A Message To Those Still Pregnant… Enjoy Your Moment

When I was pregnant with Nora, I often complained.  During the first-trimester of my pregnancy I struggled with nausea.  When I was at work, after spending the previous therapy session hoping that my teenage client would not notice the distraught look on my face as I held back my vomit, I would lock myself in my office, lay on the couch where the teenager had just sat, and spend the next 20 minutes contemplating vomiting into the wastebasket, which eventually was the outcome. This was my life for the first 4 months. 

Then, during the end of my third-trimester I turned into a water balloon.  My feet swelled so much that I could feel the water move around in them.  When you touched them it felt as if they were made of play-doh. The swelling also caused carpel tunnel syndrome in both of my wrists, and for 8 weeks it felt like my fingers had fallen asleep, you know, the pins and needles feelings. 

Well, the point of this is I complained A LOT.  I knew I shouldn’t because some people couldn’t even get pregnant.  I was a lucky one…little did I know what lay ahead.  But my advice is, even if your pregnancy sucks physically, go ahead and complain because it does suck at times, but also remember to enjoy the moment. 

This IS your moment.  This IS your life. This IS you beginning your journey into the uncharted waters of parenthood. These might be the only moments you get to experience your child in this world and you will want to remember them, hold them, and have them stored away for safe-keeping.  If it’s the trip you took with the little bean in your tummy, the song you would sing to your son in the shower, or the way your partner talked to your daughter in your belly.   

Spend time doing these things, because at night when I have my dark moments of sadness and regret, these moments and memories that we created with Nora are what bring me joy and why I don’t have too many regrets.  These are the moments when you are creating and developing what kind of parent you want to be and how you want to show your love to your child.  Embrace your belly and the wonderful memories and ways you can interact with your unborn baby. 

During my pregnancy with Nora, I would often interact with her after I started feeling her kick.   I would poke at her and she would move and poke back.  Nick and I would read about her development and when we knew she could hear us, I would read her a story.  When we learned about her being able to see light through my belly we would shine a flashlight on my stomach to see if she would move.  Below is a list of ideas of how to interact and bond with your unborn baby for those of you who are pregnant again or for the first time.

Ways to interact with a growing baby after 20 weeks:

o   Gently poke the baby and see if he/she will poke back or move.

o   Kick Count – I called this “playing with Nora."

o   Sing, talk, or read to your belly or have your partner do it.

o   Listen to music and dance with the baby in your belly.

o   Have a sugary snack or drink a cold glass of water and lie on your left side and wait for your baby to have a boxing match in your belly.

Whatever your way of interacting is, just remember to enjoy the moment, because THIS IS YOUR MOMENT! You can complain too.  I won’t tell.

~Still Breathing...Lindsey