“You’re positively glowing!”
You might have heard this phrase a few times during the nine months your newborn was steadily growing inside of you. While this period is one many women enjoy for different reasons, there’s certain things that almost no woman misses once she’s gone through labor. Here are just three:
Morning sickness
Foods you love no longer taste as good, and some may even make you nauseous: welcome to your first trimester. Along with your taste buds having gone haywire, your smell receptors are always heightened – you can smell the garbage can from across the kitchen, even if it’s just a quarter full. If you’re a foodie, this limited interaction with your food can be particularly challenging.
Watching what you ingest
In addition to some of your favorite foods not tasting as good, there is a number of surprising foods that you aren’t even allowed to eat. No more refreshing Caesar salads to enjoy on a hot summer day, no more doppio macchiatos to leisurely sip. Even simple bologna sandwiches or hot dogs can hurt your growing baby. In addition to knowing what to avoid, you have to go heavy on foods that contain things like folic acid, calcium and omega 3s to help support your baby’s healthy growth without prompting your gag reflex. Planning a diet around both your stomach and your baby’s needs can take a lot of time as well as a toll on your budget, and is something few women miss when they finally give birth.
Lack of mobility
The closer you get to your due date, the less you’ll be able to move. Even the simplest of tasks become ordeals – a trip to the bathroom can take 15 minutes, finding something that both fits and is comfortable can add up to a half hour of pulling and tugging clothes on. You sink into couches and easy chairs, and if no one’s around to help you get up, you may have to be very inventive in getting to a standing position. Worst of all, carrying around all of that extra weight just makes you tired. You never thought you’d have a morning where you slept 12 hours and still felt tired as you got out of bed.