Some women love being pregnant. Others simply don't, and that's OK.
Not enjoying every day of pregnancy is entirely normal. Every woman and their experience is different and there's no need to feel alone in this. Talking to your partner, trusted friends or close family members about how you're feeling will help you realise it's nothing to be ashamed of.
Despite what you may have heard from family members, friends and colleagues, it's absolutely possible to enjoy being pregnant. Here we offer some tips on how to make the most of this time — and make your pregnancy a bit easier, too.
Pregnancy Makes Women Feel Less Attractive
Women experience intense hormonal changes during pregnancy. They can feel happy, excited and beautiful for five minutes, and then switch to feeling unattractive, angry, and moody for the next hour.
Childbirth in humans is much more complex and painful than in great apes. It was long believed that this was a result of humans' larger brains and the narrow dimensions of the mother's pelvis.
The third trimester is the final stage of pregnancy and can be considered to be the most painful. During this stage, your baby is getting bigger, which puts more stress on your body that causes aches and discomfort.
The first trimester of pregnancy can often be the hardest. Pregnancy hormones, extreme fatigue, nausea and vomiting, tender breasts, and perpetually needing to wee make life growing a human no easy feat.
Researchers in Scotland compared fetal responses when pregnant women spoke to their babies or rubbed their bellies. "Overall results suggest that maternal touch of the abdomen was a powerful stimulus, producing a range of fetal behavioural responses," the researchers write.
Not eating enough during pregnancy can lead to various issues, such as fatigue, dizziness, headaches, constipation, and an increased risk of preterm birth or low birth weight.
We know that miscarriages occur in at least 15% of confirmed pregnancies. The actual miscarriage rate is likely to be much higher – we estimate it to be around 1 in 4 pregnancies. Based on these rates and the number of births each year, we estimate around 285 miscarriages occur every day in Australia.
The second trimester is the most physically enjoyable for most women. Morning sickness usually lessens by this time, and the extreme tiredness and breast tenderness usually ease up.
1-3 Months
The first three months with your baby often seem the hardest. Sleep-deprived parents can feel overwhelmed, but that is normal and you will quickly learn how to read your baby's cues and personality. Don't worry about “spoiling” your baby at this stage.
Your nausea and vomiting may be worse than ever: Morning sickness peaks around 9 or 10 weeks of pregnancy for many women. That's when levels of the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) are highest (morning sickness is thought to be linked to rises in hCG and estrogen).
The third trimester is the shortest, and includes weeks 28-40. We're sure you're feeling all kinds of emotions now that you get to meet your baby soon! During these last few months, it is time to organize everything before your baby gets here.
The unborn baby spends around 38 weeks in the uterus, but the average length of pregnancy, or gestation, is counted at 40 weeks. Pregnancy is counted from the first day of the woman's last period, not the date of conception which generally occurs 2 weeks later.
The good news is that your risk of miscarriage goes way down at the end of the first trimester, according to Michele Hakakha, M.D., FACOG. So, once you reach 14 weeks, the risk of a miscarriage drops dramatically. That's why most people wait to announce their pregnancy until after 13 weeks' gestation.
Certain uterine conditions or weak cervical tissues (incompetent cervix) might increase the risk of miscarriage. Smoking, alcohol and illicit drugs. Women who smoke during pregnancy have a greater risk of miscarriage than do nonsmokers. Heavy alcohol use and illicit drug use also increase the risk of miscarriage.
When pregnancy symptoms such as nausea, weight gain, mood swings and bloating occur in men, the condition is called couvade, or sympathetic pregnancy. Depending on the human culture, couvade can also encompass ritualized behavior by the father during the labor and delivery of his child.
In fact, pregnancy sex has lots of physical and mental health benefits, ranging from stress relief to relationship building. Plus, it's usually safe during all trimesters, as long as you don't have any pregnancy complications.