motherhood + pregnancy: what no one told me

white robe by shop pink blush

pregnancy! motherhood! i feel like we try to prepare as much as we can: ask the questions, read the books and the blogs, we receive a whole heck of a lot of unsolicited advice, but once we're thrown into the swing of it all, we realize there is a lot that no one or nothing really could have prepared you for. i thought i would share a few things (serious and funny, alike) that have happened to me and that have helped me over the course of the last few years on this journey called motherhood.


1. i will pee my pants. especially now--being pregnant--when i sneeze, when i laugh, when i cough, when i get up or sit down too suddenly or aggressively i will pee my pants.

2. hadley will have this fascination with "bum bums," perhaps in part to this book that we read to her. but each morning--and i'm not exaggerating saying each morning--when i am changing into my clothing, attempting to pull on my maternity pants, this cute little girl will run in behind me raise up both of her hands, and squeeze my cheeks, laugh and say "bum bum!"

3. there will be days when i don't shower. there will be days when i do shower. and there will be days when my daughter wakes early but i still want to shower so i bring her in with me. but every time i set her down on the shower floor she cries--frantically--so there i am, bulging pregnant belly and all, with my almost two your old sitting on top, laying her head on my shoulder, pressing down on baby sister, pressing down on my bladder and op! what's that? i have to pee again, so there i go.

4. i will never make it through a cup of coffee before it goes cold.

5. it's gestational--not genital!--diabetes (let that one slip in front of our church community group)

6. although i'm even more tired in the afternoon, waking early does wonders. i'm talking a 5:30 wake up call people! getting a solid two hours to read, pray, get some work in and even a shower before hadley wakes up seriously does me so much good! i could not recommend it more.

7. when hadley is napping, i really do not need to nap! i remember being pregnant and having everyone say "sleep when they sleep!" honestly, for me this couldn't be more far off. i find that while hadley is napping if i can catch up on some reading, get in my daily chore, blog and answer emails, i feel so refreshed and productive. to me, that means more than a nap (although, yes, i admit, there are days where naps are needed for sure, but the majority of days i like to not waste that alone time).

8. "mom guilt", "mom brain", mom emotions (?)...they're all real! i swear (and i'm pretty sure there are scientific facts to back it up) you lose brain cells growing a baby, then chasing one around is a whole other story! the guilt--ugh!--i could go on and on, but we all need to give ourselves a whole lot more grace. and the emotions, the roller-coaster-raging-hormones, it's ok. let yourself feel those feelings. i'm not crazy. you are not crazy.

what are some things you wish you were told or you felt shocked or taken aback by when you became pregnant or just as a mother in general?