Habits I Picked Up During Pregnancy

I told myself that if I finished reading the Renal/Genitourinary chapter of my book that I'm studying for boards tonight, that I could reward myself by writing a blog post. Trust me, it was no easy feat. Learning about renal diseases is more boring than watching paint dry. But I got through it, mostly because I was so excited to write. I came up with a great idea for a new post while I was going to the bathroom at Barnes & Noble earlier today and have been waiting to write it. I know, kind of a weird place to come up with a blog topic. You'll understand if you read on...

Pregnancy is probably one of the hardest things a woman can go through. Things happen to your body that really should not happen. Your body basically mutates to be this living cocoon with the sole purpose of housing and feeding your growing baby. For me the first few months were miserable. I was in the middle of my surgery rotation, having to scrub in and out every few hours to vomit or pee or eat so I didn't pass out. I was tired all the time, I could barely stay up to study after I got out of surgery every day. Then I hit my fourth month and I was happy as a clam. I got to the point where I was obviously pregnant (and didn't look like I ate one too many christmas cookies), and no longer puking my brains out. Even up until the last month, in July, I was still smiling while floating in my parents pool in 90 degree heat.

Now onto the point of this post.... while popping a squat at B&N I realized that I did something that I had only done while I was pregnant and the habit had just stuck with me. Then I realized that there's quite a few things that I started doing during my pregnancy that I still do today. I bet you're dying to know what I did in the bathroom, huh? Okay here goes:

1. Lift my shirt over my belly when I go to the bathroom. It all started when my ever expanding belly started getting too big that I couldn't see past my belly button. I'd wear this pesky maternity tank top that was super tight fitting under all my shirts. Every time I went to the bathroom I'd have to lift up my shirts, pull down my tank top over my belly and then adjust the shirt I was wearing over it. It seems so silly, but I'd always pull my shirts up over my belly before I sat down to pee, and just today I realized that I still do that.

Boppy Pillow

2. Sleep on my side with a pillow between my knees. Pre-pregnancy I'd always sleep on my stomach, but then of course that became impossible as my baby grew and grew. I thought it was so uncomfortable to sleep on my side, but then my mom got me a big Boppy pillow for a mother's day gift. It's shaped like a giant apostrophe, with the bigger part supporting the belly and the end going between the knees. It definitely helped me sleep a little more comfy (as comfy as you can get with a watermelon for a belly). Even post-baby, I still sleep with the pillow on my side.

3. Carry a water bottle everywhere. You probably know that when you're pregnant it's important to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!! So I bought a water bottle and always carried it with me all day, which was super important since I was running around the hospital all day and was determined not to go into premature labor. It certainly didn't help though with the constant need to pee, but at least it gave me an excuse to sit for a minute :) Well to this day I still carry around the same water bottle and try to always stay hydrated.

4. Taking a daily vitamin. I was never one to remember to take a pill everyday, so it was quite difficult to force myself to take my prenatal vitamins. I had to keep the bottle right on my nightstand so that I'd remember to take it before bed every night. Of course I had to continue taking them while breastfeeding too. Then after I was done breastfeeding, I thought "Hey, why don't I keep up the habit?" So I switched to a regular multivitamin and kept on taking it.

So there you have it. It's funny how nine months of doing something can stick with you for what may be a lifetime. At least they're all good habits. Well except for maybe the shirt lifting thing, there's really no benefit to that. And now I'll already be prepared when the next baby comes around!

Are there any pregnancy habits that you've stuck with?