The Best things about Pregnancy and all the Hiccups along the way

I’m now 37 weeks pregnant! I feel like I’ve been pregg for an eternity. That being said, pregnancy is different for every single person; this is just my experience being pregnant. I really want to focus on the positive aspects of being pregnant because it’s much easier for me to write how difficult things were at times. However, focusing on the negative aspects would be a drag for you to read and for me to relive. 

One of best things about pregnancy is letting go of the societal expectation of how you should look. Throughout my life, I’ve felt a tremendous pressure to not gain too much weight at any given time. I was blessed with a slow metabolism, so it was difficult at times to remain mindful of my weight while still enjoying desserts with friends and things like that. Pregnancy is so freeing in that aspect because you can definitely indulge more and people(knowing your pregnant) don’t really say anything. Apparently, pregnant women are notoriously sensitive. Although, I didn’t find that I was particularly sensitive until the 3rd Trimester. People keep that in mind when interacting with you, most of the time. I did get that, “Wow, you got big,” which was cute and my death stare let them know, that wasn’t okay. They quickly corrected that sentence. I think if I weren’t pregnant, a statement like that would make me cast my eyes down in shame. 

When you are pregnant, children smile at you and strangers are kind, most of the time. I think children must know what’s going on with you somehow. They love to stare, shyly smile, and wave. It’s very sweet. Strangers will move out of your way or let you go through the doorway first. They will say hello to you and they look at you in a way I can’t really explain but it feels very kind. However, people at Walmart are the exception to this. 

Generally, your friends, family and partner will be understanding of your mood swings and forgetfulness. At least, I’m fortunate that mine were. I found myself a little unpleasant entering my third trimester. I noticed I had a really short fuse and simple comments would annoy me for the entire day. I read into things way too much. I would apologize when I realized and everyone was so understanding of this change in me. That was an amazing relief because I’m very aware of hurting someone’s feelings and will try to avoid being too insensitive or direct usually; but it was hard to control and be mindful of that during pregnancy. 

I think the hardest thing was the constant discomfort and being very aware of what you do and eat impacting the life inside of you. Perhaps, it is because this is my first baby but there’s a lot of pressure to do everything “the right way.” I also hate when people compare their pregnancy experience to yours. If you ask, to find commonalities, that’s fine. It’s when people offer up their experiences and then act surprised when your experience isn’t the same as theirs. Pregnancy is unique to every person. Sometimes, people will love it and other times, people will straight up not have a good time. For me, I fall somewhere in the middle. 

The very best thing about being pregnant is the life that you have the privilege of bringing into the world. Being a parent, whether through pregnancy, adoption, or even to an animal; is an extremely important role. For everything that’s great and everything that’s hard about it, the end result is more than worth it.