1. Bigger
breasts. This is actually a mixed blessing. While your husband/lover/ogling neighbor may enjoy your larger breasts to no end, the growth process is usually quite painful. Also, you have to keep buying bigger and bigger
bras. After
pregnancy, however, your breasts will generally "deflate."
2. No obsessing over weight. At least, this is how it should be. Some of the newer pregnancy
magazines -
Fit Pregnancy in particular - include just as many body-obsessive articles as
Glamour and
Mademoiselle. This is the worst possible time you could worry about your
weight. You shouldn't overeat, but relax; weight gain is the surest sign of a healthy pregnancy.
3.
Sex drive. Once you hit the second trimester, your
nether regions become engorged with blood; in other words, you'll be walking around in a constant state of readiness. As long as you and your partner are accepting of your growing belly, this can be a great time to stock up on
sex before a baby makes you too tired to do so.
4. Lusty dreams. I don't mean the kind where you find yourself kissing the
pimply-faced pizza boy. I mean full-fledged
orgasmic dreams, the kind that make you wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air, the kind that we thought only
adolescent boys had. These hit around the second trimester as well.
5. Coddling. Everyone suddenly cares very much for your wellbeing, from your husband/partner to your sister to your co-workers to the
homeless guy on the subway. They're all intensely interested in how you feel, what you're eating, and even how often you pee. As long as you're not an overly private person, this can be a great
ego-booster.
6. The clothes. I know, I know. Everyone complains about
maternity clothes. But you know what? They are so damn comfortable. Everything is stretchy - no more zippers! It's like wearing
sweatpants to work everyday, and nobody can complain because you're pregnant.
7. The excuses. This may be
diabolical for me to point out, but pregnancy provides great excuses to get out of things. I relished the day when I told my boss I could no longer load the water bottles onto the water cooler at work because I was pregnant. That was a legitimate excuse, but I've used my pregnancy plenty of other times as a not-so-legitimate excuse. Don't want to go to your friend's
Mary Kay party? Come down with
morning sickness! She'll even feel sorry for you!
8. Great hair and nails. I don't know if it's the pregnancy itself or the prenatal
vitamins, but during pregnancy, your hair and nails grow stronger and quicker than ever before. This is nice, because since your face is probably full of
zits by this point, you can style up your hair so that nobody notices.
9. The stuff. I absolutely love buying
children's books, and my husband is having a blast looking for toys. It's a great fun to redecorate a room, get some really cute
stuffed animals, and browse through
Baby Gap. Of course, there are the
diapers and the rash
ointment and the
burp cloths, but since you're pregnant, you can just concern yourself with the cute stuff for now.
10. The
baby. Oh, yeah, there's that.
Kids are great to have, I'm sure.