How to Survive Pregnancy without Going Totally Nuts

I fully believe pregnancy is a gift from God and that children are a blessing but I’ve never been one who couldn’t wait to have kids or who dreamed of being pregnant and having babies. I’m not a kid person. Indeed, I originally planned to have kids later in life but after marrying my sailor husband, we thought that right about now would be a great time to grow our family, especially with me running this business from home.

I’m really excited about this baby and I really can’t wait to meet him or her! I’ve chosen to be private about this pregnancy in terms of social media. The gender, the names, our ultrasound pics, how we told family and close friends and the every day pregnancy milestones are between my husband and I and the baby. You won’t see any naked belly pics or an over-sharing of medical problems from me. Call me old fashioned but I think some things are private (though I don’t judge how other people want to express their pregnancies). I would like to chime in, though, on some thoughts and tips for trying to say sane while pregnant, especially for those other moms who are running their own businesses while being pregnant.

Before I get into my thoughts, I want to mention my first article on the Home Made Simple website about How to Clean Your Freezer in 7 Simple Steps. Give your freezer some love this week and check it out. Okay, onto the pregnancy tips. Here I am yesterday at 34 weeks.

Two nights ago while in the throes of pregnancy induced insomnia and late night nausea, I actually Googled “Tired of Being Pregnant.” Up until now, the 34 week mark, I’ve had a pretty decent pregnancy. But as my Google search revealed, the 34 mark is when many women start to get tired of being pregnant. For me, the lack of being able to move around and get work done that comes the the 34 week plus belly was my turning point.

Nine months is a long, long time to carry another human being in your body. This week, I stopped painting custom furniture outside during the day due to the heat. I wait until Nate gets home and it cools off to go outside. That way I’m not tempted to try and move things I shouldn’t be moving and the heat doesn’t kill me. Being stuck indoors during the day has been really difficult for me. That said, these are a few things I’ve done to keep myself from going absolutely nuts.

1. Find something that makes your body feel good and do it as often as you can! There are many physical pains that come with being pregnant. For me, I find relief in taking a nice warm shower. The warm water feels so good on aching muscles and gives me a chance to be alone in my thoughts. Maybe this is getting a pedicure or having someone rub your feet. Look forward to this enjoyable experience every day and really enjoy it in the moment.

2. Find something that takes your mind off of being pregnant. For me, this is going to the movie theater. We have frequented the cheap-o movie theater many times, seeing pretty much anything that is playing. For that 1.5 – 2 hour time frame, my mind is completely off of dealing with being pregnant and I love it.

3. Go ahead and spend the money to get a few new maternity clothes when the end is near. Don’t feel bad about getting a few extra tops that are big enough for you to feel comfortable and *dare I say* somewhat attractive and normal during the last weeks of pregnancy. I highly recommend Old Navy’s maternity t-shirts. They are soft, light weight and affordable.

4. If you don’t want to talk about pregnancy, don’t. Remember that you are a whole, unique person. Even though you may feel like nothing more than an incubator, you aren’t. If the details of pregnancy are overwhelming you, don’t talk about them. Focus on other aspects of your life that you enjoy – your work, your interests, politics, whatever! You are more than the sum of your amniotic sac! I don’t usually mind talking about being pregnant but I really appreciate when people ask and engage with me on other things that are going on in our lives.

5. Take it day by day. Every day my pregnancy app tells me more bad news about being pregnant from varicose veins to hemorrhoids to episiotomies. I almost dread looking at my daily update although I find it comical at this point. I try to have a sense of humor about all of these annoying downfalls of pregnancy and just think about the positive each day. It is very difficult to not play the “how many weeks” game, you know the one where you keep counting down the weeks and hoping you made a mistake last time and are actually closer to your due date than you thought.

Pregnancy is long, difficult and uncomfortable. Anyone who says otherwise is trying to sell a bill of goods. Yes, it is undoubtedly worth it but don’t feel insufficient if you’re struggling to get to the end like I am.

I want to know – what tips do you have for getting through the last part of the third trimester?