Nine Months In...Nine Months Out...

Clara turned nine months old on May 14th. It is hard to believe that she has now been "out" longer than she was "in". I learned a lot while pregnant with her but I think I have learned even more since having her...

What I learned from being 9 months pregnant: 

         

-You can't imagine worse sleep than nights involving sleeping on one side only, peeing 48 times, elevating          

your ankles, being kicked from the inside and indigestion (ok, ok, I can't say that I got indigestion often but I bet it would suck.)                                                                      

-The worse thing someone can say to you is "You look huge and miserable." And the biggest 

compliment you can receive is "You look incredible."           

-That breastfeeding will be hard work, but possible for 99.9% of women...and if you don't succeed, it means you didn't try hard enough.   

-There will come a time when you look down at your belly and think "I couldn't possibly get any bigger."

-You have never had to pee so bad, so frequently, in your entire life.

-Flying pregnant is one of the most uncomfortable experiences ever and you have to worry about water intake, swelling, peeing every two seconds, nausea, etc.

-From the second you find out your pregnant, every choice you make is made with your unborn child's best interest at heart.

-That it is possible to gain more weight in 40+ weeks than you ever thought possible.

-Follow doctor's orders.

-That labor starts off with menstrual like cramping and supposedly I will "know" when I go into labor.


-Even though it might not work, you can eat spicy food, pineapple, eggplant parm, labor inducing chocolate cake, do jumping jacks, have sex (seriously if you had the slightest desire to do this at 9 months pregnant...don't tell my husband), and take long walks to speed up the labor process.


-Not showering while 9 months pregnant is kind of gross, especially in the summer. You shower once, sometimes twice, a day.

What I learned from having a 9 month old:

- It is definitely possible to sleep worse. You will be more sleep deprived than you ever thought possible, and when it comes time to lay your head down all you can think about is weight gain, SIDS, when the next feeding will be, to swaddle or not, rolling over swaddled, etc.

-The worst thing someone can say to you is "Something is not right with your baby." And the biggest compliment you can receive is "Your baby is perfect."

-That breastfeeding could be one of the most difficult experiences of your life, and even if you are successful there will be times that you don't *want* to be because it's so much work. And if you don't succeed, it means you made the best choice you could make with your resources at the time. And that no matter what you feed your baby, as long as you are nourishing your baby - you're doing it right.

-There will come a time when you look down at your baby and think "I couldn't possibly be more blessed."

-The bouncing baby on your bladder isn't always an excuse for almost peeing your pants...because the baby isn't inside anymore, and...

-Flying pregnant is a dream when compared to flying with a mobile infant.

-From the second your child is born, every choice you make is with her best interest at heart...but that some of the answers aren't always clear cut and easy, and are different for everyone.

-That it is possible to lose nowhere near the amount of weight you thought you could have in 40+ weeks post-partum.

-Follow doctor's orders until they go against your instinct...mama knows best.

-That calling labor "menstrual like cramping" is just a nice way of saying "earth shattering pain in the same area that you get dull aches from your period." And there's no way in hell you won't KNOW you're in labor when the time comes.


-You can do all the old wives' tales to go into labor and they probably won't work...and most likely it's for the best, baby needs to come when baby needs to come (just DON'T tell a woman who is 40+ weeks that!!)


-Showering is overrated. You shower three, sometimes four times a week.