Pregnancy can be one intense roller coaster ride. The wild hormones, not-always-welcome physical changes to our bodies and the wide range of emotions experienced on any given day make it a constant journey of highs and lows. And if it is your first pregnancy and you don’t know what to expect – well, that just makes it even more over-whelming.
All first-time expecting moms share similar thoughts and fears, and Amy Weatherly, mom and popular parenting blogger hit the nail on the head with naming some of them in her recent viral Facebook post. Weatherly penned a real and heartfelt open letter to all expecting moms. She shared this:
“Dear Pregnant Momma,
Yes, it will hurt.
It will be weird.
It will be scary.Yes, your boobs will be sore.
Your body will ache.
Your hands and feet will swell to the size of a pufferfish.Yes, you will feel pain.
You will feel gross.
You will feel a little like an alien in some strange science fiction movie.”
The letter goes on to describe some things a pregnant or new momma can expect to lose (including sleep, freedom and “the ability to ‘hold it’ when you laugh really hard”), as well as things one can expect to gain (i.e. stretch marks, “droopy dark circles” and “a giant pair of mesh underwear and an ice pack to bring home with you” from the hospital). Cue mom laughter everywhere. It’s funny because it’s true.
Weatherly also acknowledges that exhilarating emotional roller coaster of laughter and tears I spoke about above.
But what comes next in Weatherly’s letter is the kicker. The part that hits home deep in our collective mommy gut. The realization that everything changes the moment your baby enters the world.
“But the second you hold that baby, everything else will fade away. Everything that happened yesterday becomes background noise to the music of your newborn crying. Your old life becomes a blur in an instant and your new life becomes a beautiful open road that stretches through to the bright and brave unknown.
You will never forget the moment the doctor lays that ooey, gooey, gorgeous baby on your chest. Or the first time he opens his eyes and stares into yours. Or the joy of her tiny hands wrapping gently around your finger.
That’s the moment that will change everything. That’s the moment you will know what it’s like to walk around with your heart uncovered, unprotected and unprepared on the outside of your body.”
It is not until you become a parent that you can truly understand the accuracy of those statements. But, trust me, they are so very true. I know I could have never understood the feeling of having my heart living outside of my body until I had my first baby. It is amazing and painful and magical all at once.
Amy Weatherly spoke with That’s Inappropriate about the motivation behind the writing of this post:
“I remember how terrifying birth was. It’s so scary. Women have been doing it for thousands of years, and it’s a very natural thing, but I remember thinking ‘There’s no way this is right. There’s no way an entire person is going to grow inside of me, then come out of me, and then be fed by me. There’s just no way.'”
She went on to say, “I wanted women to know it’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to feel like the whole experience is just beautiful and mesmerizing and a little bit out of this world. It’s okay to laugh at mesh underwear.”
The message has certainly been received, as evidenced by 18,000 plus shares of the post to date on her Facebook page.
The final statement of Weatherly’s post gives all pregnant mommas a last reminder to keep their eye on the prize. When referring to the moment of birth she says, “That’s the moment you will come face to face with one of the greatest loves of your life.”
Truer words have never been spoken.