Pregnancy has wrecked my body

With one and a quarter pregnancy, my body is wrecked by it.  I don't want to scare any future mothers, but this is a true story.  So, if you are trying to have a baby, please take note of this as much as possible, otherwise, you will have the same fate as me.  And I am not talking about stretch marks.

Sciatica

I first felt the sciatica pain when I was just about 7-8 weeks pregnant.  I remember there was one night, husband and I visited some friends and all of a sudden, I knelt on the floor and unable to get up.  The pain was sharp and numbing.  My husband have to press on the spot for few seconds before I can get up and walk again.  However, as the pregnancy progressed, I didn't have that pain so often.  Only once in a while, my husband have to press on that spot to give me relieve.  

After delivery, that was when it finally hit me hard until now.  It's not something that can be cure by medicine or physio.  It's something that I need to be careful of.  Say certain posture would make the pain come back, like I cannot lie on my stomach for long.  That is a definite return.  And I need to sleep with a pillow underneath my knees at night so that the weigh of my legs doesn't put pressure on my back or something like that.  The best relieve is the butterfly pose.  Instant relief.  But if I walked too much, carried my girl too long, then pain will be back for sure.  Need to do stretches after that.

Plantar Fasciitis

I had this years ago before I got married.  Wearing the wrong shoes attributed to it and I managed to get out of it by doing regular stretching and wearing the correct shoes.

But, it came back right after pregnancy.  I guess the extra weight during pregnancy and the whole 9 months I was wearing flat shoes didn't help at all.  

But this time, it doesn't go away so easy as per the first time.  After 2.5 years, no, make it 3.5 years from pregnancy, I am still having the pain, no matter what I do.  

I went to a podiatrist and got a special orthotics which costed me almost RM2k and it didn't help still.  I went to chiropractor and got my back corrected (not the sciatica though), but the plantar pain was still there.  I bought a pair of office shoes for high arch and that helps me to walk without pain, but I am still waking up with pain.  At home I need to wear the house shoes to walk around.

Urinary Incontinence

This only happens after pregnancy.  I am not frequently doing the Kegel exercise, so maybe that's why it is not improving.  This happens more frequently when I am sick with flu.  Coughing and sneezing can just squirt pee out without warning.  

Now, I am not trying to scare you all with the side effects of pregnancy.  I truly believed that younger people who got pregnant at a younger age, say in their 20s have more benefit compared to those who have it at 30s.  I gave birth to my first at 37, which is considered quite late.

If you can, married early and start a family early.  Don't wait.  The benefit for that is you can have more than 1 child while you are still young.  Now I can't even think of having a second child because all these pain is no joke.  Sometimes I feel so paralysed especially when I first wake up in the morning, especially when both pain are there.  

I started everything late.  Initially I wanted to marry early, but I was still single and working full-time and studying part-time for my professional exam.  Then I thought better to be in a relationship only when I have passed my exams.  Unfortunately, I got conned by a two-timer and was pretty upset for a bit.  That time I was already touching 30.  

Finally I found my husband and we got married when I was 32.  That was considered late for a woman, I feel.  We didn't try for a baby immediately because we were living in 2 different countries at that time.  When he finally migrated here, I was 34 years old and was desperately trying to get pregnant ASAP before I hit 35.  In a way, I got pregnant after visiting him in his country and while waiting for him to migrate here, I was in early pregnancy.  Unfortunately, I miscarried at 34 and lost all hope of getting pregnancy before 35.  I have heard too many risks about above 35 pregnancy.

When I finally got pregnant at 36, I was wary about the risks but at the same time was in a full detached mode.  Thankfully the pregnancy was a breeze.  No gestational diabetes.  No pre-eclampsia.  No other complications.

Looking back, I don't think I can plan it as much as I wanted.  Like I wanted to get marry early but couldn't and there wasn't a choice.  I wanted to have a baby immediately after marriage before 35 years old but couldn't and it's not something that I can control.  

So, if you have the choice, if you are dating in your 20s, please get marry if you think you have found the right person.  Don't wait too long.  I know many are also waiting for more career progress, more money before settling down, but the more you wait, the more you lose out.  Even if you are super rich and can afford IVF, there is no medication that can help you heal your body after pregnancy.  Sure, if you are rich, you can hire a helper etc.  But you get what I mean.

Health is super important and no amount of money can prevent cancer or heal AIDS or diabetes or heart attack, etc, etc.  

So, if you have the choice, don't wait.