What does every teenage girl and young woman think of when they hear the word "pregnancy"?
Easy: big belly, cute clothes, gifts, and finally being able to eat whatever she wants (and lots of it)
The other day I had some friends stop by for a visit. One girl asked, "So Aidan, what is it like being pregnant?"
"Miserable."
I saw her face fall from a wishful eagerness to a timid solemnity. I frightened the poor girl and didn't mean to. Had I become the balloon-popper, hope-crusher? I felt horrible. I just answered quickly and honestly, never thinking otherwise.
This got me thinking about how females completely romanticize pregnancy from the time we are adolescents. Yes, even I! Just like how we romanticize marriage. We only see the roses and hear about the thorns but don't understand until experience comes knocking.
I'm not dying, but I do feel like I've been pretty miserable (physically, of course) thus far. However, if this is what bringing a life into the world is like for me, I will gladly do it! It's just not the fun and games pre-pregnant women dream of.
Let me make one disclaimer: Yes, there are many women who have wonderful pregnancies. Like my mother, who described our pregnancies as night and day. She only knew the bright side, until now.
Disillusionment has been dispelled.
Good pregnancies. Bad pregnancies. No matter, gratitude prevails.
