Sunday, June 5, 2011

Things I regret

I loved being pregnant.  From the time I saw that little pink line on the pregnancy test until I pushed Carina into the world, I truly enjoyed every minute.  However, I have a couple regrets...

1.  I should have taken more pictures of my pregnant self.  Sure, I have my weekly belly pics which I enjoy scrolling through and watching my stomach grow freakishly huge, but there are very few other pictures in existence.  I have a couple from my baby showers, but in almost all of them I am with other people.  Not a single I-am-a-pregnant-goddess-look-at-me-glow picture. 

I didn't want to have a maternity photo shoot because I had no idea what I would do with the photos.  Looking back, I see that it isn't just about the photos.  It's about the experience...looking and feeling beautiful, being the center of attention.  If I could go back in time I would have them done.  Not the cheesy 'alphabet blocks on the belly' kind of photos, the 'I love this squirmy thing in there more than anything and I want to capture and preserve the excitement and joy of anticipating her arrival' kind.  Yes, I just jammed a run-on sentence into what should have been simply an adjective.  A single adjective wouldn't do it justice.

2.  M and I should have spent more quality time together.  We were both so busy with work and money was rather tight, so we decided against going on any sort of a baby moon.  We did drive four hours to our friends' wedding up in northern WI, but staying at a Best Western for one night in the middle of nowhere doesn't really fit in with my idea of a romantic weekend away.  There was a gun convention at the hotel the night we were there.  When we checked into the hotel, there were men in the lobby with rifles.  I nearly shat my pants.  We also didn't go on many dates.  I was so tired all the time (due to pregnancy) and he was tired all the time (due to being a PhD student - aka PiledhigherandDeeper); it just didn't happen.  ::sigh::


So pregnant women and the ladies out there who are trying to get pregnant (because you will get pregnant), please revel in your pregnancies.  Cherish every minute...even the ones spent hovered over the toilet or huffing and puffing up three flights of stairs in an elevatorless building...because it will come to an end.  And you will probably miss it. 

You will love the precious little person who just emerged from your body more than you can imagine, but you will miss feeling him or her kick and roll inside of you.  You will marvel as you touch your baby's little fingers and tiny toes, but you will wish you could run your hands over your enormous, ready-to-burst belly just one more time. 

The gift at the end of the journey is so special, but so is the journey itself.  Enjoy.

Photobucket

21 words of geekdom:

Lins said...

Hi! New blog follower from the Sunday Blog Hop! We are an online boutique that sells mom-invented products and baby shower gifts. I hope you follow back on our new blog where we have some great giveaways and promos weekly! The Busy Mom Boutique Blog

LaVonne said...

Very nice blog design and colors. I love it!

I did not like being pregnant. But we are planning our second. :) Some days I think I must be crazy for wanting to do it all again. But it is time. (Sigh). When the baby is here (hopefully next summer fingers crossed), it will be worth it.

I am visiting from the Alexa hop. It is nice to "meet" you. Enjoy your Sunday!

Blessings,
LaVonne @ Long Wait For Isabella

Katie said...

I couldn't agree more. I looooved being pregnant, and would do it again right away if it made financial sense for us. :) I didn't get quite as many picture as I could have, either, so amen to that!

You were *adorable* pregnant. It looked good on you! Of course, motherhood does, too. :)

Kristin said...

I agree with you too. I also liked being pregnant, despite complications. I missed the kicks and rolls a lot, which was really unexpected. I also wish I had taken more pictures pregnant. I didn't do the weekly belly shots because I didn't think it was my style, but now I wish I had them.

I also totally agree with spending as much time with your SO as possible. I actually really feel like I cherished those nine months with DH, which makes me happy.

Mr. and Mrs. MissyCrissy said...

Truly hope I enjoy this pregnancy like you!!! I will take into consideration the baby moon and the pregnancy pics!! Thanks for posting this!!!

pinkflipflops44 said...

I loved being pregnant but I don't miss feeling her. I miss my body running efficently because now I am back to my pre-pregnant ways of upset stomachaches over food and constipation. Ironically, I was never constipated, I could eat anything while pregnant and I felt awesome. The only thing I regret is that we didn't go the Caribbean one more time before I got pregnant. Oh and that I never got a job with my degree ha.

Marie Noelle said...

oh lala! I'm not even taking weekly pictures of my pregnancy... I guess I should start right now! I don'T want to regret it later!

I'm now following you with RSS feed! I'm visiting from the super stalker sunday blog hop!!

Enjoy your day!

Hanan @ Lilac City Momma said...

I completely agree! And it gets worse with every pregnancy, less alone time and less money =P

Amy said...

I agree with the spending time with hubby! I tell all my pregnant friends to go out as much as you can before the baby comes. Once, he/she is here, there is no more picking up and leaving on whim like before.

Denise McDonough said...

I can not wait to get pregnant again (soon we will start trying) and those regrets you had are the same i had with my first two! now if i can only remember next time lol

I am a new follower and hope you can follow me back! I have 12 giveaways in my birthday bash weekend party going on right now and lasting threw till tomorrow morning! great stuff to be won!!! Hope you can check it out! http://mommy2nanny3doggy1.blogspot.com/

Nikki said...

Love your blog title! I have a friend who moved from PA to Minnesota, she said it's frigid there. I thought PA winters were bad! I'm an East Coast girl, it's hard to imagine living without an ocean within easy driving distance.
I'm a new follower from the Super Stalker hop!

Nikki
Pretty Opinionated

Kristin said...

I was so freaking sick my entire pregnancy. i had hyperemesis and was miserable and looking back? I miss it. I loved it. REVEL in it ladies because you WILL miss it. Thoughts of ttc #2 are already creeping into my mind!

Our Growing Garden

The How To Mommy said...

Sorry for taking so long to become a follower of yours. What a great post! I regret not having more pregnancy pics too, but just couldn't stomach taking them! I'd love for you to link up to my Tasty Thursdays Recipe Swap Blog Hop later this week. I can't wait to read more from you!

juliane2004 said...

This was my favorite part of your post, so true:

You will marvel as you touch your baby's little fingers and tiny toes, but you will wish you could run your hands over your enormous, ready-to-burst belly just one more time.

PeterPackMom said...

there are barely any maternity pictures of myself. I totally regret that as well. Following you from the Monday Blog Hop! Would love a follow back. http://peterpack99.blogspot.com/

Lindsey said...

So sweet and SO TRUE!
Thanks for the sweet compliments about my new co-hosting gig and thanks for linking up at Mom Blog Monday! I am now following you back from http://soeasybeinggreen-blog.com!

Unknown said...

I wish I would have taken more pictures of myself too with all 3 of my pregnancies.
Also, I'm your newest follower of GFC and twitter :) Hope to see you over at Stained Glass Butterflies too!
Michelle
http://stainedglassbutterflies.blogspot.com

Jenny said...

I know how you feel.

My husband and I shoulda spent more time together before and when I was pregnant. But he was always off working on a car somewhere and I was stuck in the house all the time while he was gone.

Not that our son is almost 7 yrs old, we can do more together and we just drag the kid along with us ('cause no one wants to watch him).

But such is life, ya know? :P

The Spaghetti Westerner said...

I hear you on the pictures! I hope I remember to do it the second time around. It's such a fleeting time in a woman's life, I wish I'd soaked it up more!

Unknown said...

I didn't love being pregnant, and I didn't/don't miss being pregnant, but I do wish I'd taken more pictures. We did do the maternity pictures (even some cheesy blocks on the belly ones lol!) an I cherish those. Especially the ones of Brad and I together. I regret not taking better care of myself while pregnant. Once I got my appetite back, I ate too many unhealthy foods and with some swelling issues I had throughout, I wasn't allowed to exercise, so I gained more weight than I would have liked.

Heather said...

Looking back on things... there isn't much I would have done differently with my first pregnancy. I loved being pregnant with B (I had a pretty easy pregnancy, which helped a lot!) and I honestly cherished every moment. I took good care of myself and the Hubs and I had a wonderful time reading books together to learn about the growth of our baby and "what to do when he comes out". We took lots & lots of pictures!

This pregnancy has been so different; I already have so many regrets. And I still have 7 weeks to go! We have been so busy with our 3 year old, the Hubs' job, getting our rental house ready for another person and not having any real help this time around (we are 2,000+ miles away from "home" now), that I have not really sat back and taken in "the pregnancy". We've taken for granted the fact that we've done this before, so we've hardly read from "What To Expect" and (sadly) the rarely talk about the baby's development. I have probably taken no more than 10 photos of my "growth". I keep telling myself that this is just "how it goes", but knowing that this will likely be our last pregnancy, I am hoping to slow things down a bit and try and enjoy the last few weeks ahead.

Thanks for giving me the reminder :O)

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