kept expecting a period.
The symptoms started by unbelievable breast soreness, LOTS of trips to the loo, and something extra that I didn't correlate at the time which was this weird craving for berries! I remember I even posted on my facebook at the time that I was in the mood for a mix of berries. :)
So I called my doctor who prescribed the medication for me, and told him that I am worried sick, my breasts hurt like hell and it's has been 4 days now past the expected date of menstruation and WHAT ON BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR MEDICINE ???!!!!!!
So, he told me and I remember specifically "Today is Monday, wait until Saturday and go do a blood pregnancy test"...................................................... after a few moments of silence I answered surprisingly "Is it possible I could be pregnant?!!" and he laughed "Yes, very possible".
Next day, I was very exhausted for no obvious reason, my breathing felt like a workout and I was nerve wrecked. So I told Ahmed that I couldn't wait until Saturday and lets go and do the test now.
We were a week or so ahead in Ramadan, so we waited after breakfast until the city starts running again, and we went and did the test and it came out +ve !
For some reason I don't know, my mind couldn't believe the news and I asked the guy with the results a few times before I sobbed into tears :D ..tears of joy of course, and why?? again I don't know, it's not like I was child barren or anything :D , but that's just what happened :)
Month 2:
It started peacefully to some extent. A few trips to the loo with a little soreness of the breast and a bit of easy fatigue. I was so excited that I downloaded all the apps that keeps track of pregnancy and blah blah blah. Then came the magical moments of being pregnant a.k.a MORNING SICKNESS.
I can't really say that I had the worst morning sickness, cause I have seen and heard worse, but mine wasn't a piece of cake either.
The thing you need to know about morning sickness is, it's not necessary how you see it in the movies. The classical case scenario is, especially in old Arabic movies, a woman all the sudden while setting peacefully, a puke urge arrives where she holds here mouth and runs to the toilet to complete the journey. Well, the truth is, this is the odd case not the common. Morning sickness ranges from feeling sick most or all of the time, to the sudden urge to vomit. And usually the latter is provoked by a strong stimulant like an irritative smell or seen. Plus, it a healthy sign that all is going well. Aaah, I guess there is a silver lining after all.
Back to my case, it was mostly feeling sick and nauseated most of the time that wouldn't be relieved until I stick my finger down my throat to get things started. The thing was that even water sometimes was nauseating me. I wasn't repealed by the ideas of certain foods but after a few experiments, I found out that the only thing stayed in my stomach was potatoes, and also helped with the constipation which is very common in pregnancy. So I spent almost the next month asking my mom to cook nothing but potatoes as I wasn't in the mood for cooking. So, I raged their dinner table everyday :D.
Month 3:
UNBELIEVABLE DEPRESSION !!! adding to my sickness and my fatigue, the unbelievable low mood I suffered through this month. Seriously at a point I lost the will to get out of bed for 10 days. Even getting dressed to go to my mom's for dinners was too much. And if you know me, I love nothing more than getting dressed. It always managed to up lift my spirit, but at that time... Nothing !.
What added to my misery was at the time I hadn't announce yet, only a very few close friends knew, which for my luck were busy with their own lives at the moment and so I had so suffer in silence. It was so bad that I can't remember the number of times I cried for no reason, and ahmed was so helpless that he couldn't do anything but to hold me and shush me :D (oh the poor thing, I've put him through alot, haven't I?? :D).
Meanwhile, physic wise NOTHING, even I couldn't tell I'm pregnant if I saw me. which was kinda nice actually, considering I was able to get away with not wearing maternity clothes, yet !!
..........to be continued xxxx
My baby's instagram
My instagram
The symptoms started by unbelievable breast soreness, LOTS of trips to the loo, and something extra that I didn't correlate at the time which was this weird craving for berries! I remember I even posted on my facebook at the time that I was in the mood for a mix of berries. :)
So I called my doctor who prescribed the medication for me, and told him that I am worried sick, my breasts hurt like hell and it's has been 4 days now past the expected date of menstruation and WHAT ON BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR MEDICINE ???!!!!!!
So, he told me and I remember specifically "Today is Monday, wait until Saturday and go do a blood pregnancy test"...................................................... after a few moments of silence I answered surprisingly "Is it possible I could be pregnant?!!" and he laughed "Yes, very possible".
Next day, I was very exhausted for no obvious reason, my breathing felt like a workout and I was nerve wrecked. So I told Ahmed that I couldn't wait until Saturday and lets go and do the test now.
We were a week or so ahead in Ramadan, so we waited after breakfast until the city starts running again, and we went and did the test and it came out +ve !
For some reason I don't know, my mind couldn't believe the news and I asked the guy with the results a few times before I sobbed into tears :D ..tears of joy of course, and why?? again I don't know, it's not like I was child barren or anything :D , but that's just what happened :)
Month 2:
It started peacefully to some extent. A few trips to the loo with a little soreness of the breast and a bit of easy fatigue. I was so excited that I downloaded all the apps that keeps track of pregnancy and blah blah blah. Then came the magical moments of being pregnant a.k.a MORNING SICKNESS.
I can't really say that I had the worst morning sickness, cause I have seen and heard worse, but mine wasn't a piece of cake either.
The thing you need to know about morning sickness is, it's not necessary how you see it in the movies. The classical case scenario is, especially in old Arabic movies, a woman all the sudden while setting peacefully, a puke urge arrives where she holds here mouth and runs to the toilet to complete the journey. Well, the truth is, this is the odd case not the common. Morning sickness ranges from feeling sick most or all of the time, to the sudden urge to vomit. And usually the latter is provoked by a strong stimulant like an irritative smell or seen. Plus, it a healthy sign that all is going well. Aaah, I guess there is a silver lining after all.
 |
| yup, this picture pretty much sums up my state at the time |
Back to my case, it was mostly feeling sick and nauseated most of the time that wouldn't be relieved until I stick my finger down my throat to get things started. The thing was that even water sometimes was nauseating me. I wasn't repealed by the ideas of certain foods but after a few experiments, I found out that the only thing stayed in my stomach was potatoes, and also helped with the constipation which is very common in pregnancy. So I spent almost the next month asking my mom to cook nothing but potatoes as I wasn't in the mood for cooking. So, I raged their dinner table everyday :D.
Month 3:
UNBELIEVABLE DEPRESSION !!! adding to my sickness and my fatigue, the unbelievable low mood I suffered through this month. Seriously at a point I lost the will to get out of bed for 10 days. Even getting dressed to go to my mom's for dinners was too much. And if you know me, I love nothing more than getting dressed. It always managed to up lift my spirit, but at that time... Nothing !.
What added to my misery was at the time I hadn't announce yet, only a very few close friends knew, which for my luck were busy with their own lives at the moment and so I had so suffer in silence. It was so bad that I can't remember the number of times I cried for no reason, and ahmed was so helpless that he couldn't do anything but to hold me and shush me :D (oh the poor thing, I've put him through alot, haven't I?? :D).
 |
| YUP, pretty darn close. |
Meanwhile, physic wise NOTHING, even I couldn't tell I'm pregnant if I saw me. which was kinda nice actually, considering I was able to get away with not wearing maternity clothes, yet !!
..........to be continued xxxx
My baby's instagram
My instagram
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