Thursday, June 2, 2016

Who Designed Pregnancy, Anyway?

I mean, the answer to that question is God, duh, but sometimes I wonder what He was thinking with this whole pregnancy thing...

Perhaps I could have come up with a better plan...but nobody asked me!

The most important formation of a baby's nervous system occurs during a time period when you don't even know you're pregnant!  Mamas could be smoking, drinking, not taking certain vitamins all while little bambino's brain is developing.  That's crazy!

Once you know you're pregnant and want/need to eat healthy for the baby, all food makes you want to throw up.  For me, it's either not eat and feel sick or eat carbs all the time and feel less sick.  Neither are the best nutrition plans for growing a human.



If you're lucky, and the morning sickness all day sickness is only temporary, you know you should be eating a healthy, wholesome diet, but look down at your huge belly and think "Why even bother?" as you grab the ice cream and a spoon at 9 pm.

Can't sleep during the time when you know you should be sleeping because sleepless nights with a crying and hungry baby are a' coming!

Exercise is important for mom and baby, but there are so many restrictions on what you can do, plus that big ol' belly doesn't make doing anything easy.


Drinking lots of water is also crucial for mom and baby's health but the pressure of baby on bladder means it's hard to get anything else done between the sipping and peeing.




You want to cherish the time with your current toddler before he gets ousted from his baby throne, but are told not to pick him up.  Because, you know, when the baby arrives, your arms will be freer then ;)

A common pregnancy phenomenon is getting the "dropsies" where you literally drop all the things all the time.  Every time you try to pick it up, it's like a remake of the "I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up" commercial.



After going through labor (and they definitely termed that correctly), all you want to do is recover and sleep, as a normal human would from any other major physical feat.  But nope, here's your hungry baby that wants to be fed at all hours of the day and night!

If breastfeeding babies is best, then why does it hurt so much for the first few weeks?  Couldn't we at least skip that pain?  Perhaps the men could have the mammary glands?


The best design of pregnancy, however, is the miracle of life that you get to hold after 9 long months of torture, and a sibling is the best gift you could give to your kids.  All of this suffering is for something that is so amazing, it never gets old...and is so worth it, we keep doing it again and again and again!  What can be greater than being a mother?

The Most Important Person
on earth is a mother. She
cannot claim the honor of
having built Notre Dame
Cathedral. She need not. She
has built something more
magnificent than any
cathedral—a dwelling for an
immortal soul, the tiny
perfection of her baby's
body...The angels have not
been blessed with such a
grace. They cannot share in
God's creative miracle to bring
new saints to Heaven. Only a
human mother can. Mothers
are closer to God the Creator
than any other creature; God
joins forces with mothers in
performing this act of
creation... What on God's
good earth is more glorious
than this: to be a mother?
—Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty


Maybe God knew what He was doing after all ;)

7 comments:

  1. Oh yes-for me it's the energy/sleep thing. Even when pregnant with my sixth I thought, "There is no way I can take care of a new baby, I'm so tired and worn out." You forget that once that baby comes out, there is a little more energy and no so much strain on our systems-not that we aren't still exhausted, but it does help to be able to breathe, eat and roll over. :) So excited for you, hang in there. (And you are allowed to complain sometimes-this coming from a mom with many miscarriages-I still needed someone to listen when my hips were aching and my feet were swollen and that PMS feeling hit. You can write to me and I get it! :)

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  2. Yes! This is so funny, so true, and I love, love, love that quote by Cardinal Mindszenty. A sweet old man from our church used to sneak little papers with that quote into our diaper bag (and I'm sure many other mothers') every so often.

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  3. This so perfectly captures all of my thoughts and feelings right now-- I loathe the need to stay hydrated during pregnancy, because every trip to the bathroom is accompanied by the toddler screaming and banging in the door! I mean, seriously, who really ever wants to pee this much? This is all spot on.

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  4. My goodness this is the most true post ever. Praying for you!

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  5. Men actually *DO* have mammary glands and can lactate under certain conditions like starvation (internment and concentration camps have recorded cases of this) or having a pituitary tumor.

    My pregnancy cravings were Pringles salt & vinegar chips and Hostess Twinkies and cupcakes.

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  6. This is the best. All true. And that Cardinal Mindszenty quote gets me every time.

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  7. AnonymousJune 03, 2016

    Drop something on the floor. Make the kids pick it up for me. Clark even asked me why I couldn't do it and I said the new baby wouldn't let me. lol

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