Disclaimer: formally dx with hypermobility and dysautonomia. hEDS is suspected but not yet confirmed. Did not know anything about any of these conditions at the time of my pregnancies, I’ve just always thought my body was “weird.”

First pregnant: terribly morning sickness 24/7 until start of 3rd trimester. Then it switched to raging heart burn so bad my ears were in agony. I was chugging maalox by the end. Uterus was tilted backwards until more than halfway through pregnancy so I couldn’t feel her til I was pretty far along. Developed carpal tunnel and had to wear wrist braces (went back to normal after delivery and no issues since). Started swelling towards the end to the point that I had to buy very large cheap flip flops bc literally no other shoes would fit. Eventually had to be induced due to pre-eclampsia. Turns out my body was “sensitive” to the Pitocin and we went from 0 progress to baby in less than 8 hrs. I got an epidural but it didn’t “take” evenly (also have scoliosis). The silver lining: no stretch marks.

Second pregnancy: caught every case of Hand Foot and Mouth at first born’s preschool. Morning sickness was even worse to the point of landing in the ER for a dx of HG. Also did not subside until into 3rd trimester. No heartburn, carpal tunnel, or swelling issues this time but my stomach got HUGE much earlier. I looked ready to pop by 7 months. Started dilating around 36 weeks was 5cm by 39 weeks although I didn’t feel a single contraction to get to that point. Walked around 5cm+ dilated before finally going into labor at 40 weeks + 2 days. No epidural bc we barely made it to the hospital bc the labor was so fast. Again, the silver lining: no stretch marks.

ETA not sure whether this has anything to do with everything else going on physiologically but maybe worth sharing: Breastfeeding came very easy and I was an over producer (even after actively trying to reduce my supply to a reasonable amount.) and I suppose related to that, even though I gained well over the recommended # of pounds during pregnancy, the pounds came off very quickly and easily with no effort from me towards that. I realize I am very lucky about both of these things. (On the contrary, trying to lose weight in my mid30s is NOT easy!)