Life with a Bump - Those Last Few Weeks.
"How much longer do you have?"
"You're really starting to look pregnant."
"How much weight have you gained?"
"Are you sure there is just one in there?"
"Oh....that many weeks left....you look ready."
Those are just a few of the phrases us pregnant mama's love to hear, right? Being 36 weeks during my second pregnancy, the time has come for those comments. It doesn't help when your second or third pregnancy starts to show sooner and you grow faster than your first because your body has been through it already and your muscles just relax. Right now I've had those awkward stares or glances in public (like people have never seen a pregnant woman before). And no matter how nice someone might say something to you, it still ends up sounding rude most of the time. Why is it suddenly "okay" to say what's on your mind to a pregnant woman? We may never know the answer to that mystery. After a while, you start feeling self conscious about your appearance and, maybe, we have a good reason to. But it's in those moments that I try to remember what my body is going through. For nine months my body is home to a precious and innocent life. If you really think about how much that little person develops in a short amount of time, it's truly amazing!
As annoying, rude, inappropriate and even offensive some of the comments we hear during our pregnancies might be, we should try to remember the blessing that is coming from it. I try to remind myself that I am not going to look or feel this way forever. So why worry how big my belly might be, when one day I am going to miss those kicks inside of me? Why fret over the stretch marks that appear when they are reminders that you grew a healthy, human being inside of you? Why stress over the weight I gain, when I can loose it after the baby is born? Why let rude comments bother me to the point to where I feel self-conscious about carrying God's gift of life? Let's be honest, we are women--we are sensitive, even when we aren't pregnant. So add some more hormones, give it a stir, and it's perfectly reasonable to see why we might get our feelings hurt and feel like complaining. If anything, being pregnant for 9 months should give us that right. But does that mean we should always do so?
This pregnancy has really opened my eyes to wanting to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. Is it easy? Not always. Are there times I break down and cry "just because"? Of course. I've been learning how to cherish every moment of being pregnant. I try not to take the time to complain to any and everyone but when I need to vent about something--well that's what my husband is for. ;)
I've learned to just laugh and brush off the comments people say (and shake my head sometimes) even if I don't understand why they are really said. I've tried to be forbearing with others as God would have me to. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 says, "...be patient with all" and I think that means even when I have heard enough about how I'm not going to make it or how pregnant I look. I just think about how one day in the near future I'm going to be cuddling a beautiful blessing in my arms, and all of those things that were said to me or the emotions that I felt will be in the past. All that matters will be the health and well-being of this little soul God has blessed me to be the caretaker of.
So when I want to complain about the huge belly, the weight gain, the back ache, the stretch marks, the swollen feet, the indesgition/heartburn, the hurt feelings....I just remind myself that I am experiencing one of God's greatest blessings--becoming a mother. Having a child to love and to raise; to nurture and to discipline, the way God would have me to. A life and a love to cherish for the rest of my life! After remembering these blessings, 9 months of being pregnant isn't so bad. Honestly, it's the least I can do.
"You're really starting to look pregnant."
"How much weight have you gained?"
"Are you sure there is just one in there?"
"Oh....that many weeks left....you look ready."
Those are just a few of the phrases us pregnant mama's love to hear, right? Being 36 weeks during my second pregnancy, the time has come for those comments. It doesn't help when your second or third pregnancy starts to show sooner and you grow faster than your first because your body has been through it already and your muscles just relax. Right now I've had those awkward stares or glances in public (like people have never seen a pregnant woman before). And no matter how nice someone might say something to you, it still ends up sounding rude most of the time. Why is it suddenly "okay" to say what's on your mind to a pregnant woman? We may never know the answer to that mystery. After a while, you start feeling self conscious about your appearance and, maybe, we have a good reason to. But it's in those moments that I try to remember what my body is going through. For nine months my body is home to a precious and innocent life. If you really think about how much that little person develops in a short amount of time, it's truly amazing!
As annoying, rude, inappropriate and even offensive some of the comments we hear during our pregnancies might be, we should try to remember the blessing that is coming from it. I try to remind myself that I am not going to look or feel this way forever. So why worry how big my belly might be, when one day I am going to miss those kicks inside of me? Why fret over the stretch marks that appear when they are reminders that you grew a healthy, human being inside of you? Why stress over the weight I gain, when I can loose it after the baby is born? Why let rude comments bother me to the point to where I feel self-conscious about carrying God's gift of life? Let's be honest, we are women--we are sensitive, even when we aren't pregnant. So add some more hormones, give it a stir, and it's perfectly reasonable to see why we might get our feelings hurt and feel like complaining. If anything, being pregnant for 9 months should give us that right. But does that mean we should always do so?
This pregnancy has really opened my eyes to wanting to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. Is it easy? Not always. Are there times I break down and cry "just because"? Of course. I've been learning how to cherish every moment of being pregnant. I try not to take the time to complain to any and everyone but when I need to vent about something--well that's what my husband is for. ;)
I've learned to just laugh and brush off the comments people say (and shake my head sometimes) even if I don't understand why they are really said. I've tried to be forbearing with others as God would have me to. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 says, "...be patient with all" and I think that means even when I have heard enough about how I'm not going to make it or how pregnant I look. I just think about how one day in the near future I'm going to be cuddling a beautiful blessing in my arms, and all of those things that were said to me or the emotions that I felt will be in the past. All that matters will be the health and well-being of this little soul God has blessed me to be the caretaker of.
So when I want to complain about the huge belly, the weight gain, the back ache, the stretch marks, the swollen feet, the indesgition/heartburn, the hurt feelings....I just remind myself that I am experiencing one of God's greatest blessings--becoming a mother. Having a child to love and to raise; to nurture and to discipline, the way God would have me to. A life and a love to cherish for the rest of my life! After remembering these blessings, 9 months of being pregnant isn't so bad. Honestly, it's the least I can do.
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