1. Relaxin creates a love-hate relationship! This hormone is responsible for preparing the pelvic floor to push a baby's head and body thru the birth canal. Sounds simple enough. As the name implies, Relaxin relaxes the joints in the pelvis, however it cause 'abnormal motion' in many other joints also! With the increase in the body's creation of the hormone Relaxin, there is and increasing amount of pelvic pain and lower back pain in the last month (although there are increased levels of Relaxin already present as early as 20 weeks, it is less noticeable as the weight of the uterus and belly have yet to grow to full size). So what am I saying? I feel as though someone took my legs and stretched them to the side, forcing me to do the splits!!! And my back is burning from the pain as if someone pierced a rod thru the lower portion connecting my spine and pelvic bone. Explained another way, it is like holding a house together with rubber bands. Other than that I'm good!
In future: So no one mentioned this although my research did occasionally say to expect lower back pain in the last weeks to become worse. They just didn't tell me how bad it would be! If you just told me that Relaxin increases by 10 times its normal concentration during pregnancy, I would have caught on and done something about it. So, while I remained active and exercised, what I lacked was the right kind of exercise to handle this hormone. It is important to do specific exercises to strengthen the back and pelvic floor so the 9th month is easier and less painful.
2. From all the stories I heard and all the research I did I was ready for any and all symptoms. Mostly I thought I would have all the symptoms mentioned! So for example at week 7, I thought I would develop a full list of symptoms and have to live with them… and each week or trimester would be different. Little did I know, that not all the symptoms are present for every woman in every pregnancy. Those are just common symptoms women may experience.
In future: It can be totally normal to not have the major symptoms mentioned by all the online resources and books out there. Each pregnancy is different and each body is different and reacts differently from the changes. Finally half way through the pregnancy I realized there was nothing wrong with me and that I truly was pregnant, but in a way my body handled it! From that point on, when people told me their stories, I managed to keep my head on straight by repeating to myself "Every pregnancy is different!"
3. My personality is such that when there is something new to me or something I don't know, I must find out more about it… in detail. The problem comes in when you live in the 21st century and everyone's best friend happens to be Google! Today there is a risk of information overload that threatens us at every click. Early on in the pregnancy I knew everything there was to know about that stage and I was like a live, walking, talking wikipedia. The problem was it did me no good. In fact, it began to overwhelm me because I had so much information and sometimes the information was controversial and conflicted based on different views! So all that information became useless and frustrating to me.
In future: Thanks to my personality, I quickly learned to adjust how I went about doing my research. Start the trimester and each week with a general read up of what is happening to your body and baby as the pregnancy develops. Be aware (but only vaguely) of the possible symptoms you may encounter or changes that can happen. Finally, as you experience certain symptoms that concern you or that you don't understand, research just those and find out ways to cope and understand your body better. There is no point in learning about every single symptom if it doesn't apply to you. It will only turn you into a worry wart and possibly implode that fuzzy little brain of yours.
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