Enjoy being pregnant!

Courtesy of www.fotosearch.com

As you may know, I am currently 4 months pregnant with my second child, with my 14-month old daughter currently in the very active age. So this second pregnancy was very challenging, exhausting and wearing, mentally and physically. Which is rather disappointing, because I had such a great pregnancy the first time around. It was, in some ways, even better than the honeymoon period, it was such a blast of 9 months of my life!

So I wrote this article to remind myself, and all the pregnant moms out there, no matter whether you’re on your first, second or ninth pregnancy, how lucky and how indefinitely blessed we are, in this wonderfully life-changing time of our lives. A God’s miracle is taking place inside your own body, how’s that for life-changing?

7 reasons to be glad you’re pregnant

1. I have several friends that have been married for some years and still do not have children. Despite my complaints of tiredness, bouts of headaches, excessive wind, never-ending backaches and lack of sleep, I remind myself daily that there many women in the world that are unable to bear children for some reason, that would be so glad to have my complaints, just once in their lifetime. Holding your own baby for the first time, after fighting your blood, sweat and tears, was by far, the best miracle in my life.
2. I have always been a weight conscious person in my life, which is also one reason why I work out a lot. As I love to eat (what woman doesn’t?), I need to work out a lot to keep fit and avoid being fat and sluggish. Being pregnant is like a new revelation to me. What better excuse do you need to binge your heart out than “I’m pregnant”? All those cravings for chocolates, ice cream, cheesy nachos, your favourite nasi lemak and fried chicken because “I just feel like it.” This is the time your husband will definitely pamper you with whatever you want to eat. Of course, it’s nice if you maintain a healthy diet and all that. But come on, mommies, ‘fess up. Any of you craving for a Caesar salad? I don’t think so. So seize the day, mommies!
3. Talking about husbands pampering, your body will undergo a series of changes that you would never dream yourself of experiencing. Besides the obviously expanding belly, other parts of your body expand too, namely your waistline, your breasts, your butt and of course, the appearance of the inevitable stretch marks. Don’t be too worried about the stretch marks, though. Your husband will be too fascinated by, ahem, certain body parts to care about some little marks.
4. Pregnancy is definitely the best reason to go, brace yourselves ladies…. SHOPPING! New tops, new pants, new skirts, new shoes, even new underwear! There’s never a better time to splurge, because you totally deserve it! But if you’re a cheapskate like me and prefer not to splurge too much, find clothes that could fit you throughout the pregnancy and could be used for breastfeeding. I did buy one or two nice tops that I could wear to dinners and weddings, but other than that, I bought mostly non-maternity, stretchy tops that could cover my bump but could still be worn after the birth. I also bought a few nursing tops that looks formal enough to be worn to office but casual enough to be worn with jeans and comfy slippers. Instead of buying those overpriced maternity pants in Modern Mum and Mothercare, I bought a few of those stretchy, yoga pants that are so comfy, I still wear them to bed now. For RM19.90! But that nice long dress in Modern Mum looks very nice too. On second thought. Nah, I don’t wear dresses anyway.
5. Other that shopping for yourself, the next best thing is definitely shopping for the baby. As people keep telling me babies grow so fast that they won’t fit into their clothes for too long, baby clothes are too cute to resist! I remember the first time we went shopping for the baby. It was at a baby fair, so the clothes were quite cheap, ranging from RM5 to RM15 per piece. My husband was exclaiming “Are these clothes for dolls? They’re so small!” as I was searching for pink pajamas and skirts that our unborn daughter wouldn’t be able to fit into until she was 3 months old. We bought the sleep hats that she wore like, 5 times, varied coloured socks, burp cloths, bibs and around a dozen sleepsuits and day-wear. Oh, and my husband couldn't resist buying one of those battery operated fans with flashing lights to clip to her stroller and car seat. Now one of plastic blades is torn from my daughter’s tug.
6. People are so nice you! They give you way when you get into LRTs, gets up to allow you to sit, give you food for “the baby”, opens doors for you, lets you go forward in a line and so much more. They even smile more to you! A lot of women smile at me and ask me when I’m due, is it a boy or a girl, things like that. My male colleagues bought me food stuff because I was “craving” for it. People tell me I look glowing. I could go on and on.
7. One of my favourite things in pregnancy – feeling the kicks and turns of your baby inside me. It was the first bonding feeling I felt and was pretty surreal. In the first trimester, all you can confirm of your pregnancy is your protruding belly. But once I felt that first flutter, I was in love with my own tummy! Me and my husband both. He loves stroking my tummy and talking to the baby. Once, after a monthly checkup, the doctor told us that our baby was in a breach position. Even though I was not due until a few months later, I was worried that our baby won’t turn around in time, and I might need to be cut open. My husband “told” the baby softly to turn so she wouldn’t hurt Mommy, and at the next checkup, what do you know? She’s in perfect position for labour! My husband keeps praising her for being such a good girl, until now.

Those were my personal, favourite reasons for being pregnant. If you still need more reasons, read more in this article. You’ll be thanking your lucky stars when you’re done reading.

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/50reasonstobeglad/