Pregnancy: A Study in Adaptation

My pregnancy was a total redesign of my daily routines and a constant negotiation with my changing body. Here is how I navigated the day-to-day mechanics of sleep, food, movement, and my mental state.

Note: This is based solely on my personal experience. Every journey is unique.

Health Issues: Managing the System

Pregnancy acted as an amplifier for many of the health issues I already had. Because of this, I was incredibly grateful that I had taken the time to find doctors I truly trusted before becoming pregnant. For certain concerns, I intentionally consulted different specialists to gain a wider perspective.

I built a trusted network consisting of a gynecologist, a midwife, and a naturopath. Together, they provided different options for managing my anemia. Because my body reacted poorly to several standard iron supplements, it took months of experimentation before I finally found one that worked.

To manage my back and shoulder pain, I visited my trusted chiropractor about once a month, who also incorporated acupuncture into our sessions. At home, I frequently used an acupressure mat during the first trimester, though later in the pregnancy it no longer felt comfortable.

Sleep: The Nightly Shift

I stopped sleeping well around my third month.

My baby was incredibly active and kicked frequently. It was a strange thing to witness—seeing someone move beneath my own skin often felt like something out of a science-fiction film.

Finding a comfortable sleeping position became a nightly challenge. I tried various pregnancy pillows but never found one that suited me, so I ended up creating my own system with a pile of standard pillows that needed constant rearranging.

Because I was advised not to sleep on my back, I spent most nights on my sides. Later in the pregnancy, simply rolling over required physically moving the weight of my belly from one side to the other, which became surprisingly exhausting.

Adding to the challenge, my baby developed a nighttime routine around 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM. She would wake up, kick happily, and often get hiccups that I could feel vividly.

All of this led to long, restless nights.

How I navigated it: I tried to stay calm, focus on my breathing, count breaths, and listen to guided meditations. The goal wasn’t to sleep perfectly; it was to make the sleeplessness feel more manageable.

Nutrition: Trusting the Concept

Before pregnancy, I had spent years experimenting with my nutrition and learning what worked for my body. Because of that, I didn’t make any major dietary changes beyond avoiding foods that could potentially harm the baby.

I didn’t experience unusual cravings. Instead, I noticed patterns that felt familiar to me. Over the years, I had often found that when I craved sweets, increasing my Omega-3 intake helped. When I craved meat, my iron levels were frequently low. Pregnancy seemed to amplify those existing signals.

Knowing this gave me a framework for responding rather than worrying.

What changed significantly was the sheer volume of food I needed. I ate far more than I was used to. I made a conscious decision not to restrict myself and instead trusted my body’s signals.

In total, I gained around 16 kilograms, which is close to the average range.

Movement: The Shrinking Radius

Before pregnancy, I practiced yoga every morning and wanted to maintain that continuity.

I signed up for an online prenatal course by Boho Beautiful and practiced daily. I appreciated that it offered both gentle and more physically demanding sessions, allowing me to choose what suited me on a particular day.

Towards the end, however, the meaning of “practice” changed. On many mornings, all I could manage was lying on the mat and breathing—trying to gather myself back into one piece after another sleepless night.

I also made sure to walk every day, watching as my physical radius grew smaller and smaller.

The most frustrating part was the constant pressure on my bladder. I needed a restroom roughly every half hour.

How I navigated it: Since I couldn’t change the physical reality, I adapted to it. I planned walks around known restroom locations and started carrying cash with me specifically so I could buy a coffee or tea if I needed access to a café bathroom.

Mental State: Adjusting Expectations

By nature, I am a solution seeker.

Before pregnancy, whenever my body didn’t feel well, I usually knew what actions to take to improve the situation. Whether through traditional medicine or complementary approaches, I was accustomed to solving problems.

Pregnancy challenged that mindset.

I often felt uncomfortable, exhausted, or in pain. When I visited doctors and specialists, they genuinely tried to help, but many complaints ultimately led back to the same answer:

“Well, you are pregnant.”

Accepting that some discomforts could not be fixed was one of the greatest psychological challenges of the experience.

During this time, I found comfort in the Stoics, particularly Marcus Aurelius. He struggled with poor health and lived with significant physical discomfort, yet wrote about accepting reality as it is rather than constantly resisting it.

I tried to practice that mindset. I didn’t always succeed.

To protect my mental space, I relied on a few specific tools:

Intentional Distraction

I actively sought out positive energy. For example I enjoyed watching positive vlogs, like Karen Napoly’s videos simply because her optimism was contagious.

In the final months, romantic comedies also became a daily ritual, offering comfort and familiarity on days when moving without pain felt impossible.

Conscious Presence

As I slowed down physically—sometimes feeling as though I was rolling through the city like a snail—I began paying attention to things I would previously have rushed past. I studied building facades, read street names, and watched the clouds move overhead.

My forced slowness became an unexpected invitation to be present.

Guided Mindfulness

I returned to guided meditation and used the pregnancy series on the Headspace app regularly. It didn’t remove the discomfort, but it helped me shift my attention away from it for a while.

Ultimately, my strategy was simple: fill my cup with whatever small pieces of positivity I could find and learn, step by step, how to be gentler with myself.

Looking back, I see that pregnancy wasn’t a phase to be optimized.

My body did exactly what it needed to do, even when it overruled my plans, my schedules, and my comfort.

And sometimes, simply navigating one day at a time is an achievement in itself.