Overall, I can honestly say that I've enjoyed being pregnant. I mean, people are really nice to you, picking things up for you, smiling at you, and "strongly encouraging" you to rest. Women who have never talked to me at church or at Tom's soccer games, have struck up conversations with me, related to the pregnancy of course. At no other time in my life have I felt it to be so legitimate to take a nap and go to bed early. And really, I cannot complain in the least bit, because thus far, I've had a viable, healthy, and relatively easy pregnancy with no complications. So, this list is not meant to be a list of backhanded complaints about pregnancy.
Rather, it's in response to something else. It seems that people have taken it upon themselves to provide me with a good dose of reality as to what's coming next, read 'attempt to scare and depress me out of my mind' with their stories of how difficult and challenging having a kid is. While I don't doubt those things to be true and we are trying to brace as best we can for the upcoming storm, we trust that there are beautiful and wonderful things about having a kiddo too, right? I mean after all, people intentionally have more than one! I think I'm needing to focus on some of the positives too, so that I don't start regretting this decision to have a baby, which would be, umm 9 months too late!
So, in addition to the gift of the babe himself, I thought I'd make a little top 10 list of things I'm looking forward to about NOT being pregnant anymore. Perhaps a little something to hold on to when mini meuz is screaming at the top of his lungs at 3am and nothing seems to soothe him!
10. goodbye heartburn
9. being able to sleep on my back and stomach again
8. not going through a roll of toilet paper a day due to unbelievably frequent urination
7. seeing the bones in my feet again
6. being able to see my feet, reach them, and tie my own shoes again
5. the removal of the constant heater attached to my abdomen
4. being able to run again (eventually) without having to pee my pants 5 minutes into the run
3. not having to awkwardly crawl through the passenger's side of my car to get to the driver's seat because someone parked too close to the driver's side of the car for me and the belly to both get in!
2. the end to random strangers staring at and rubbing my belly while they are attempting to have a conversation with me.
and I'm not going to lie, the #1 thing I'm looking forward to in not being pregnant anymore:
1. the buffet of previously forbidden foods and beverages that I will partake in, including but perhaps not limited to, sushi, red wine (or maybe I should say, more than one glass a week), bleu cheese, very rare filet mignon, every soft cheese imaginable, cookie dough, a mojito, a caesar salad with homemade dressing, a turkey sandwhich, and a cold beer. And my stomach might actually be able to contain most of that when it's not smooshed up against my ribs anymore...woo hoo!
Melissa- Yes, I'm just getting around to reading this and I have two thoughts. First, don't let people discourage you with their talk of how challenging it is to be a parent and just in case you are getting the negative stories about labor and delivery, don't listen to that talk either. For what it's worth, probably not much more than 2 or maybe 3 cents)here are my thoughts. Yes, being a parent is a challenge but it is a BEAUTIFUL challenge and every year with your child (including yes, the teenage years) is a blessing. I have been honest with you about my various struggles with my kids but I would not give up those struggles for a moment for the opportunity to be a mother and have a front row seat to their lives. You learn so much and grow so much as an individual if you let their stories unfold and let God make them what He wants them to be. You are right that life is messy. People are right that being a parent is hard but I consider it to be a labor of love. It is the difference between cleaning out a septic tank and building a dream home. Both are hard work but the former is, well, just awful. There's nothing nice about the work of cleaning out a septic tank. However, the latter is a labor of love and the end product provides years of joy long after the blisters from hammering and paint stained clothes are gone. God has blessed you and Tom with a wonderful, beautiful gift. Be grateful for the rest of your life for that gift!
ReplyDeleteNow on to the negative stories about labor and delivery. I used to teach childbirth preparation classes and as a result, had the opportunity to be present at the birth of many babies and here is what I learned: A good labor and delivery experience is more related to the state of mind of the mother than the physical condition of the mother. Obviously, this is not the case in a high risk pregnancy, a breech birth presentation or a huge baby trying to enter the world from the environment of a tiny woman. However, if these conditions do not exist and the mother and baby are healthy, pain is markedly reduced when a mother can remain calm and relaxed and let her body do its work. If you try to control your body, (trust me on this one) you will have more pain. You have to let go of your desire to be clean and sexy and dainty in your delivery and just let it all "hang out". I HATE the way Hollywood depicts women giving birth, screaming and swearing and thrashing about and demanding drugs to take away the pain. Birth is painful. There is no way around it but the pain doesn't have to overwhelm you and there is this wonderful package at the end. Most of the pain comes from the practice of putting women flat on their backs during labor. Try to avoid that. Remember that women gave birth for centuries without the intrusion of modern medicine. In some cases, they lost their babies because of a lack of good medical care. However, in most cases, they were able to give birth naturally. Indian women used to squat down in the fields, give birth, wrap the baby up, strap it to their backs and go back to work.
Remember that whatever your labor and delivery experience is meant to be, you can make it better if you can remain calm and let go of your need to control your body. Whatevver the experience, it will be a short term pain for long term benefits. I am praying for you, Tom and your baby Melissa!
Hey Girl,
ReplyDeleteIt IS amazing how when you're pregnant you suddenly have conversations (many random) with complete strangers about things you thought were kinda personal (like peeing, sleeping etc). It only gets better when you have kids. That's one of the things I love about being a mom, you suddenly have conversations with people in line at the grocery about kids. I think it's fun.
And yes there are lots of crazy times being a parent but it is such an amazing life (being a parent) filled with joy and purpose. We now look back and think "how were we happy in life before?" Of course we were but we had no idea the amazingness (word?) that awaited us as parents. So excited for you guys!