Preggo/Mom Series: View Along The Way

So I can enjoy some time with Owen and get acclimated to life with a newborn, I asked some of my blog buddies to play along and answer 10 hard-hitting questions about pregnancy and motherhood.

Today, the delightful Kelly from View Along the Way is sharing her experiences and insights.

What did you enjoy about being pregnant?
I was working a corporate job while pregnant, and if you’d been sitting in a meeting with me, at some point you might have noticed me get this random unexplained smile on my face when clearly there was nothing funny happening. It was just my tiny babe, doing little flip flops inside me and making me get heart-melty at inappropriate times. Nothing is better than the feeling of your baby moving!

That’s just one of four point six million things I loved about being pregnant. Strangers seemed to get so much joy out of my mere existence just based on the fact that I was growing a human. They’d smile hugely and ask me all sorts of things about the baby, or actually get up and let me sit down when seating was limited. Sweeeet.

What did you NOT enjoy about being pregnant?
This is super weird and I’ve never heard of anyone else saying this happened to them, but I would get the oddest burning feet sensations while pregnant. My feet would feel ON FIRE and, on a regular basis, my husband Andy would be required to produce bowls of ice water for my feet. I’d stick them in the ice water and you could almost hear the sizzling. The ice melted instantly. It was the strangest thing. I think it’s related to a vitamin deficiency, although I was a super diligent taker-of-my-prenatals. Pregnancy is weird.

What did you miss most during your pregnancy/pregnancies (booze, sushi, lifting heavy objects, being able to fit into tight spaces, etc.)?
Oh this is easy: I could not WAIT for the day when I could finally sleep on my stomach again. The first night we were home from the hospital after my first baby was born, I was flat out on my stomach and refused to move. One more thing: I missed feeling like I could eat irresponsibly and only affect myself. I nursed my firstborn until I found out I was pregnant with my second, then nursed my second for a long time, so I was actually pregnant or nursing for more than four years straight. I couldn’t wait for my body and my eating choices to only affect me, and not my tiny babes.

Any interesting pregnancy cravings?
OMG PIZZA. I wrote a whole blog post about this inappropriate late-night rendezvous I had with an entire pizza that left me feeling used and heartbroken.

Any interesting pregnancy aversions?
Bikinis.

If you weren’t married to your spouse and could choose one celebrity to father your children, who would that be and why?
Jim from The Office? Not the actor, the character. Is that weird-and-also-oddly-dated? And also super-impossible? I know, sorry. Am I choosing the celebrity based on the characteristics he’d pass down to my children, or the quality of father he’d be, or the, um, act of fathering? I should probably just say that I’m very happy to be married to the man I am. 🙂

What are the three baby products you couldn’t live without?
1. Cloth diapers. We LOVED them and they’re so much easier and not-gross than you’d expect. (This is my Cloth Diapering 101 post if you want to learn more about that!)
2. Baby Trend Snap n Go Stroller. There is absolutely no need for a bulky travel system. This stroller is where it’s AT. You just snap the carseat right in there. It’s lightweight, folds up small and fits easily in the back seat of your car.
3. Colic Calm: it’s an all-natural remedy for gassy babies or upset tummies and it is absolutely magical. It works instantly, and has none of the chemicals in other gripe water.

What’s one thing you didn’t know about babies before you had your own?
The cheeseball answer: just how much joy they create in you. I remember holding my first newborn baby and rocking him in the wee hours of the night, just a couple days after he was born, tears flowing down my face and just feeling completely overwhelmed by how much I loved him, and by the realization that I now had so much to lose.

The gross answer: how sweet their poo smells when they’re completely breastfed. #WeirdButTrue #YouAsked.

If I offered to care for your child/children for 48 hours what would do, where would you go, etc.?
Okay sure! Come on over!
Or was that hypothetical?
I would sleeeeep. I would stay in bed and sleep until I absolutely could not anymore, then I’d get up and go shopping, get a massage, go to fancy restaurants and not have to be anywhere by naptime. I’d play volleyball outside. I’d stay out past bedtime. Repeat.

Any sage mom advice you’d like to share?
For the preggos: spend your first trimester soaking up the fact that you’re pregnant, reading all the BabyCenter emails about how big your little bean is this week and thinking about the fun pregnancy stuff. Spend your second trimester planning for labor. And I mean really, really prepping: by learning what happens to your body during childbirth and how to be most prepared. (This was my experience.) Spend your third trimester educating yourself on what it will be like to have a newborn. How will you parent? Will you let them cry-it-out? Will you cosleep? What do newborns need, what are they like? Read different opinions and take what fits your family. Don’t just do what your friends do.

In other words: prepare yourself! Everything is about to change and it’s magical, glorious, exhausting and the most wild, wonderful ride you’ll ever experience.

Congrats, Chelsea! Now go get some sleep, mama!

You can find Kelly here:

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