You are either a boy or a girl. There is no third option that I know of! Either case, it would be useful if I share some of my pregnancy experiences with you. You will get pregnant yourself, or your wife will get pregnant, or someone around you, a colleague, a friend, a person you care for gets pregnant.

There is no more than one way to get pregnant! Of course, it can be natural or assisted. But in the end of the day, they are both the same.

There are, however, countless ways of “being pregnant” or “handling pregnancy”. Some, you can control. Some, you can’t.

I can categorize those countless ways into three main categories:

Very lucky pregnants, normal pregnangts, and really unlucky pregnants.

The very lucky pregnants (midwife tales: pregnancy with a baby boy) do not feel much during their pregnancy. They are still of (almost) the same level of energy, no nausea, no vomitting, no insomnia, no craving, no food aversion, nothing, nothing. It is just the size of their body that changes.

The normal pregnants are more or less like me. I felt miserable for six to eight weeks in months 2 and 3. It started getting better and better after week 13~14. I had headache. I had vertigo twice. I had no energy. It was as if I had taken a mild sedative. As a result, I had to defer two of my exams (I was doing an MBA at the time. I am still on an MBA program). I hated the smell of the food when it was being cooked. I couldn’t eat in big portions. I couldn’t eat anything but liquids at night. I vomitted in the morning just twice. My mom (your granny) and my husband (your dad) took care of EVERYTHING during that time. The next 10 weeks were ok. I was almost back to normal, except that I had to take more rest, and my breath was short. I still preferred not to cook, but I could have, if I really had to. Now starting in week 26, I am feeling more tired. I need to stay in bed for long hours. I am keeping my activities to a minimum. I have some insomnia! I do not have that much of appetite, but fortunately, I can eat healthy and enough food. Headach and nosebleeding still bothers me from time to time in the mornings. And…I rarely had headaches before getting pregnant in the first 38 years of my life. In fact, I know exactly I had headaches just three times during all my life and before getting pregnant!!!

The unlucky pregnants have the worst symptoms, including craving, food aversion, sleeping issues, fatigue, nausea, vomitting, vertigo, and many more during the whole nine months. They cannot eat anything! Sometimes they have bed rest for the full nine months, or for the first three months.

So, heads up, if you, your loved ones, or a woman around you gets pregnant, you need to be careful. Pregnant women might need more rest. The easiest things might be a challenge to them. Help them, as much as you can.

If you are planning to get pregnant, make sure you will have someone around to help you A LOT. If your significant other is getting pregnant, make sure that you are around to take care of everything, in case is she is not in her best shape.

And beware, some women get REALLY sensitive or depressed or anxious (overall emotionally unstable) during pregnancy.

One last thing: despite all those things, I was a very happy pregnant woman. Your dad was wonderful and took care of everything. Your granny was around, and ecstatic about you. I was so content, I was seeing so much love and care around me.

And…when the baby kicks and moves, it is soooooooo cute. It is like tickling. Yet, it is a big concern to me when the baby stop moving and kicking! I wish my belly was transparent, so that I could make sure that the baby is fine, safe and sound.