The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

From the moment those two pink lines show up on a home pregnancy test, most women experience feelings of happiness and wonderment. It took me a few weeks to reach those emotions, since this pregnancy wasn’t planned (prior to this I never even wanted children). Surprisingly the initial shock did wear off, and excitement slowly overtook that “oh shit” moment. It wasn’t long before I was head over heels in love with the little nugget growing inside of me, and I couldn’t imagine my life any other way….

Then came the diagnosis of Down syndrome....it threatened to steal the joy I had so recently claimed. But I was determined to not let the grief overtake me, and I refused to live the next six months with a Nancy Kerrigan attitude ("why me?!"). Through the best support system a girl could hope for, I found the strength and courage to suppress the fear of the unknown, and continue to “enjoy” my pregnancy like any other women would. Note the quotes around the word enjoy….. They are purposefully inserted due to the plentiful and not so lovely side effects I've been experiencing. You know, the ones that really make a pregnancy miserable. Please see below:

The Symptoms

                (Warning….. the following may be TMI)

• Slow digestion is a polite way for me to describe how meals usually stay with me for longer than I would care them to, if you catch my drift. It is always fun, however, after things finally get moving to step on the bathroom scale and see how much weight has been instantly lost….. “Three pounds, heck yeah!”

• An arguably positive symptom, my breasts have grown to new proportions. This is a welcome thing to some women, but I, on the other hand, was a pre-pregnancy D cup.....I am honestly terrified to think of how big they will be when milk starts to come in. Add to this breast tenderness and soreness, and there is a strict “look, but don’t touch” policy.

• Thanks to my growing uterus pushing on my bladder, I have been peeing more frequently. I feel like I run to the bathroom more times in a day than I used to in a month. I would write more about it, but I gotta go……

• Who knew that bleeding gums was also a normal side effect? That metallic taste is not the most pleasant thing when I am brushing my teeth. From what I’ve read it has to do with the increased blood supply in my body.

• In addition to the above I have been getting nose bleeds when blow my nose. Like bleeding gums, this is due to all the extra blood. I am slightly worried someone may think I have a cocaine problem.

• I also have been a bit more moody than usual. I blame the hormones and refuse to say more on that subject, or else I might have to kill you. Then cry hysterically about it for an hour. Then start laughing like a lunatic.

• Lastly, the fatigue......I'm too tired to write more about it. Plus, I think I have to pee again.

The above list is by no means a complete list of symptoms, but they are the ones that have affected me the most. Obviously omitted is morning sickness which is one of the most widely associated symptoms of pregnancy (and a misnomer, as it has no discretion as to what time of day it will strike). I happened to be one of the lucky ones that never suffered this constant queasiness. There was an occasional bout, but I suspect it had more to do with my food choices (an entire box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and a bag of Sour Patch Kids sounded delicious at the time).

All in all these symptoms are welcome reminders that my pregnancy is still just that, regardless that my baby has an extra 21st chromosome. And this same lesson will apply once my little girl arrives… she will be more like other children than different. So for now I am going to "enjoy" all aspects of the next 6 months... the good, the bad, and the ugly.