I love being pregnant SO much. I have never loved an experience in my life more.
I know I’m lucky. Pregnancy is not easy for so many people and even when it is, not everyone likes it. I’m actually more impressed when a woman hates being pregnant and does it anyways- what sacrifice and love.
And just because I love being pregnant doesn’t mean I don’t face and feel the sometimes unpleasant symptoms. Yes, I have sobbed because I “couldn’t eat chicken tenders” because I had to be healthy (I had chicken tenders two days later). Yes, I have felt sad when I couldn’t do something I used to be able to do. Yes, I have been scared and anxiety-ridden and exhausted.
But really, I love it so much that I’m getting sad about not being pregnant anymore. These are my favorite things about being pregnant.
I love feeling his kicks and wiggles more than anything.
I obsess over his movements like it’s my job and it is the best job I’ve ever had. Even when they kind of hurt, I love them and want him to keep doing it.
I love feeling so comfortable in my body.
So many women feel so out of place in their pregnant body, but DAMN do I love it. I can wear a bikini without sucking in! What is sucking in, anyways, I haven’t done it in 8 months? All anyone is ever looking at is my rotund stomach and it makes me feel so free and so cute.
I love when I get to be smug about what my body is doing.
My favorite thing to say is, “My body is doing more work lying on this couch than yours would be doing if you were body building.” It’s true! Making a baby takes so much work and so much energy. But with all this work comes the great joy of being smug.
I love the time I’m getting all by myself to get to know our baby before anyone else can.
Maybe he’s just a baby and he just moves to move, but I love figuring out little personality traits he might have that I can learn from his wiggles. He does not like to perform for others because he loves to go nuts right before we have an ultrasound and then sleeps in a not very cooperative position through the whole thing. He loves to run with me because it’s the only time he is consistently asleep through the whole thing. He’s very social because he loves to kick Ella (nicely!) when she’s sleeping on me or reach a little limb out to say hi to Warren’s hand when it’s on my stomach. He is so sweet.
I love when I get to stop doing ab exercises at yoga.
I mean, I still do my pregnancy safe ab exercises, but my little boy really hates them. So anytime we do a bunch of abs, I do the bare minimum and then either sit there or do some half-ass arm exercises. It’s great. Everyone hates abs exercises.
I’m wildly impressed by the magic of pregnancy—I’m making a human!
Women are the most amazing creatures this world has to offer and I’M ONE OF THEM.
I love when strangers are nice to me and all the strangers I’ve had sweet conversations with.
So many strangers smile at me! Little girls are obsessed with me! Everyone I interact with asks when I’m due or if I’m hot or wants to tell me about their pregnant daughter and it’s so pleasant. Sometimes, strangers say stupid things. And almost everyone has some advice I don’t particularly want. But then I remember that they’re just excited and want to be helpful and involved somehow and what’s so wrong with that?
I love when Warren says, “What is he doing in there?” with such wonder when the baby goes nuts with the wiggles.
Every single time the baby gets the aliens, where he moves around like crazy making my stomach look really frightening, Warren is so CUTE, I could just melt.
I love that every discomfort I have has some purpose.
This is not how life usually works! Things hurt and there’s no reason and it sucks! But when my hips hurt or the sides of my stomach feel like they’re trying to disconnect from my body, I know that it’s just my body working over time to make this baby and get ready to bring him into the world. It’s not that bad then, right?
I love all the naps I get to take.
I’m basically a child with a number of naps or “rests” I take and I don’t even care. See all the comments above about how I’m, you know, MAKING A HUMAN FROM SCRATCH.
Being pregnant makes me feel strong.
Sure, I’m not allowed to lift anything weighing more than 40 pounds, but I’ve never felt stronger. What my body, mind, and heart are going through is nuts and to do my best to face it with joy every day is something I’m remarkably proud of.
If I had to get serious about what I don’t like about pregnancy, the only thing I actively hate is all the worrying. But at the end of the day, I worry so much over every tiny scare, imagined or real, because I already love this baby with my whole heart. And that makes it all magic.
