Life as a mum begins on the day you find out you’re pregnant. You have a sense of ‘what do I need to do to keep this baby alive and well?’, ‘What do I need to do to bring this baby safely into this world?’
As a mum you will watch and feel your body change so much over the 9 months that you will hardly recognise your prior body.
I personally loved being pregnant but I know that it isn’t a pleasant experience for everyone.
Morning sickness can really change a woman’s opinion of pregnancy. There are so many things that aren’t so pretty about being pregnant. When keeping a meal down is the best part of your day who wouldn’t change their perception, but with so much change comes an amazing and rewarding journey.
I love to think about how much the baby grows each and every day. What cells they are developing along the way? What parts of them are developing today?
I’ve always loved the body and what it is capable of. I think back to the days when my calf muscles and ankles became more like a continuation of my thighs. I remember telling myself that it will be over soon and I won’t have this sensation again for quite some time. I found an appreciation for my ‘kankels’ and my veins that were semi exploding from my legs. I accepted the pure feeling of exhaustion from carrying an extra 25kg around (yes, I put on a bit of weight). My body felt more like a warehouse than a temple. I loved that I felt nauseous at the smell of some foods being cooked as I walked past restaurants because I knew that it was all coming to an end soon.
Remember that with the bad comes the good. The butterfly feeling of the kicks that you feel in your tummy and the swirling sensation of the alien-like figure that loves to move inside, or the hiccups that you can surprisingly distinguish. The feeling of 'being over this' stops when you hold your baby for the first time. When he or she has the hiccups all you can remember is that you could once feel them do that inside you.
Enjoy it all. Enjoy the ride. The good with the bad. It really is an incredible journey.