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Today I am 33 weeks pregnant. Today I am starting to kind of get over illness number 32049898 that has plagued my body since I became pregnant 809093409 years ago. I do not feel that this is an exaggeration at this moment in time. No, no – it is accurate.
You’ve seen all of those articles that tell you all about the things that “no one tells you about pregnancy”, right? Er, well, if you aren’t pregnant and/or you haven’t been in the last couple of years then maybe you haven’t. But they’re everywhere and the authors of said articles all have the same list of things to warn you about with a similar witty twist – they’re basically all poop related warnings, so I’ll spare you.
The one thing I feel I was not adequately prepared for by these articles, the books I’ve read, and all of the unsolicited advice I’ve received? Being sick the entire duration of pregnancy. And not just a little bit sick. No. While other people will catch a cold or have an allergic reaction to the change of the seasons – I will get the same thing and it will morph into pneumonia. If you sneeze within 100 feet of me I will catch what you have, even if you don’t think you have anything. If a flower blooms outside and my “allergies” act up, suddenly I have bronchitis. I have heard of the “pregnancy sniffles” – I don’t have them. I was prepared for them. I was prepared to feel kind of stuffy throughout pregnancy but otherwise mostly fine. Never an issue for me. It has been mentioned to me that the immune system is lowered during pregnancy (as to not fight off the baby) but I’ve got to tell you – my immune system is not “lowered” – my immune system is taking a 9 month long vacation on a beach in Cabo. NO ONE TOLD ME MY IMMUNE SYSTEM WOULD PACK IT’S SHIT AND LEAVE ME TO FEND FOR MYSELF IN THE GERM INFESTED WATERS OF DAILY LIFE WHEN I NEEDED IT MOST. I’m sorry, there is just no nice way to say that.
I have loved being pregnant and I feel that I have been spared many of the normal woes of pregnancy. I didn’t have much morning sickness, I was able to keep working out, I wore my high-waisted skinny jeans unreasonably well into my pregnancy, my skin didn’t do anything weird, my hands and feet have stayed the exact same size, I haven’t had super crazy cravings or food aversions, I haven’t had heartburn, I haven’t been irritable, unreasonable, or psychotic (until the last few days), I don’t have any stretch marks, and I’ve been able to poop consistently (you’re welcome). But I would honestly rather have endured some of the more unpleasant things on that list than be on again, off again every few weeks fighting razor blade sore throats, body aches, uncontrollable coughing (to the point of waking up every 5 minutes and/or throwing up), asthmatic breathing, and the complete inability to take care of myself and my house. I have been forced to take “pregnancy safe antibiotics” like 5xs because it was either take them and finally get better or wait it out and see if I ended up hospitalized. I’M OVER IT. I want to feel normal (“pregnant normal” will do), I want Nate to stop contracting my sicknesses (he never used to but I’m staying sick so long that it’s inevitable) and for us to just be able to get our house together and get ready to have the most amazing and exhausting experience of our lives. I need to be able to do my nesting – not be laying on the couch sobbing about how I can’t cook dinner or wash my hair between coughing fits while Nate tries to take care of both of us when he’s also feeling sick.
So, yes. Things no one tells you. Your immune system goes on vacation. Be prepared. Get a plastic bubble.
(I’ll be back with a regularly scheduled sunshine and rainbows pregnancy update soon, now that I have gotten that bit off of my chest.)
Oh how nice it is to know I’m not the only one suffering from constant sickness right now. I’m so sorry to hear you have been fighting to stay healthy….unfortunately I can relate a bit. During my pregnancy everything was great…..and then I went into labor and had my first infection due to complications. Since then, my whole family (husband and baby) have been sick non-stop since the little one was two weeks old. That was almost three months ago. I’ve NEVER been sick for more than a few days before in my life, let alone three months….But the thing that really gets me is that my little girl doesn’t know what it’s like to be healthy, and watching her be sick (while we are both sick) is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with. We’ve tried everything to stay healthy. I’ve become a recluse and now wear a mask on the rare occasion I have to go out in public. My husband walks through the front door after work, straight to his closet, takes off his work clothes, showers, and then will touch things in the house…..and we still get one bug after another. Our immune systems are so damaged it’s hard to think this will ever end because it has no time to heal. I am so sad and frustrated and worried. Today I finally decided that I am completely powerless in this situation and all I have left is prayer. So I’ve given myself up to God. He is the only hope I have left. Otherwise, I honestly don’t see how this will ever end. I’m sorry for such a long frustrated comment, but I hope you find it helpful to know you are not alone. I don’t know if you believe in God or not, but I’ll be praying for you too : ) XO
Carrie!! I'm so sorry you're going through that! I know that my little run-ins with illness since I've been pregnant are nothing compared to what you are experiencing. I've thought often that I can't imagine trying to take care of myself AND a baby while sick (because I'm so bad at just taking care of myself!) – but I guess it's just one of those things you learn how to do when you have to do it. I hope you all get to feeling much better soon. I definitely believe in God and have been praying for us and will keep you all in my prayers as well!
I've been very frustrated by being sick over and over but I was mostly making fun of my situation with this rant – I hope that came through a little bit!! I really hope that no one took it the wrong way – we are okay! Just feeling over it, ya know? So many prayers for y'all!! <3