Pregnancy = a lack of style!

I was nominated by my lovely friend Sara for the Stylish Blogger Award – an honour I’m sure I don’t deserve given the utter lack of style ‘round these parts and my pitiful lack of blogging but I am very grateful.

The ever stylish Sara made her list about the 7 things she is looking forward to about autumn. 

I tried to think of 7 autumn related things I was looking forward to but all I came up with was not being sweaty and being able to say “Autumnal” all the time. So that was a bust.

Instead I thought I’d talk about a few of things about being pregnant that I was slightly unprepared for.

Thus my Stylish Blogger 7 things list is Seven Unexpected things about being Pregnant!

Just as an update - we’re at 20 weeks – so officially the half-way point.
Other than the sickness, I have been so, so lucky thus far and am actually enjoying this whole process quite a lot.
I love feeling the baby moving – which is happening more and more, and I’m so excited about meeting this little person who I love so much already.

But here are some things I’ve found curious about the journey so far:

1. Endless nicknames
We have taken to calling the baby ‘Raj’ which is a shortened form of Ra-Ju (the start of our surname + junior). It has kind of stuck with us and it has lent itself to a whole host of other names – mostly from M.
For example, since I am hosting Raj, I am therefore Raj-istan. M and I are the Entou-Raj. When I am feeling unwell M asks if I am feeling Aver-Raj. When Raj is moving about we call is Raj-y-bargy.
The options are rather endless and it makes us both giggle like loons.
Pity the poor child, especially if it ends up being a girl and her nickname for the rest of her life is “Raj”!


2. Hormones make my cry. A LOT.
At the moment I seem to cry over everything and nothing.
Things have that have made my cry include (but are not limited to): The film Bridesmaids (which is a comedy and very very funny btw!) M arriving home from work, M leaving for work, a poignant moment on Masterchef, Gossip Girl, a particularly moving story on CNN, the dishes being dirty, not being able to find my black leggings, being tired, watching sad Glee videos on YouTube, having to wash my hair.
Yeah. I’m losing the plot. Blame the hormones!!!


3. Food has lost its regular appeal.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but for a food lover this aversion and ambivalence to one of the greatest joys on earth (which would be eating) is slightly disconcerting. For a long time I think it was due to the nausea and morning sickness which seems FINALLY to have left the building but even still – I’m so “meh” about food.
It’s like having the opposite to cravings. There is still a list of things I don’t want to eat but other than that, it’s just fuel to get me through the day.
It’s tragic people! I can’t even get excited about chocolate! Who am I??


4. Horror stories 
Everyone has heard a horrible story about a 45 hour labour. Or tragic stories of still-born babies. Or nightmarish tales of surgeries gone wrong. I know that these things can happen, I’m not naive. What I don’t understand is why everyone feels the urge to share ALL these stories, whether their own or something that happened to a friend or their cousin Belinda, with a newly pregnant woman??!!??
I've learnt about “incompetent cervixes”, foetal abnormalities, 3 day pain-relief-free labours, incontinence, scarring, inverted nipples, silent reflux, miscarriages at 5 months, failed epidurals – ENOUGH!!! Stop scaring the pregnant women! 


5. Body changes 
This one wasn’t unexpected – obviously your body changes when preggers, duh. But some of the changes are still curious. Hair in unusual places and changing colour and texture, fingernails that grow ridiculously fast, bigger boobies, skin sensitivity and itchiness, a slowly changing centre of gravity that affects gait and movement – I’m not waddling yet but I’m certainly not striding normally.
And best of all – a belly that is slowly starting to look less “who ate all the pies” and more “baby on board”. This bit isn’t a surprise but it is totally brilliant.


6. Mummy Battles 
I’m not quite sure what it is about women but we sadly seem to feel the need to out-do one another and prove ourselves as superior to other women in a whole variety of ways. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of babies and children where women can be incredibly supportive and kind or judgemental and condescending.
Oh holy heck, there are a lot of opinions out there and people seem more than willing to share with you theirs, even if you didn’t ask for it. My wise mother always says “Opinions are like Assholes. Everyone’s got one”.
I haven’t been personally bombarded with “advice” as my family and friends are awesome and chilled but as soon as you start researching or looking online or reading through forums - Wowza. It’s a jungle out there and the claws are out. 3-wheeler prams v 4-wheelers. Cloth nappies v Disposable. Breast v Bottle. Natural birth v C-Section. Everyone has an opinion (which they are often happy to present as FACT) and it makes the whole thing rather headache inducing.
Which is a pity. As trying to decide on a pram is freaking hard! There are literally 100s of choices out there!!


7. Becoming a family 
We’re still a long way from Raj making his/her appearance into the world but already I am surprised and awed by how much closer this experience has brought M and I. Suffice to say, I haven’t been the most useful wife the last 4 months or so and M has more than picked up the slack doing about 90% of all the cooking/cleaning/shopping etc. Quite frankly, he has been amazing.
He is also so excited and involved in everything – making sure he attends all my appointments, reading the chapters in the book, making sure I’m eating/resting/sleeping enough and asking me every day “how is my Raj doing?” As my belly is getting bigger he also spends time rubbing and talking or singing to the baby (who I don’t think can hear him yet but ..... don’t tell M that!)
While his song choice leaves a lot to be desired, his love for our baby and for me is something to behold. Raj and I are very, very lucky to have him.


So there you have it.
Not terribly stylish I’m afraid!


Raj says hi 


B
xxx