WHAT THEY DID NOT TELL ME ABOUT PREGNANCY? Part 1

Hi! My name is Rheyn, and I am now on my 5th month of pregnancy, 21 weeks to be exact. We are currently under quarantine due to COVID-19 pandemic, and my brain cells are too lazy to work on my academic requirements in my MS subjects. Hence, this blog. I just want to write about how we are doing and my thoughts while being pregnant.

When we just found out that I got pregnant (with our first child!), I heard a lot of this and that. You will experience something like this or that and expect to have this and that. And I appreciate them all. I am the kind of person who would like to know what will happen beforehand. That is the reason why I tend to read the plot of a movie before watching it. Yes, I do that a lot. Boring, isn’t it?

I think I brought that in this pregnancy. Before taking any medicine or undergoing anything, I would ask my doctor what will happen or what should I expect. You know, I hate surprises. I get easily nervous with things I am not familiar with. She now knew that, I think. When I entered my second trimester, she told me that I have to take Feofer, a hematinic capsule (it increases hemoglobin in the blood, Google says). She immediately added, “This will make your poop black in color.” Oh, gosh! I was so thankful she told me that! I do not know what could I have done if she didn’t! I might have given my husband a panic attack also. Excuse me to those who might be having their snacks or whatever while reading this, but my poop was so black the next day! It looks like I poured a cup of dark-colored soil into our bowl! Whew! This is how weak-hearted I am when it comes to my body; any change in it can make me panic. The reason may be is that I have not been in the hospital a lot. I have no major surgery yet. I usually visit hospitals due to medical requirements-blood test (this is another story!), X-ray, and urine test. The “most major hospital experience” was when I started visiting my ob-gyn before our wedding in 2019 (I will write about these experiences soon).

So going back to my topic in this blog, I was surprised when I discovered some things that I was not informed of by the people around me. Thankfully, they are not ones to cause any panic. Nevertheless, my “faint” heart is still adjusting to some. I will enumerate these experiences, but please note that I am no expert in this. These experiences may or may not be the same for others. Here are my discoveries. I may have given explanations to some, but they are purely based on my Internet search.

1. My nose would be able to differentiate ingredients in a dish I never look at while cooking.

This is a skill that I do not want this season. Why? Because I can only differentiate (most of the time) that food/ingredient that I do not like!

I was informed about the changes in taste preferences during pregnancy–that you will start to hate or love a certain smell or food. I heard about mommies craving for carbonara or eggplant dish alone throughout their pregnancies. Or that they did not want their husbands near them because they hated the smell (I actually prayed for this not to happen in my case. I need my husband near me!). Yes, I am well aware of these changes. However, I did not expect that I will also be able to differentiate ingredients in a dish even if I did not cook it! One time, my husband cooked pinakbet. While eating, I smelled something not pleasant for me in this season-shrimp paste. I know that alamang should be added in pinakbet. But in this time of quarantine, I thought that we do not have any stock and that he will consider that I hate shrimps now. Whew! He was not able to deny it. I then realized that he bought a bottle of alamang for the singkamas I requested.

Also, I think I can now tell what my neighbors are cooking just by having a whiff of it. And it is so difficult! When I smell onions being sautéed, ground pork, or fish being fried, I feel like I cannot breathe! I tend to hold my breath, which is not good for baby. Yay. Is this still true while I’m on my 2nd trimester already? Yes, and I am praying for it to be gone soon!

2. My body system can produce gallons of saliva.

This is another discovery that I totally hate. It is so uncomfortable! It was during the 3rd-4th months that having excess saliva bothered me a lot, especially at night time. I always had a pack of tissue and a trash bag beside me because going in and out of the comfort room can make me dizzy. When I searched online, they said that it is due to pregnancy hormones or you are feeling nauseous. For me, it is a combination of both sometimes.

3. Doctor’s check up will take away your “shyness” and “privacy”.

I am a shy person most of the time. I usually share my stories and deep thoughts only to those in my circle of friends and, of course, to the husband, Pau. When I started having regular checkup with my ob-gyn, transvaginal ultrasound took that “shyness” away. It is like being an “open book” to the doctor everything about yourself. Whew!

Oops, let me stop for a while. This blog is getting long with my stories. Should we continue with Part 2? Kindly read that part as well. 🙂