. . . for Lauren and Lauren: Pregnancy Lessons

July 22, 2013

Pregnancy Lessons

A few lessons I learned during my pregnancy . . . . 

Don't be afraid to try out new fashion trends like crop tops.  

Just kidding. I did not wear this out.  You will be stuck with the same four or five tops that fit near the end. 

Anxiety never ends.  You will think once you get to the next stage: hear the heartbeat, get an ultrasound, know the heart is healthy, get past 27 weeks . . . . your anxieties will lessen but they won't. Trusting that God is in control and giving over your worries will always be a struggle.  

Generic poptarts are better than the real deal.  And you can also justify eating half a poptart every night in bed before you go to sleep.  

Comparison will make you crazy if you give in to it.  Comparing your pregnant belly, your clothes, your symptoms, all of it.  Try your best to remember every pregnancy, baby and woman is going to handle pregnancy differently. 


You should not download the baby app or baby forum groups to your phone and check them often. The simple updates are good the forums are not.  They will scare you and make you more anxious.  Delete them from your phone!  Remind yourself over and over how many healthy babies are born every day.  

Your underwear, pants and shorts will leave you with some pretty serious indent marks, making you think you've gained new stretch marks whenever you get ready for bed.  Which will probably bring you to tears at least a few times.  

It may be better to not know if you have stretch marks under your belly where you can't see until after the baby comes when you are so aware that it was worth it.
 
You may never get the urge to start nesting and think it is something that people just make up that makes non-nesting pregnant woman feel useless and lazy. 


Feeling your baby kick and move, while at times feels a little too much that a mini alien is trying to take over, will never get old or annoying as it reminds you of the miracle growing inside of you.  

You can go from one extreme to another.  Some days you may feel completely great and others feel pretty terrible.  Some days you can feel so ready for this baby to come and others feel like it might be a better idea to just stay pregnant.  Some days you'll feel like you have more than enough baby things and others I feel like you've barely started getting your house baby ready.  It's tough to find the middle ground.  

You may think that you will be one of those woman that works out throughout their entire pregnancy but the moment you have one complication your fears of anything happening to your baby (even if later they tell you it's completely safe) will outweigh any desire to have a super fit pregnancy. 



You may fear that your child's gender was predicted incorrectly until the day they tell you "She's here." 

Photobucket


36 comments:

Sybil@PeaceitallTogether said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Even after they are born, grow to toddlers, enter school, and are tweens, the anxiety will still continue. :) My mom tells me, it actually never ends. Just one of those things about being a mom! Love seeing photos of your sweet Addilyn!!

Lauren | Beautifully Mint said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lauren | Beautifully Mint said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

LOVED this post. You are clearly a gifted writer and no doubt an awesome mom to sweet Addilyn! Excited for you and happy to send you your package this week!

Lauren
My Polished Side Blog
Sweet Pea's Party

Amy said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

She is absolutely adorable, congratulations! I honestly ate pop tarts like every day. I hid them in my car and my boss still makes fun of me about eating them every day...SO GOOD! haha

Jessica said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

great lessons!

Savanna said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

So very true. The nesting thing at least for me only happened with one of my 3 pregnancies. Congratulations on the beautiful baby girl!

Chrissy + Nate said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

I am so so SO excited and happy for you that Miss Addilyn has arrived and you three are at home now! I know God gave you struggles of getting pregnant for a reason, and it is through Him that sweet Addilyn is now here and you are able to share His story through your experiences and through her. You are a blessing and inspiration, lady!

SHUG IN BOOTS {Beth} said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

I so needed this. I am still a tad bit of a wreck. I went for a check up and the gyno asked, "Are you sure you're ready to BE pregnant again?" And I realized, I COULD let fear control my whole life ... and any pregnancy I may have in the future IF I let it. My brother is going through some health issues right now, and I tell him to pray about it, and trust God, and not worry. And I am reminded to listen to my own words! :)

#mommylife said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

So true on all of these! Love that last one too! She's so beautiful!

Elegance and Mommyhood said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Hi Katie. Sorry I have been MIA but I have been so busy. Greetings from USA by the way (I am now in the States). I wanted to congratulate you on the birth of Addilyn. She is beautiful - may she have a Long & Healthy Life!! God Bless all 3 of you.

Ada. =)

Jodi said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Love this! Pop tarts are the best even when not pregnant. And undies causing "stretch marks" is too funny!

Ginny said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

She's gorgeous!!!!
Ginny

Brittany Dawn said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

I loved this post so much! There were so many times during my pregnancy where I would just break down because "I wasn't normal!" My husband was constantly trying to remind me that there's no such thing!

Jamie Sefcik || Hello Little Scout said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

This is so sweet, as is your sweet baby! Hope you guys are doing well :)

Hima Rajana said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

I'm curious about the pop tart thing- was that just a random pregnancy craving?
She's beautiful, Katie. I'm so happy for you and Chris to have a healthy baby girl.
xo, Hima
Hima Hearts

jessica said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

At 25 weeks pregnant, i can agree and relate to every single one of these- the anxiety, ups and downs, and panty indent marks that never indented before getting pregnant- oh, and the work out thing. So happy for you! Congratulations. Enjoy your sweet little one :)

Niki {Glossy Blonde} said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

This brought tears to my eyes, in a good way! I can't wait to have one of my own and to go through every single one if these things (yes even the underwear indents)!

Jenn King said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

She's perfect.

Allison said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Why didn't you wear the crop top out in public? Hahaha. Loved reading these! So happy "she's here." :)

Courtney Kassner said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

This is great and I agree with all of it! Hope you are feeling great. I can't get over just how adorable your sweet daughter is! So happy for you!

Kelly said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

She is absolutely precious and I am so happy she is finally here!

xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes

Courtney B said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

You are the only other momma I've heard that DIDN'T have the nesting phase hit. Seriously, I didn't clean anymore than I normally do. Thank goodness for that because each time I cleaned I thought my back would break in half at the end of my pregnancy :)

Unknown said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

I think this may be my favorite pregnancy posts I have ever read! You are precious and your beautiful little girl is even more precious!

Pamela said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

I love this...well I love all of your posts! Love the honesty of this one!!

still being [molly] said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

oh katie you are speaking my language! i couldn't agree more with every. single. point. especially the comparison one!!

Laura said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

I am going to have to save this one for later! Thanks for the tips! I bet you are so glad to be through the pregnancy stage and have your precious baby in your arms :)

TheTinyHeart said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Aww I just love the photo of her sleeping! And every once in a while, I need to eat a pop tart :)

-Sharon
The Tiny Heart
Forever 21 Giveaway!

Desiree Macke said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Yes, to every single one! Especially the baby forum app. I had to remove that app almost immediately. :)
Addilyn is absolutely gorgeous.

Vicki said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

She's so incredibly sweet. I just can't understand why you didn't wear the crop top. :)

Amanda said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Jordan swears by the real deal poptarts. He says eating the generic ones are like cardboard. But, he's kind of nuts so I don't know if I trust him :)

Tiffany said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Beautiful post and so very true! I always worried that the doctors were wrong about the gender... or even the number of kids in there. lol I always thought... "What if a baby was hiding behind the other baby and I'm actually having twins?!?"

eliz said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Hahaha during my pregnancy everyone kept telling me I looked like I was having a boy...I was so scared because everything we had was pink and doubted the doctor towards the end. Phew thank goodness it was still a girl! :-)

Jennifer @ Delightfully Noted said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Oh my gosh the stretch mark thing is so true!! I thought I was sooooo cool bc I went the whole pregnancy with out one single stretch mark and then the baby came and holy moly where did they come from?????

Unknown said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

Great tips for fist time moms! I'll have to remember this for when I have kids :)

www.kacieskloset.blogspot.com
www.daisyraeboutique.com

Caitlin Cavallaro said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

I love everything about this... I completely feel a lot of this (especially about the indent marks and crop tops! hahaha!)

Preethi said... Best Blogger TipsBest Blogger Templates

I don't think I totally really believed we were having a girl (there were already 6 boy cousins!) until she came out. Love this!