Stress is a terrible thing, more so for pregnant women and the child they’re carrying. But there are simply things that pregnant woman cannot but stress over, things both big and little.
Most of the time however, they need not worry about any of them.
Mom Victoria Fedden, in her Scary Mommy story, listed ten of these things.
1. Toxins
“The list of things that could potentially maybe cause harm to a developing fetus is nearly endless, which also means that it’s impossible to avoid all or even most of them, and if they were so bad, every baby would be born with birth defects.”
2. Your body changing
“It’s going to happen. Your body is going to change from carrying a baby, and it’s going to do so in ways that are unpredictable and entirely out of your control.”
3. Not loving the baby
“Look, the heart has no limits on the amount of love it can hold. I didn’t believe this, never having been much of a warm, fuzzy, baby-cuddling person pre-motherhood, but it’s true. There is no way you won’t love your baby, and in a sense, all this anxiety actually comes from a place of love because we want the best for our offspring at the expense of our own comfort and sanity.”
4. Having a flat belly
“No pregnant woman should ever, ever worry about the size or shape of her baby bump. I spent my whole non-gestating life ashamed that I just wasn’t built with a concave tummy, but when I was pregnant? I was supposed to look like this! Enjoy the brief time in your life when you are meant to be convex! No more sucking in! No more awful shapewear! Celebrate the roundness!”
5. Baby’s name
“Someone is always going to have something to say about whatever name is chosen or not chosen or how it’s spelled or how it’s pronounced. Pregnant moms need to let the name criticisms go. Ignore it all.”
6. Not going to yoga and eating conventional produce
“Forget about it. You’re not giving birth to the next Dalai Lama over here.”
7. That you’re too stressed out
“Perfectly healthy, well-adjusted babies are born in war zones, from rape, amid bombings, in slums the likes of which most of us can’t even imagine. Babies are safely sheltered in the womb. The human body and the human spirit are not so fragile.”
8. Creating the right registry
“No one needs a wipe warmer, diaper disposal system, baby food steamer, digital snot-sucker, baby butt fan (that is a real thing), negative ion generator, or infant chakra balancer. Trust me.”
9. The nursery
“Again, babies are simple creatures. They don’t really care if you chose light portrait pink paint over peach blossom bliss. They’re going to scream whenever you put them down regardless of which Pottery Barn Kids crib you picked out.”
10. College admissions
“The truth is that we don’t have as much control over these things as we’d like to imagine, and putting pressure on ourselves to create super, high-achieving sons and daughters does more harm than good. Relax. We can’t all go to the Ivy Leagues or college, period, for that matter. Worry about this stuff in 15 years. Your baby is going to be fine.”
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