Hangovers

This post was written on October 7th, 2013:

My life style before pregnancy consisted of going out and having a few drinks on the weekends, or enjoying a glass of wine with dinner after a hard day of work. I didn't think it would be hard to transition to not drinking, but at first it was a little difficult. Not because I was addicted to alcohol, but because social drinking was my lifestyle and I needed to change the way I thought about my weekend activities. After a few weeks it became easier. It was hard when we were keeping my pregnancy a secret and we would go out with friends who typically saw me drink. I tried to hide it by ordering virgin drinks, but it was pretty obvious. Once we spilled the beans to everyone, the pressure was off and I felt like I could enjoy myself more, even when my friends were drinking around me. Every once in awhile I will miss having a glass of wine with dinner, but overall it is definitely worth the sacrifice for my baby.

After a few weeks of not drinking, I started to ponder the idea that pregnancy symptoms are similar to hangover symptoms. It really hit me when we had some friends stay with us for the weekend. Followed by a night of heavy drinking, to my amusement, my husband and his friends woke up the next morning extremely hungover. Not only did I get to enjoy listening to them the night before making ridiculous comments and watching them act like fools, I got to relish in it the next day too. However, the night took a toll on my body as well. Staying out late after a busy day, made me feel like I was hungover! I was exhausted, my body hurt, and I felt sick to my stomach from not eating first thing in the morning. I tried to regain my strength, but all I wanted to do was sleep all day. So like the good pregnant woman that I am, I listened to my body and slept pretty much all day. It did help some, but I was still feeling the effects of my too busy weekend into the work week.

So even though, I have not had a sip of alcohol in 13 weeks, pregnancy can make you feel like you are hungover, especially if you try to do too much and don't listen to your body. So I have learned my lesson and have tried to take it easy, but there are going to be times when I am busy and do have to get a lot done, and will probably feel hungover.

I forgot to take my 13 week belly picture. . . I was going to take one of just the chalk board with a cute saying, but I've been busy and lazy. So maybe it will get posted on here. :)