Dear Expectant Mom

Dear Expectant Mom: 

You're beautiful. You're not fat; you're making room for one more. You're tired, achy, and irritable because you have a tiny person kicking you all day. On the other hand, you have a tiny person kicking you all day. You pee every ten minutes and you can't climb off the couch without help. Even though you've never slept on your belly or back, those are suddenly the only positions that seem comfortable; and, of course, you can't do that (can you say, "Don't push the red button"?). It sometimes takes an hour before you fall asleep and when you do, you have dreams of dropping the baby. You worry about money and whether you'll be a good enough mom and whether you're gaining too much/not enough weight. Strangers want to rub your stomach and that's the last thing you want to think about since you can't keep any food in it. You have to sleep in a sports bra and you can't even remember the last time you wore cute underwear. Breathe.

You're amazing. What you're doing is remarkable. You're sacrificing so much already for the sake of someone you haven't even seen. Pregnancy isn't just a phase you have to pass through before having a child. It's an involved route on your journey into parenthood. Pregnancy prepares you for the sacrifices, inconveniences, and difficult times ahead. But it also readies you for the wonderful changes that are coming. You don't expect motherhood to be easy, so how could carrying a child be any different?

You're deserving of all good things. You're having nightmares of being an inadequate parent because you care so much about being enough for your child. Good enough. Patient enough. Smart enough. Strong enough. You will be. Motherhood has a learning curve; don't worry. Every mother who ever came before you had the same fears and anxieties. You're doing a great job as a mom already - you're taking your vitamins; you're talking to your baby (even if others think you're crazy); and you're loving your unborn child.

You're strong. Waddling around all day isn't easy. Your hormones are racing in every direction and your husband is afraid to stand too close sometimes. That's okay. He knows you're strong, too (that's why he's hiding the frying pans and baseball bats for the next nine months).

You're going to be a great mom. It's okay to plop down on the couch because you're tired. It's okay to cry because that Chevy commercial was so touching. It's okay to scream into your pillow because you're feeling overwhelmed. It's okay to eat mac 'n cheese every night for a month because it's the only thing that doesn't make you puke. It's okay. Whatever you have to do to cope with stress/worries/fears is okay. 

You're beautiful, amazing, deserving, and strong. Your baby may not be here just yet, but you are already a great mom. And that little stowaway already loves you more than you know.