In light of my recent post about growing older and wiser, I was thinking of the lessons I’ve learned over the years and how I would have done things differently in the past if I had known then what I know now. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20. But to clarify, this is not a post about regret because dwelling on the past only gets you on the road to nowhere! I’m just hoping that by sharing what I’ve learned, it may help and encourage others.
So, to start off, here’s “what I would’ve done differently” (hence the acronym WIWDD) prior to and during my first pregnancy (only the first because by the second time I did do things differently).
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| E loved C from the very beginning! |
I would have been…
~ More health conscious. I would definitely have switched to natural and/or organic foods and natural beauty and household products even before conceiving. I didn’t totally grasp the idea that input = output, meaning what I was putting into my body was being used to form a human being. I’ve heard several times since then that firstborns usually have more skin problems because of all the toxins in the mom’s body. I don’t know if this is true, but E has had eczema practically since birth (vs. C who has great skin).
~ More active. I would have exercised more, especially with weights. I did run once a week until the second semester of pregnancy and then switched to swimming for the rest of the time, but I wish I had built up my upper body strength more. I never knew carrying around a 10 lb baby day and night could be so tiring! I remember feeling so sore in my arms that I couldn’t sleep at night (yes, I was a weakling!). Since then I have developed strong “mommy arms” and can carry 50 lbs (the equivalent of 2 kids two years ago) without a problem.
~ More relaxed. I would have taken more time to relax and do fun stuff! Up until a week before birth, I was working two part time jobs and prior to that, I had just finished my master’s degree (which took 5 years). I wish I had known that after the baby came, there would no longer be any “me time” for a long while. It would have been nice to have taken some art classes (the pottery scene from the movie “Ghost” comes to mind, haha) or traveled more.
With all that said, something I would not have changed during my pregnancies was my commitment to keeping a journal. I wrote about everything, from my cravings, aches and pains, to how the baby liked to kick and roll and finally, the labor and delivery. These memories have been included in the kids’ scrapbooks and we all love looking through them.
Here’s Rachel Aldous’ sweet song, “A Mother’s Prayer“.
