BEST PART OF PREGNANCY

Today I had my 34 week appointment. It was probably the most thought provoking appointment to date. It felt more like a council. I saw Patty today. She happens to be one of my favorite midwives. And today she asked me a question that took me back: What is the best part of pregnancy?

This had me sit for a minute. I really pondered the answer. I didn’t know if I should say what came to mind: my free crabby pass. I had several witty replies, but held back. In these seconds my mind experienced a tailspin as it tried to make out the different thoughts blurring in my memory. I have tricky pregnancies, so I didn’t want to answer the way I felt: Nothing. I wanted to give this reasonable question a fair answer.

And through all the whirling it came to me just as sharp as a contraction. I answered, “Honesty! Honesty is the best part of being pregnant.” And with a tilted head Patty looked at me and asked me to continue…

I explained that in pregnancy I have established my ground. I have found comfort ability in truth that I had never known; it is ten-fold with my second pregnancy. I have conversations with my husband that I would not have come so easily (for either of us). I understand my body no longer being shy to share this-and-that happening. I ‘get’ that I may never wear a bikini again, but I have two children in its place. It is what it is. I am more real about needs vs. wants. I am honest about give and take. I am far more at ease with my choices.

Patty smiled sharing I had answered a 20 year question with the single most distinctive answer she had ever received. She came over to me and brushed my arm stopping at my wrist giving it a little squeeze and repeated my answer, “Honesty. I really like that.”

It is interesting that at the end of the road we don’t even realize our journey. The average pregnancy is 40 weeks with a goal to have an uncomplicated pregnancy giving birth to a healthy baby. How many women become conscious that there is far more then baby planning and wise choices? It is far deeper.

The best part of pregnancy is it led me to a new definition of honesty and within this I found myself. Granted, throughout life there will be more to explore and to open up within me, but this has been a true milestone in my personal life journey. It continues to boggle me how it appears there is no correlation between ideas/experiences and yet there is a power merging the two; and we don’t even recognize the link.