Written by Sandra Gauci @itsallmotherhood
Pregnancy is the most miraculous thing that anyone could ever go through. The emotional, mental and physical strength of a woman is remarkable.
From the moment you see those two lines appear, immediately there are so many thoughts and emotions running through your head. Happiness, excitement, fear, worry and so much more.
The first trimester is a tricky one. You may experience morning sickness to some degree, or maybe none at all! You start to have cravings and you might be put off certain foods that you normally love. You will also feel tired as your body is preparing to provide nutrition for your baby, but at the same time, you’re so excited. You may not be showing yet and all you want to do is scream at the top of your lungs that you’re having a baby!
Morning sickness may disappear when you reach the second trimester (but not for everyone) and you will start to see a precious little bump when you look down. You’ll hear people saying "you’re glowing”, although you may not feel it.
The butterflies in your belly that you’ll soon realise is your little bubba moving around will bring you so much joy and excitement. This is your connection with your baby - it is such an indescribable feeling. You could just be lying on the couch, cradling your belly and feeling them respond to you. You’ve never realised how much you could love someone this much. Getting to see your precious little one at your ultrasounds and starting to picture what they will look like brings such a thrill. Then you begin to discuss baby names (or maybe you’ve had one picked out all along) and thinking about your baby shower. To have all your loved ones get so excited for this little bundle of joy that you have growing inside of you, you will realise that they are so loved already.
You start to get excited about planning for the baby, organising the nursery and how you’ll decorate it. Your body is stretching and you’ll notice how much your body is changing - in so many ways you would have never before believed it could.
As you enter your third trimester, everything starts to feel so real. You may feel like your body is reaching its limits as you feel discomfort, pains and little niggles that you’ve never felt before. You could also experience Braxton Hicks contractions and mistake them for the real deal. Your due date is just around the corner and you start to panic - wondering if you’ve prepared enough for the baby, wondering if you’ll know when it’s time and how labour is going to go for you. You will go through the “nesting” phase of constantly being on your feet and washing, folding and organising all of baby’s clothing, blankets and swaddles (even though everyone is telling you to put your feet up and get some rest). And then maybe you’ll reorganise everything ten times over, because you just want everything to be perfect!
The truth is, you can be as prepared as you possibly could be - but nothing will truly prepare you for the miracle of birth. With every moment of your pregnancy, you’ll be blown away by just how truly amazing your body is while going through everything that pregnancy has to offer.
Those nine months can feel so slow and yet so quick at the same time. It’s such a surreal feeling - you can’t wait to hurry up and meet your baby but at the same time you want it to slow down so you can enjoy those special moments of feeling your baby dance and kick from within you.
In the end, you’ll have this beautiful bundle of joy that you’ve nurtured and kept safe inside your belly all those months, and not only will a precious baby be born - but you mama - will be too. You’ve got this mama!
Find out more about the Hannah & Henry Family here