Man oh man, was I ignorant.. now that I’m less than 2 weeks away from meeting my little man, I’m realizing just how little I knew about pregnancy and the birthing process.
I’m not judging myself though. Why would I have known much? We’re definitely not taught these things and I think that the topic can be taboo.
But as you guys know, we like to keep it real around here, so here are nine things that I’ve learned these past 9 months of pregnancy:
1. You can’t judge other people for the decisions they choose to make.
I remember before getting pregnant, I saw an influencer talking about how her favorite part of pregnancy was that she could eat whatever she wanted. I’m not going to lie, I did slightly judge her for that statement. I thought, “I’m going to be so healthy when I get pregnant.” HA!!! If I wasn’t quickly slapped with reality after about 3 or 4 weeks into my pregnancy… I couldn’t eat ANYTHING. Everybody talks about pregnancy cravings, but no one never talks about food adversions, and I was quite literally adverse to almost everything. Gone were the days where I would regularly eat meat and vegetables. Bring on the peanut butter and jelly and chicken fingers! All that to say, everyone’s going to do what’s right for them as they go through different struggles in life. So if you see a pregnant woman making a decision that maybe you would question, just don’t. She’s doing the best she can with the circumstances she’s in.
2. The amount of different symptoms you can experience is quite literally insane.
If you’ve never experienced pregnancy yourself, you might struggle to think of more than 3 different pregnancy symptoms… Maybe morning sickness, cravings, or mood swing… But holy smokes, there can be so much more to pregnancy than just nausea!
For me, I was extremely nauseous my entire first trimester and leading into the second. And like I mentioned, I was not ready for the food adversions… Your girl was probably eating like 500 calories a day at one point (no buenz). Truly, the first trimester just took me out. I felt like garbage 80% of the time, which was especially challenging to hide since most people didn’t know I was pregnant at that point. But I was exhausted!! And sooo sensitive to smells.
Also, peeing! The increased trips to the bathroom didn’t only happen as this kid has gotten bigger… I was peeing like crazy in the first trimester too! Apparently all the hormones can make you have to go more frequently, so you better believe that had me getting up several times a night which absolutely wrecked my sleep, even in the early months of pregnancy.
Now if you’ve never heard of or experienced Round Ligament Pain and/or Lightning Crotch, consider yourself blessed. They’re different sensations but both involve pain in the lower abdomen /pelvic region. Round ligament pain is basically the stretching of the ligaments that are attached to your uterus. At one point I was struggling to walk because of it, especially after teaching dance. And then you have lightning crotch which is quite literally what it sounds like. Random shooting pain into your crotch. Joy. LOL.
Last but not least, the hip pain. Holy smokes, the hip pain! I was not prepared for this. It’s something that I experience when I lay down for more than an hour or so where my glutes and my hips becomes so incredibly achy and uncomfortable. That combined with the frequent peeing combined with the insomnia from the hormones has led to essentially zero sleep. Or at least no “good sleep.” I’m not going to lie, the exhaustion has been incredible.
Other notable symptoms I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing: Swollen dinosaur feet and puffy hands, tender boobs, increased experience of ALL the emotions, constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, period like cramping… So many fun things 
3. Things will not go as you planned.
Like I mentioned, I was planning on having a super healthy pregnancy. You already know that went downhill fast in regards to what I was eating. But I wasn’t expecting the amount of fatigue and sickness in that first trimester. I ended up having to stop working out for a good 2 to 3 months. That was hard. Going to the gym is something that genuinely makes me happy, but it’s also something that I NEED to do to keep my spine and back healthy and functional cause it stabilized my joints. But I quickly realized that working out at 6:00 in the morning was just not feasible or smart after getting no sleep. So I stopped going to the gym and my body definitely paid for it. After about a month, my back was not doing well (just so much pain) All that to say, I was very grateful once the extreme fatigue and nausea subsided and I was able to slowly rebuild my gym routine.
4. The best part of pregnancy
As I’ve clearly laid out, I did not enjoy the first half of pregnancy. It was rough out in the parts. HOWEVER! At around 22 weeks, I started to feel what they call “quickening” which is when you can finally start to feel some of the babies movements. It started out support faint, honestly it would feel like gas moving through my digestive system. But as he got bigger, I started to feel more movement – little kicks and jabs. That was the coolest thing! It was the first time I really felt connected to this little man as a human, not just the rotisserie chicken that he looked like in our first sonogram. 
In total, I would say being able to feel him move and hang out with him has been my favorite part of this entire pregnancy. And I’m not going to lie, this kid needs to calm down! Now that we are at full term and he’s almost ready for his arrival, this kid is strong and as much as I love all these movements because it’s reassuring that he is okay in there, it’s also getting incredibly uncomfortable and painful for it to feel like he’s literally trying to bust through my stomach and urethra all at the same time. He’s definitely ready to come out at this point! And so am I lol.
5. I have the most incredible support system.
This is something I already knew. I have the best circle of humans in my life. But I have to acknowledge them in the context of this pregnancy.
First and foremost, my husband – he’s a saint, and I quite literally couldn’t ask for a better life partner. This guy has been taking care of everything home related. Any cooking, cleaning, it’s all been him and without me having to say anything. When we first found out we were pregnant , he immediately made a liat of everything he wanted to get done around the house before our little made arrives, like clean and organize all the rooms and closets, buying a new pantry, installing an under the sink water filtration system (himself!), and he has done everything on that list. He’s also been with me literally each step of the way in this pregnancy journey – doing research on all the baby products, coming to almost every single doctors appointment, taking the pregnancy classes, genuinely wanting to learn how to support me through labor… I haven’t had to coerce him. He’s just been there, ready to learn and support. Last thing I’ll say about my wonderful husband is that any time I needed a shoulder, back, or glute massage, he did it immediately, no questions asked. He has truly been my rock this entire pregnancy.
I also have the most amazing family and close friends. Whether it be taking care of those bigger baby gear purchases so we didn’t have to, creating a beautiful gender reveal experience for us, genuinely checking in on me and holding space for wherever I was at in the moment, taking me for coffee or getting my nails done, making me food…. I feel so blessed to have people in my life who I know would drop everything if I needed them.
And then of course, I have my MC fam! Y’all have been so sweet, supportive, and caring of me throughout this journey. I truly appreciate everyone who has wished me well or blessed our baby boy with a gift. This kid is about to have the best dance fam!
6. Pregnancy brain is a real thing.
Listen. No woman wants to be told by someone else that they have pregnancy brain. Most times it feels very dismissive and lacks compassion. Like, “oh she’s just a crazy pregnant lady with pregnancy brain…” I know I have pregnancy brain at this point, I certainly don’t need anyone else to point it out to me. It’s already frustrating enough.
Fun fact – The forgetfulness that women experience during and after pregnancy is due to hormonal shifts and literally changes in your brain structure that actually have a purpose! The purpose of “pregnancy brain” is to prepare the mother for motherhood by rewiring the brain to enhance social cognition, empathy, and bonding with the baby. It allows the mother to feel more connected to her baby and better care for him/her by increasing those motherly instincts. Pretty cool, right? I just wish I could obtain those motherly instincts without having to constantly forget “everyday” words.
7. Ignorance is NOT Bliss (for me).
Growing up, I was terrified at the thought of giving birth. I would imagine most women can relate. I think it’s because there’s so much mystery surrounding birth because like I said before, it’s taboo, and all we see is what’s portrayed in movies with a woman laying on her back, screaming in pain as she delivers her baby.
In general, I’m someone who likes to prepare for things, and I’m so glad that’s the approach I’ve taken here. Through taking time to learn about the birthing process through courses, videos, books, and experts, I’ve come to understand the mechanics of what is happening in order to get this baby out and why. It’s not just contractions and pushing for the sake of it. Every contraction that takes place is for the purpose of slowly pushing the baby down the birth canal. So knowing this gives me peace because there’s a purpose behind this pain that I’m about to experience.
8. Two things can be true at the same time.
You guys. I’m so freaking excited to have this baby and for Tosin and I to enter into this new chapter together as parents. I’m also so incredibly sad that our current chapter as “just the two of us” is about to end. I love the relationship we have now. The way were able to spend time together and not have to think about anything or anyone else… It’s such an easeful feeling with little to no stressors. We just get to enjoy each other’s company, and he truly is my favorite person in the world. I don’t want that feeling that we have now to end. AND I can’t wait for this kid to get here and for us to experience parenthood together. I can’t wait to see how our relationship grows and adjusts to figure out everything that’s about to come. I’m so confident in us as a team. It’s such an interesting space to be in where I’m so genuinely happy and at the same time so sad. It’s nothing that needs to be “fixed.” It’s the beauty of life and experiencing all the richness it has to offer. I’m just so grateful to have the opportunity to even feel all these different emotions.
9. Grateful doesn’t even cover how I feel
You guys, I’m about to be a MOM! 
This is something I’ve always wanted but on a much deeper level as I’ve grown to better understand myself and the world around me and once I met Tosin. And it’s happening! All that to say, I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for this entire experience and how privileged I feel to be this little guy’s mom.
At this point, I’m officially on “maternity leave” from the studio, but I can’t wait to get back to dancing with you guys and for you all to meet the little man. But in the meantime, wish me luck on this crazy little thing called labor and delivery 
See you guys soon! 
