Writing tips & tricks

Writing Pregnancy

One thing I've always noticed is how some people find it amazingly difficult to write pregnant characters. A couple of months ago I wrote a full story about a pregnancy, and I did my research. So I might be able to help.

» Make sure you want to do this

Keep in mind that a pregnancy isn't the easiest thing in the world. It takes doctor appointments, a lot of exhaustion, sickness and, most importantly, time. If you didn't know, it takes about nine months for a baby to be born. That's almost 275 days. That means that you should only go on if you really want to create a baby in your story, because you can't skip too much time - it isn't like the movies where in one scene the lady's finding out she's pregnant, and in the other, she's already in labor

Here's a tip: if you really want to make your characters happy and thrilled with the news of baby, but you can't afford the time and sweat that it takes to cook one, you have from 21-23 weeks to write a miscarriage.

» Pre-Pregnancy

Let's talk about the elephant in the room: the conception. Even if you don't write any kind of smutty scenes, you should let the reader know when and where the pregnancy started.

Unprotected Sex: think about how you're going to put this in your story. If your characters are usually responsible, they won't simply forget wearing a condom. Think about what is going on: are they completely sane? Are they under the influence of alcohol? Are they high (which, I must say, wouldn't exactly make your characters irresponsible - it would either get them too horny to care or even more responsible than they already are)? Or are your characters already drowned to each other in a way that they can't think of anything else? Are they married and actually planned on having this baby? All of this will have an influence on how the pregnancy will flow, and how it will affect people around it.

» The Symptoms

Don't think your character is going to find out she's pregnant a week after the conception. It takes some time even for the baby to start, and if you remember biology classes, it's not a simple process. It will take weeks, maybe months, for the woman to realize that she might be pregnant, and not all of the symptoms come in the first trimester. Usually, the first thing to warn her is that she is free of the devilish blood lost that comes once a month. Here are some symptoms that basically everyone gets:

Absence of Period: every women keeps track of her monthly blood lost, even if not strictly. Of course your character might find herself way too busy or stressed and that will cause her not to realize that it's been a week, a month, two months without it, but, eventually, she will notice. From the conception until birth.

Small bleedings: sometimes, a woman might bleed a little when she's in the first weeks or months of pregnancy. It's nothing much and it doesn't happen for too long; so it might cause some scare if she already knows she's pregnant, or some relief if she was only suspecting. Either way, it doesn't mean she's not pregnant. It's completely normal for a woman to bleed in her first weeks. From the first week until the end of the first trimester.

Cramps: every woman has it - which can also cause confusion if she doesn't know she's pregnant or is only suspecting it. As you may know, some people experience menstrual cramps before, during or after their periods, and the same happens during pregnancy. From the first week until the birth.
Breasts Increase: it might happen during the first few weeks, but after maybe one month, there will most likely already have a difference. A woman might notice something weird maybe not because they're growing, but because they're hurting. Your character's breasts should get more and more painful at touch. As the pregnancy goes, they will continue to get bigger and bigger, and that might alert other people if she still hasn't realized she's got one in the oven. From the second/third week until birth.