If you love being pregnant

[Willis Jackson]

What do you love about it?

I have relatively easy pregnancies and I'm not particularly bothered by it most of the time, but I don't get what's to LOVE about it, y'know?

Please explain.

[badtzmaru22]

I love not being concerned about how my stomach looks, and actually try to accentuate it for a change. I really feel great about how my body looks while pregnant much more than at any other time. Plus I sometimes still can't believe I actually can get/stay pregnant. That sounds cheesy.

[Brie]

I had amazing body confidence when I was pregnant. I got to ignore the whole society's pressure to be skinny and perfect thing, and basically felt like some giant frigging Earth Mother goddess.

I've struggled with my weight my whole life, and when I was pregnant it was kind of the first time I was proud of my body.

[Deleted]

I didn't love being pregnant but I didn't watch my weight for the first time in my life like Brie. I was also so elated that the decision to have a baby was made for me (DS was a surprise and DH and I had been on the fence for years).

[mkemama]

I think having to take better care of myself (vitamins, tons of water, getting extra sleep, etc) while I'm pregnant made me feel & look better. I just felt awesome & didn't feel guilty asking for massages and such from DH. I think some of it is cheesy miracle of life stuff- "look at me, I'm growing a person over here!". Customers at work & people in general were also so much nicer.

[Deleted]

I orgasmed at the drop of a hat while pregnant. I'm still in mourning that I don't think that will ever be the case again.

Plus the bit about my stomach being my least favorite body thing and being allowed to embrace the hugeness.

[demelza]

Little to no acne, & was pretty much always in a good mood when I was pregnant (no pms mood swings). My legs didn't need shaving everyday.

[cincodemayo]

I loved my belly, I loved the kicks, I loved waddling around. I felt special.

[ilikedonuts]

Its the only time I'm not worried with how I look. I loved my bump. I wore skin tight stuff daily to show it off. Plus I love the attention, eating what I want, etc. I had easy pregnancies though with no pain so if I was in pain the whole time I probably would feel different.

[thebreakfastclub]

This will sound AW-ish, but I will post anyway.

I had no morning sickness, minimal swelling. I gained 23 lbs, all in the belly, and I got a ton of compliments on how I looked. Plus good parking at work and the mall.

I had tried for over a year to conceive, so I was somewhat amazed it had even happened.

[catbus]

Same as above re: body image. My hair looked great during pregnancy. I had no horrible periods (mine are normally brutal). I just felt more "balanced," somehow. 

I really shouldn't have enjoyed pregnancy. I threw up every day for ten weeks (from 6-16 weeks), I had horrible heartburn/reflux and could barely eat, and god knows I had enough scares, like being told there was a good chance my kid had a trisomy (thanks to the radiologist with great bedside manner). But yeah, I really liked being pregnant. 

[catbus]

Apr 30, 2014 15:57:55 GMT -5 thebreakfastclub said:

This will sound AW-ish, but I will post anyway.

I had no morning sickness, minimal swelling. I gained 23 lbs, all in the belly, and I got a ton of compliments on how I looked. Plus good parking at work and the mall.

I had tried for over a year to conceive, so I was somewhat amazed it had even happened.

I also didn't really swell (the only incident I remember was on a very hot day when I had to stand on the bus ride home), and gained a net 15 pounds (because I did have morning sickness), and also got tons of compliments on how great I looked. Sigh. 

[tealblue]

My boobs looked amazing, my hair looked great, I felt fantastic. I loved the attention like when I was in the grocery store and some lady told me I looked so cute pregnant and I could go in front of her. I loved the comments at work about event cute and I loved my belly. I was never really uncomfortable except when sleeping. I was really all baby until the end (I can now see my swollen face in pictures) but I felt fab.

[biogirl21]

Apr 30, 2014 15:37:10 GMT -5 Brie said:

I had amazing body confidence when I was pregnant. I got to ignore the whole society's pressure to be skinny and perfect thing, and basically felt like some giant frigging Earth Mother goddess.

I've struggled with my weight my whole life, and when I was pregnant it was kind of the first time I was proud of my body.

This is me exactly. I felt beautiful, confident and amazing while pregnant. So not the case usually.

[rugbywife]

For me it was the same as many pp have said - for the first time I felt like my belly was 'okay'. The irony is that when I look back at my 5w pregnant picture I now realize how TINY I was really - I mean, not really, but by my standards? Wow. And yet I already felt 'big'. It sucks that I am so affected by my body image but it has been a huge issue in my post partum mind set. It is so hard for me to look in the mirror right now but for a large part of my pregnancy I felt comfortable - finally. At least in terms of body image. After about 30 weeks I felt physically uncomfortable. Had I gained less weight it might not have been the case but it was hard on my joints and back.

[soozy87]

I loved the kicks!

[anna7602]

I loved it the first time. I felt happy and glowy all the time. 

This time, it depends on the day. I've felt moodier, but it is still awesome to feel baby kicks and to see my body change and grow. When I was in France last week and was able to use the "pregnant women" check out line at the grocery stores and was always offered a seat on the subway, those were pretty nice perks (although certainly not reason enough to get knocked up if you don't want to be pregnant). 

ETA: Pregnancy also gives me a good excuse to pamper myself more. I make much more time for naps, massages, cool exercise classes, etc. than when I am not pregnant and am just focused on DD, work and other stuff outside of myself. 

[arns726]

Apr 30, 2014 15:37:10 GMT -5 Brie said:

I had amazing body confidence when I was pregnant. I got to ignore the whole society's pressure to be skinny and perfect thing, and basically felt like some giant frigging Earth Mother goddess.

I've struggled with my weight my whole life, and when I was pregnant it was kind of the first time I was proud of my body.

This. Exactly this!

[cilantro]

I felt incredibly beautiful. I lost 25 lbs of fat, so my stomach swelled, while my face and the rest of me noticeably shrank. I loved feeling him move. I loved talking about him and my body made EVERYONE ask about him and the pregnancy. I had wanted it for so long, I really loved *almost* every minute of it. A part of me definitely wonders if that's why he was such a content baby (though, what happened to turn him into such a stubborn child now....

[djc315]

Apr 30, 2014 15:52:19 GMT -5 @mrswindycity said:

Apr 30, 2014 15:37:10 GMT -5 Brie said:

I had amazing body confidence when I was pregnant. I got to ignore the whole society's pressure to be skinny and perfect thing, and basically felt like some giant frigging Earth Mother goddess.

I've struggled with my weight my whole life, and when I was pregnant it was kind of the first time I was proud of my body.

This is exactly what I was going to say, but put much better than I could have.

Also, socially-acceptable stretchy pants.

Ditto all this.

[Deleted]

I looked good! Granted I slept twelve hours a day and had bad cramping for weeks on end but I loved how I looked and I didn't really gain any weight. My anxiety was pretty well managed too.

[changedname]

Hair and nails were amazing.

I didn't have to breathe in to avoid looking pregnant because I was, well, pregnant!

I loved having the baby with me all day, feeling kicks.

I loved how friendly people are when you're pregnant. I miss that.

[catbus]

Apr 30, 2014 17:38:15 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

I looked good! Granted I slept twelve hours a day and had bad cramping for weeks on end but I loved how I looked and I didn't really gain any weight. My anxiety was pretty well managed too.

One of my closest friends loved being pregnant because her anxiety was basically gone. Then she gave birth and had to go back on her anti-anxiety medication pretty soon after. 

[changedname]

Apr 30, 2014 15:57:55 GMT -5 thebreakfastclub said:

This will sound AW-ish, but I will post anyway.

I had no morning sickness, minimal swelling. I gained 23 lbs, all in the belly, and I got a ton of compliments on how I looked. Plus good parking at work and the mall.

I had tried for over a year to conceive, so I was somewhat amazed it had even happened.

This word for word except it took me 1.5 years and 4 iuis, 2 cancelled ivfs.

[Deleted]

Apr 30, 2014 17:43:48 GMT -5 catbus said:

Apr 30, 2014 17:38:15 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

I looked good! Granted I slept twelve hours a day and had bad cramping for weeks on end but I loved how I looked and I didn't really gain any weight. My anxiety was pretty well managed too.

One of my closest friends loved being pregnant because her anxiety was basically gone. Then she gave birth and had to go back on her anti-anxiety medication pretty soon after. 

Yeah it was weird!  I was on my meds the whole time but my anxiety was really contained even for the first few months post partum.  Maybe oxytocin?

[scribellesam]

I loved feeling the kicks, the incredible satisfaction I get from following a craving, and if I'm being honest, I like the attention.

[Deleted]

I wish I loved being pregnant because I am a super cute pregnant lady and I do feel all cool and special when I am pregnant.

Unfortunately I also have continuous migraines for weeks/months at a time SOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Deleted]

Pretty much exactly what @brie said. Except with the twins toward the end I became a walking circus act so the love for my body stopped. It was also.pretty miserable to be contracting several times an hour for a month. Otherwise though, I just feel confident pregnant.

[catsarecute]

I loved feeling the baby move. It was my favorite time during the entire 9 months. I loved knowing that I was growing a person. I loved the attention to be honest. I was lucky and never got any rude or awkward comments from strangers. I work with teenagers and they were always so excited for me and asked tons of questions!

[chicago]

I freaking loved being pregnant. I'd go back and do it all over again right now. It was one of the happiest times of my life. Amazing hair and nails, no acne, I could celebrate the part of my body I always tried to hide, I looked cute in a tight shirt and jeans, my anxiety was gone - the hormones were like the perfect cocktail for me. My favorite part, of course, was all of the baby-related stuff - watching my belly grow, the kicks, seeing my belly move. I had a relatively easy pregnancy - no morning sickness, gained 25 lbs mostly in my belly. The downer was getting diagnosed with GD but only because it meant I couldn't eat whatever I wanted. That brought back some of the anxiety, like "is she ok? Am I ruining her?!?"

E was such a chilled out baby on the inside. Now? Sometimes I wouldn't mind sticking her back in there.