The Reality of Pregnancy

In my naive, never-been-pregnant past, I suppose I considered pregnancy to be a joyous miracle (which it is). I'd heard of morning sickness. A few of my friends had shared stories about being uncomfortable in the third trimester. I mean, I wasn't entirely clueless. On some level I knew that pregnancy wasn't all sunshine and roses.

But I had no idea that pregnancy would seize my body like some demon-possessed spawn of Satan. My first trimester was horrible! There were moments when I thought I could never survive an entire gestation period if this is how it would be. I would think about that mother from Nineteen Kids and Counting and wonder what in the hell could be wrong with her. As I said, I was expecting discomfort...but not embarrassing moments where I had little to no control over my body's reactions.

In some ways, I'm thankful for the morning sickness. Who knows how long I would have gone along oblivious to the fact that I was pregnant if the constant puking hadn't set off alarm bells. But, once I had it all figured out, there was no need for it any longer. Going to work green around the gills was not my idea of a good time. Neither was wondering where and when the next bout of uncontrollable vomiting would occur.

I'm not going to get into the details of my embarrassing moments. I'd rather keep those memories to myself and the close friends and family that I've shared them with. But let me just assure you...they were very embarrassing and they totally caught me off guard. But, I now have a new-found respect for every woman who has ever carried a child. When you are pregnant, your body is not your own. It belongs to the baby and pretty much gives you the finger for about 10 months.

Wow! The things my baby is teaching me already!