Adding "Mom" to my list of names...

Let’s just put it out there— being pregnant is weird. Your body starts to change in ways you didn’t expect. Your boobs are growing and they look great, but OUCH. You’ve become a superhuman with only one power, the ability to smell anything and everything within a 100 foot radius. And is this extra weight from the baby? Or are you just eating too much? But the weirdest thing of all is realizing that for roughly 9 months… you are… never… alone.

I’m totally already in love with the little lemon-sized alien in my belly, but it’s all so strange. The idea that someone will one day soon be calling me “mom.” Do I deserve that title yet? All I did was get it on with my husband. How does that qualify me to be a mom?

I know these thoughts are not mine alone. Many of us feel overwhelmed or scared at the thought of becoming a parent. Especially if it was not planned. Fortunately, I had been trying for about 6 months when I found out I was pregnant, so it was an occasion of hugs and happy tears. But that is not always the case. So how do we soon-to-be moms deal with and prepare ourselves for such a huge commitment? How do we rehearse this role of a lifetime we’ve been cast in?

Well… hell if I know. 

I plan on figuring it out along the way, and not reading too many parenting books or articles in the meantime. Sometimes too much information is bad information. I personally don’t want my natural motherly instincts to be overloaded with everyone else’s opinions (because lord knows, people have plenty). I know I’ll make a lot of mistakes, but I don’t expect to be the perfect mom or have perfect kids, and I’m trying to just be ok with that.

So good luck to all of my fellow first-time-mommies out there, as we embark on this journey together, jumping in head first to a change and a love we can’t even begin to imagine. Try not to let the pressure of other seemingly "perfect moms" out there stress you out. You're doing just fine. All that worry isn't any good for that baby in your belly anyways. Stop, breathe, and dammit, eat that bowl of ice cream if you want to. Salad can wait for another day.

-Jenny