Being pregnant is one of those stages in life where a lot changes in a short amount of time. The way I like to think of it is pregnancy took forever to go by in the blink of an eye. Now that I’m at the end, I’ve been able to reflect on what my experience has looked like and and what my pregnancy taught me about myself.
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Pregnancy Taught Me More Than I Anticipated
You don’t always get to choose the path your life takes, but you do get to choose how you deal with it. When I got pregnant, Eihab and I were not trying. In fact, I had just recently decided I was OK with waiting awhile and just enjoying each other’s company. Maybe doing a bit of traveling together. I had even started telling my friends and family when they would ask the inevitable “so when are you getting pregnant?” Then BAM. Two weeks later I found out I was pregnant LOL. Total shocker and not the way I thought things would go. It would have been really easy for me to feel bummed that maybe we weren’t going to get in all that traveling I’d hoped for, but then when I think about how amazing it will be to show our daughter the world, I’m so grateful that it happened when it did.
Your priorities shift almost immediately when you become pregnant. It’s really the strangest thing, but nothing matures you and makes you see what’s really important like bringing another human into the world. I remember before I got pregnant, I was really excited to quit my day job at Providence and work for an image consultant full time. But within weeks of becoming pregnant I realized how important it was to me to maintain a job that would give my family health insurance. The peace of mind that comes with having a 9-to-5 job outweighed any desire I had to jump head-on into a career of working for myself. Even though it’s still a goal for me, pregnancy taught me that sometimes you have to change the path you’re on to get to the same destination.
There’s a serious IDGAF mentality when you’re pregnant. I don’t know if it’s just me, but a lot of my priorities and things I was willing to put up with changed after I was pregnant for awhile. It’s a lot easier for me to say “no” to people now than ever before, and the type of relationships I value has become very clear to me. I’ve realized how important it is to me to have “low-maintenance” friends. People in your life who you don’t have to see or talk to every day, but when you do get together it’s like no time has passed…that’s what I crave more of. I also want to surround myself with just straight up good people. People who care about others and have the ability to put themselves in other’s shoes. Maybe it’s because I’m hormonal, but I think it has everything to do with the fact that the people I surround myself with are going to be the same people who are around my daughter, and I feel like I need to choose them wisely.
Pregnancy taught me some negatives as well, like I have an unhealthy relationship with my weight and body image. I’ve always known to some degree that I cared more about my weight than I should, but being pregnant really intensified this awareness. It’s been extremely difficult for me to watch the number on the scale go up every week, and it’s been challenging to embrace the changes my body is going through. Even though I’m so grateful to be pregnant and can’t wait to have my Baby Girl here, I can’t help but get down on myself sometimes. I’m really glad I’ve made this realization though, because it means I have something I can work on and area where I need to grow. I’m not 100% sure how I want to go about learning and growing through this life lesson…I’ll probably read some books to be honest LOL. Maybe some blogs as well, but I’m not in to the tough love, “stop body shaming yourself cause you’re fabulous” type of thing. I just find those types of posts or advice to come from more of a shallow place without a lot of depth to the content or understanding from the writer. So we’ll see, but I’ll keep you all posted 🙂
Being pregnant has really taught me a lot about myself, and I have a feeling it’s not going to slow down any time soon lol. I hope you enjoyed this post though, and that you’ll leave me a comment below with a lesson a major life event has taught you 🙂
xo,
B
Photos taken by: Rachel Cossette Photography
Photos edited by: Me
Outfit Details: Top & Skirt set from Janelle James Boutique (literally can’t find something similar to link, sorry!) | Franco Sarto slingback pumps (Chanel DUPE!) (available here) | BCBGeneration olive blazer (similar here) | Coach purse (similar here)
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I love that outfit on you! My major life event was my accident. I can’t even tell you how my face looked after… like a lion after battle is the best description with all the swelling and open wounds. I remember one day bawling on the bathroom floor because I thought I looked like a monster and if my (now ex) boyfriend left me who would ever love me? Fast forward a few years and it healed better than anyone could have hoped for and I have a man who loves me and has said he thinks my scar is “cute”. My perspective went from putting a lot of weight on the importance of my physical appearance to making self love, awareness, and growth the priority. I think I adopted the IDGAF mentality too because I have a low tolerance for bullshit and I don’t chase people like I used to. Everything’s a blessing in disguise I suppose. Love you girl
Totally agree with that last statement, some of the (perceived) worse experiences of our lives can be blessings in disguise 🙂 Thanks for sharing love xoxo
My daughter is 16 weeks pregnant, and so I love reading wonderful posts about the positives of pregnancy!
Awww that’s soo exciting, congrats!!
I completely agree with you when you say that your priorities shift when you become pregnant! It shifts even more once your baby is here – things that were super important before don’t seem so much now. Congrats and good luck with your baby girl!
Thanks so much Steph!
Awesome giveaway! But all of these are so true. Pregnancy completely changes you – it’s crazy because you probably didn’t expect that beforehand! And it’s crazy how fast baby comes first, even before baby is here!
-Jennifer
https://maunelegacy.com
SO true! It changed so quickly, I def wasn’t expecting.
That IDGAF mentality sticks with you the more kids you have lol, and that’s a good thing. I’m definitely more laid back because of my kids.
I’m thinking I will be to! My hubby is very laid back and I’m sure he hopes having kids mellows me out a bit lol.
I think we learn the most about ourselves when we go through significant changes in our life. Being pregnant is one of the biggest changes. It’s a wonderful change but one that can be overwhelming for sure.
I couldn’t agree more 🙂 Thanks for reading, Cindy!
I can so relate about the weight thing, I never felt like I was overly concerned with it but watching that scale go up and up and up with both pregnancies was a wakeup call. But dont worry, you will lose it all! Congratulations!!
Thanks Lauren!