Most of us who've endured pregnancy can probably agree that despite the challenges, it's ultimately worth it. Yes, while having a child certainly beats having what would have been an extra 40 weeks of my life when I wasn't tired, nauseous, and expanding like the girl in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory who turns into a giant blueberry (Violet Beauregarde, my pregnancy patronus), nature does throw us a bone by adding a few perks to the entire process. In fact, a number of moms were happy to reveal the best thing about being pregnant. Spoiler alert: many of them involved food.
On a personal note, my own favorite thing was voiced below by Marcie. And actually, my second and third favorite things were touched on by a few different women, too. But my fourth favorite favorite thing about pregnancy? Yeah, that wasn't mentioned. My fourth favorite thing about pregnancy is the fact that being pregnant makes me feel connected to Dirty Dancing (the original 1987 version, obviously) in a whole new way. No, not because there's a character named Baby, or a key plot point involving a pregnancy. Nope, now, on a regular basis, I too am walking around in super high-waisted pants like Patrick Swayze/Johnny Castle, just like these:
I'm sure there's some sort of "dancing with Baby" metaphor to be articulated, but as a woman in her third trimester I'm in no condition to think it through and find it. Thankfully, a number of other moms who are in better mental shape than me were able to speak to some, perhaps, more important and positive side effects of carrying a baby (not a watermelon):
Courtney
"Food tastes so good."
Marissa
"Feeling the baby move around. It is so cool to see them rolling around and feel them switching things up in there."
Lindsay
"Not having my period!"
Jodi
"Um, the attention. The congrats all around, people being a little nicer, helping me with things (whether I need it or not) is all kinda fun."
Jamie
"The part when you give birth and stop being pregnant. That's the best."
Julie
"I loved the special bond I had with my baby in utero. With my oldest, she and I would play together. I would poke at her, and she would poke back. Endless entertainment in boring office meetings."
Kate
"Being able to eat dairy. As soon as my daughter was born my dairy intolerance returned. Oh, the ice cream.
And feeling her move. I loved that, too."
Tracy
"Without a doubt the baby rolls and kicks from inside. Gah! I miss those so much."
Kim
"Eating carbs, guilt free."
Rachel
"I felt so beautiful and glow-y for the whole second half of pregnancy both times. Really feminine and in a way I don't feel in my usual non-pregnant state. Oh, and enormous boobs."
Shannon
"Having those private moments with the baby. It's like you two get to have your own moments that no one else in the world knows about. I'd go to a work meeting after eating a blueberry muffin and just enjoy as the baby would jump around inside me thinking that no one else understood what was happening at that moment."
Emily
"The unwritten possibilities that you can still dream about. Before the nipple bleeding, pooping, lack of sleep, anxieties really kick in."
