some thoughts on this pregnancy as it draws to a close...

I realize it could be another week or three before we're holding baby boy in our arms for the first time, but I've been thinking a lot about this pregnancy. Well obviously. It's hard not to think about pregnancy when your belly gets in the way of just about everything and you're in the bathroom every fifteen minutes because your bladder is officially the size of a marble... But aside from all that homestretch stuff, I've been thinking about how this pregnancy has been so much better than with Madeline's pregnancy. And that has nothing to do with her, I've been better this time around and it's made a huge difference! 

When I started my pregnancy with Madeline my mindset was totally off. I treated those nine months as a chance to put my feet up, eat whatever sounded good and twice what a normal person would eat because I was, "eating for two". Somewhere I heard early on that too much cardio was dangerous for the baby, (what the???) so I avoided exercise like the plague. Where do all these myths come from? I was an idiot to believe them. All of them. Poor Jeremy was my slave for those nine months because, "I was pregnant and he should have to do everything for me." Gah it makes me so angry thinking about it. Pregnancy isn't a disease. It isn't a time to have an excuse for everything. Definitely it's a time to be very aware of your body and it's limitations, and not a time to start pushing yourself further than you have before, but it's completely natural. Our bodies are made to do this. 

Needless to say I've been much better this time around. Sure I could have eaten better and exercise more often, but I've been so much better than before. It probably helps that I have another child I've been chasing around every day, but it's been more than that. My mindset has been different. I've been different. I've been happier and healthier. I haven't loathed every day of my third trimester, in fact I've really enjoyed it. At this point (38 weeks) with Madeline I was already trying everything I could to get labor going. I ate two pineapples at 37 weeks... I was miserable and ready to be done. But now I'm fine. I'm great! I actually have a ton of energy, I'm loving life, and sure I don't want to be pregnant forever, but I'm not counting down the days. 

Life is so much better when you're embracing life and living in the moment instead of looking ahead to what comes next. I'm happier when I'm busy and making healthy choices. How I hope I can remember these feelings with my next pregnancy... 

And if all that talk isn't enough to convince myself next time, these pictures ought to do the trick. Twenty pounds lighter this time around, from the same starting point. All the pictures were taken at 36 weeks. Pregnant with baby boy on the left and with Madeline on the right.