Halfway Reflections

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So here I am,  comfortably past the half way point in my pregnancy.

           

20 weeks (7 weeks ago- I promise I’m bigger now)

Exactly a year ago, I finally told myself that I was ready to have a little person look at me with big round eyes. I felt that I was in a part of my life where I had found an incredible partner and had the right mind frame to rear a soul in this world.

If you had asked me then how I would have felt with a soccer ball sized tummy and a kicking baby making sure I knew she/he was well, I would have smiled and told you that it would have made my mind spin in countless directions. It certainly has. 

Here are a few things I’ve learned about pregnancy, myself, and life so far. In no particular order:

• That no matter how in-tune you are with your body, once you’ve got yourself a new entity living inside you it completely goes on auto-pilot and surprises you with things you never knew it could do. Just look at this link to get a clearer picture. 

• That life is much too short to worry about tomorrow. This is something I have battled with constantly in the past and I was recently put into a position where I could have tossed and turned every night drowning my dreams with worries about where we would be living (and giving birth!) in a few months time. But these days, all I need is to feel is a little fist bump of approval to make me focus on now and not an event that I have absolutely no control over when the sun sets.  

• That I have less tolerance for people who are negative, abrasive, and constantly stuck in their own rut. I am blessed with a good number of friends and family who always see the brighter side of a situation and work constantly to better themselves and their lives. These are the type of people I want surrounding my little family. 

• That eating healthy has lifted my mood and given me more energy than I’ve ever had before. Blame it on the massive amounts of blood running through me (when I tell a story now, my face gets hot!) or the wheatgrass powder I take every morning, but my second trimester honestly feels euphoric. It’s like I swallowed a happy pill and my mind is efficient and I can do any task set in front of me, even though I’m carrying over 10 extra pounds in my core. 

• That no one tells you how often your baby moves. In movies, the woman always has this look of absolute surprise when she feels the baby “kick”, like it happens every few days or so. How about every hour on the hour? I’m teaching a class and this little hitchhiker is doing tucks and turns. I’m reading a book at night and my skin move in waves as this little being makes itself comfortable. It’s also pretty phenomenal how so early on in life we can already see sleep patterns and this one is just like Carl: A nocturnal creature bursting with energy at night who’d rather be dead to the world at 6am. But I will tell you this: Every. Single. Time. I feel this life move in me, a surge of wonder and gratitude comes through me. It doesn’t get old.