The joys of getting pregnant, or even being open about wanting to fall pregnant, mean everyone and their mother will tell you their pregnancy stories. Most of them include vomiting, weight gain, stretch marks, heartburn and a myriad other issues and complaints. Sure, we were made to be able to procreate, it’s what our bodies are designed to do. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.

I’ve been quite lucky, I think. Compared to most other women I’ve talked to, I haven’t had horrific nausea. In fact, I’ve had no morning sickness and only mild nausea if surrounded by food that I know my body won’t tolerate. Until now, I’ve had pretty decent sleep, my skin and hair has been okay and I’ve felt pretty decent. Yes, I’ve struggled with heartburn, and my first trimester was basically a 3-month-long cold, but compared to what I’ve heard, I haven’t had a pregnancy from hell.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. Even an easy pregnancy has its difficult days. Days like today, when my feet are sore from being so swollen (no, it’s not preeclampsia, they checked at the midwife this week) and I just feel exhausted and brain dead. I know I’m not sleeping well – whether it’s the heartburn, stiff joints, achey swollen extremities or the fact that Harley decides to live la vida loca at 3am, my sleep is no longer what it once was. I love my nap times, and I think I need to extend them. I’m living on cucumbers, cranberry juice, water with lemon and every other water retention cure that I can think of. (Oh, please share any of your awesome water retention solutions – I’m willing to try almost anything at this point)

Pregnancy isn’t as bad as everyone has made it out to be. With the exception of a few rough days, I haven’t been ridiculously moody, my body has held up okay so far, and mostly I’ve been able to enjoy the journey. But there are some days when all I want to do is sleep with my feet up and forget about the aches, pains and discomforts, just for a little while. At least the reward at the end of all this is a precious little human. And the end of all this swelling of my hands, feet and belly.

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