Adventures in Mommy Land: Pregnancy

Motherhood is an interesting journey. I think that is something that every mother could agree on. It is full of ups and downs. Often motherhood is just plain funny even if it may not seem so at the time. It all begins with that BFP on a pregnancy test. At that point there are many emotions and thoughts that could be running through your mind. You may be happy, relieved, excited, sad, confused, and scared. You may have been trying for a month or for 5 years or this pregnancy may have been an accident. One thing is for sure, you either just stuck a stick in your pee and had some splash back at your hand or you tried to catch it in a cup and had some splash back and or spill out on your hand so that you could stick an HPT in it and wait for those two lines.

Yes motherhood begins by peeing on yourself. It may not be the last time it happens either. Between jabs and kicks to the bladder and just having a 5-10lb weight sitting on your bladder doesn’t exactly make it easy to hold it all in. Aside from peeing on yourself there are many more great moments in mommy-hood. There is that first trimester period where you look like you have a beer gut for two months and no one thinks you’re pregnant. They just assume you’ve gained a little so they try to avoid saying anything even as you glow with pride and try to stick it out further. Pregnancy: the only time in a girl’s life where she is so excited to show off her belly pooch!

If you’re one of the lucky ones the first trimester will also bring projectile vomiting. I never really understood why they called it morning sickness. It can hit at night, in the afternoon, in church, on a romantic date, and even in the middle of your first trimester trans-vaginal ultrasound. But once again, as you look awful and people ask in a very concerned voice “are you ok?” because you look like you are about to die, you beam and say “I’m pregnant!” with a huge smile as if excited to be puking because it lets you know that you are indeed pregnant. Yes it’s a wonderful time. I think that is the beauty of pregnancy. Any other time in your life the above situations would be horrible but when you know that they are just one step on this great journey of motherhood they are totally bearable.

I was lucky. I had two great pregnancies. I do think that pregnancy is at least in part, what you make of it. Your outlook is a huge contributor to how your pregnancy goes. I am sure that there are people who would argue with me on that and maybe they are right. I do not know. I just have to speak from my experience and the experiences of those around me. While I believe that I had a perfect and easy pregnancy both times and feel blessed that I did, that does not mean that they were without the usual pregnancy symptoms and complications. With my daughter I threw up nonstop, night and day, for two months. With my son I was just generally queezy for my entire pregnancy but I never threw up. In the third trimester of both my pregnancies my tail bone was so sore that moving from a seated position to standing was excruciating. Still I could not have been happier. I felt great! I was so excited both times. I was especially excited about my new boobs! They were huge! I was a C cup to start so they quickly reached a DD by the beginning of my third trimester both times. My husband loved them too. I looked great! Well they would have looked better if my belly didn’t stick out even further than they did but I’ll take what I can get.

I mentioned that I thought my outlook contributed greatly to my pregnancy mood. I do believe that is true and I truly credit it to one thing: Hypnobabies. I did not just wake up every day and decide I would be positive. I think that would have been harder some days. Instead I listened to my Hypnobabies pregnancy Affirmations track every day. I heard and said things like “I love my pregnant body” “I am beautiful” “I feel great” “I handle any challenge with ease” and other things like that. Hearing and saying them so often made me believe them. It was so ingrained in me that it became my reality.

Hypnobabies as well as the book “Painless Childbirth” by Giuditta Tornetta made the biggest difference in my pregnancies especially my last one. I am a big supporter of hypnosis and meditation during pregnancy and beyond. Even now I have the Hypnobabies “After your baby comes” track which I call the “you’re a good mommy” track. I think that it really makes a difference. So no matter what your pregnancy journey looks like. Take comfort that you are not alone in the hilarity, the struggles, and the great joy. Try to take a step back and relax when you feel overwhelmed and reach out to other pregnant women or moms who have been there. I strongly suggest using a pregnancy hypnosis or meditation regimen. Hypnobabies is also a complete childbirth education course that is designed to help women achieve a pain-free natural birth. It helped me do it and I highly recommend it! Whatever your path is though, make sure that you keep your chin up, seek help when you need it, and take time to relax EVERY DAY! Happy Pregnancy, Happy Birth!