I spoke today to a friend who is from a previous generation – he’s already a grandfather – about how much he knew about kids when he was growing up. In fact, he didn’t know much about babies, except that they were annoying some of the time. As it turns out, nothing much has changed between generations.
One of the things I’ve learned through this pregnancy is that my schooling hasn’t taught me _anything_ about what happens to someone who is pregnant.
A few things I’ve picked up in my reading and observation on the subject:
The first trimester is a rough time. The mum is tired all the time, often feels nauseous, but often has to pretend nothing is wrong, because she won’t have told people she’s expecting. Why will she not have told anyone? Because if something is going to go wrong with a pregnancy, it will happen (most likely) in the first trimester.
All kinds of crazy things happen to a pregnant body: it’s not nearly as much fun as the TV ads might make it look.
With all of the changes, the one thing that hasn’t happened yet is any sensation at all that there might be a baby inside you: the baby is in fact far too small to feel yet (except in the way that you get nausea and the beginning of a change in shape).