How My Body Changes...

Every mom and mom-to-be, or even people that are around pregnant women know that the body goes through dramatic changes ever since a pregnancy begins.

For me, it seems more obvious: ever since the second week or so, I have felt cramps and back pains like I was going through menstrual pain. An interesting flashback here: I have always had awful menstrual pain ever since the beginning of my undergrad, to the point that I had to take pain kills to be able to function. After I got married and started birth control pills, symptoms have been reduced some how, but still were present. Therefore, I was always dreaming about the day when I get pregnant and I'd be period-free for 10 months--ah how wonderful that would be! But no, reality hit me harder than a rock: not only has it not gone for good because there was no period anymore, but also it has become this constant, every-day-pain which I would only experience for 4-5 days per month before I was pregnant.

Other early pregnancy symptoms started showing since I found out: nausea (but thankfully not vomiting),  food craving, peeing often, emotional instability, and irregular bowel movements. A part of being pregnant is also a battle to deal with these symptoms, especially the ones dealing with using the bathroom： personally, I hate going to the bathroom either too often or not at all. So naturally every reader here sees how painful I am right now.

What triggered me to write this blog is the irregular bowel movements I have been experiencing. Three days ago, I was suffering from constipation to the point where my cramp was so bad that I had to call my OB office (which I have not been to yet) and talked to the nurse about whether I should be worried. After checking my due date and how far along I was, she said it was probably intestinal problem, and suggested some soothing ways like taking a hot bath, in-taking fiber, drinking a lot of water etc. So I did. And today everything just hit like flood, and I have been having diarrhea for the entire day. Grrrrrr. In my home country, people say that eating apples is a both-way solution: if you are constipated, apples could make you go; and if you are having a diarrhea, apples could potentially stop it. Skeptic as I was, I am willing to try everything now to Deal With It. So next time in town, I will make sure I stack some apples up and try the "therapy". If it works, I am definitely going to update this post.

Another one is the constant trip to bathroom to use #1. I even timed myself once: 2 times in 3 hours; maybe not bad compared to late pregnancy, but still frequent enough to drive me insane. There is nothing one can do about it but to endure. Do NOT try not to drink water frequently. Drinking at least 2 liters (approx. half gallon) is actually the recommended amount of water in-take everyday. I was definitely not a water drinker before pregnancy, and was worried whether my water in-take would be enough for the baby, because most of the times I do not even remember to drink water. Turns out that I was over-worrying: my body craves for water now everyday. I constantly find myself thirsty, and the only thing I want is pure water.

In sum, there is nothing a woman can do about those body changes in pregnancy than just Deal With It. One night I had enough and asked my hubby why women have to suffer through this for giving birth to babies, and he said:"Well, because Eve took the fruit from the tree."

Oh well, that is true. Since husbands have to toil the soil, let us just adjust to the changes to the body and bear beautiful lives.