Pregnancy is the biggest Hail Mary in the world. So much that, in fact, I may or may not be pregnant at the moment (just kidding—I know I am not!).
I have a beautiful baby boy for whom we worked to have for four months before becoming pregnant. Had I known, while trying to conceive him, that there aren’t any one-hundred-percent, surefire signs of his existence, I would have stressed much less in those four months.
The good news, though, is that I discovered things about my body I had never thought to investigate—temperature, moods, cramping, spotting, cravings, weird symptoms. I have apps on my phone that track it all. My cycle was no longer a surprise every month—it became a science. I could tell you down to the hour it would begin and the day it would end.
When we finally conceived, the ONLY sign I had was a missed cycle. I had no cravings, no backaches, no spotting, no mood swings, appetite changes, behavioral changes. Nothing. I had been tricked by a late cycle my first month trying to conceive, so I waited a full week before I took the pregnancy test and it came back positive.
While pregnant, several of my friends also were due to give birth—and not a single one of them had the same experience. Some of us were energized, some sluggish. Some had morning sickness, others did not. Some couldn’t sleep, some couldn’t stay awake. And veteran moms reported that their previous pregnancies were completely different from their current one.
As far as detecting pregnancy, though, even WebMD kind of shrugs its shoulders and says “Meh. Ya might be, ya might not.”
So if you are like me and chronicling your every sneeze, headache, and hangnail for a sign that you could be pregnant, stop worrying so much. If you build it, they will come. Maybe you’re one of the unlucky few who will experience morning sickness, but the best you can do is take a test after attempting conception.
Stop worrying so much because if anything, that will hinder your conception attempts. Do what you need to do, track what you can, and pray. Conception is the first time in your little one’s existence that you will realize you’re not really in control of anything, and won’t be again (sorry). Just go with the flow, and everything will happen in its own time.
By: Sarah ‘1st Time Mama’ Pearce
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