I posted this in 3rd tri and then thought people in this part of the forum might like it. Tell me to shut up if you like.
Pregnancy is amazing. I love being pregnant.
The physical state of pregnancy offers so many things to enjoy and be in awe of. I wonder at the fact that this baby, this amazing, unique person, grew from microscopic cells and is a combination of me and my partner. I adore feeling her move inside of me, it is the closest bond I've ever had with another human being.
Pregnancy also offers women a renewed faith in their body. Seemingly outside of anything I have done, my body has housed and nourished my beloved child. A pregnant woman is beautiful. I feel more beautiful and natural than ever before.
Emotionally, pregnancy can be amazingly empowering. Pregnancy brings challenges in every sense - physically, emotionally and spiritually. Dealing with these challenges and facing the transition into motherhood reveals a far wiser woman. I know I will never be the same person I was - and that is a good thing.
When a woman is pregnant, all her personal relationships come into focus. There is an assessment of safety - of who we feel safe with. A spotlight is shone onto the relationship with your own mother and you temporarily and psychologically regress back to your own childhood, in an attempt to empathise with your child and in a determination to not repeat the mistakes your mother made. This process can be tremendously cleansing.
Ultimately pregnancy forces women to prepare psychologically for the biggest feat their body has ever faced - birthing of the child. There is courage shown by every woman approaching birth and following birth a woman is never the same again: she has something extra, something beautiful within herself.
The complications of pregnancy produce and reveal women of stamina and inherent strength. The situation forces a woman to show coping skills she never knew she had.
In a spiritual sense, pregnancy and birth connects us with all the women who have ever lived and birthed a child. We become the archetypal mother, we are the mother goddess in all of her forms. We become a channel for life to enter this physical world. It is a rite of passage. You become "Mother".
I believe our children choose us to be their parents. They leave their spiritual state in order to be in a physical body once again. This process causes spiritual changes in the pregnant woman; you have inside of you a being who is newly reborn into the physical, who is still close to the spirit world and the healing and renewal they received there. This means that your spiritual awareness may increase in pregnancy. It is not unknown for women to find that they are more psychically aware (reflected in dreams and increased intuition) and they may even see spirit beings during their pregnancy.
As a pregnant woman I am also connected deeply to my ancestors. Inside of me my child already has the cells which will give birth to future generations. Inside of my child are the influences of the past.
I can see ever more clearly my connection to all of nature. "Mother Earth" has her cycles in the seasons and these are reflected in my pregnancy. In the darkness and stillness of winter and deep in her belly (the ground) life begins to grow. In spring the seeds which were planted start to grow - just like in the early days of my pregnancy when my belly started to show. At summer when the sun is at its strongest and the land at its most fertile my belly is full and round - almost ready for the harvest - when my child comes from me and is finally birthed. Ultimately, spirituality and nature teach us that all which is birthed will eventually face death, with the hope of rebirth.
Another symbol of the Mother Goddess is the moon at its fullest. From her maiden phase (when the moon is a crescent and is waxing) the Goddess, and therefore women, progress naturally to be "Mother". The full moon is a symbol of the full pregnant belly of the mother and all the potential she holds. As she ages a woman becomes the old lady (or "crone") symbolised by the waning cresent and new dark moon. As the moon starts a new cycle, so do we.
Pregnancy is an amazing blessing to those who are able to experience it. I will always remember mine with awe and reverence.
Dawn
Pregnancy is amazing. I love being pregnant.
The physical state of pregnancy offers so many things to enjoy and be in awe of. I wonder at the fact that this baby, this amazing, unique person, grew from microscopic cells and is a combination of me and my partner. I adore feeling her move inside of me, it is the closest bond I've ever had with another human being.
Pregnancy also offers women a renewed faith in their body. Seemingly outside of anything I have done, my body has housed and nourished my beloved child. A pregnant woman is beautiful. I feel more beautiful and natural than ever before.
Emotionally, pregnancy can be amazingly empowering. Pregnancy brings challenges in every sense - physically, emotionally and spiritually. Dealing with these challenges and facing the transition into motherhood reveals a far wiser woman. I know I will never be the same person I was - and that is a good thing.
When a woman is pregnant, all her personal relationships come into focus. There is an assessment of safety - of who we feel safe with. A spotlight is shone onto the relationship with your own mother and you temporarily and psychologically regress back to your own childhood, in an attempt to empathise with your child and in a determination to not repeat the mistakes your mother made. This process can be tremendously cleansing.
Ultimately pregnancy forces women to prepare psychologically for the biggest feat their body has ever faced - birthing of the child. There is courage shown by every woman approaching birth and following birth a woman is never the same again: she has something extra, something beautiful within herself.
The complications of pregnancy produce and reveal women of stamina and inherent strength. The situation forces a woman to show coping skills she never knew she had.
In a spiritual sense, pregnancy and birth connects us with all the women who have ever lived and birthed a child. We become the archetypal mother, we are the mother goddess in all of her forms. We become a channel for life to enter this physical world. It is a rite of passage. You become "Mother".
I believe our children choose us to be their parents. They leave their spiritual state in order to be in a physical body once again. This process causes spiritual changes in the pregnant woman; you have inside of you a being who is newly reborn into the physical, who is still close to the spirit world and the healing and renewal they received there. This means that your spiritual awareness may increase in pregnancy. It is not unknown for women to find that they are more psychically aware (reflected in dreams and increased intuition) and they may even see spirit beings during their pregnancy.
As a pregnant woman I am also connected deeply to my ancestors. Inside of me my child already has the cells which will give birth to future generations. Inside of my child are the influences of the past.
I can see ever more clearly my connection to all of nature. "Mother Earth" has her cycles in the seasons and these are reflected in my pregnancy. In the darkness and stillness of winter and deep in her belly (the ground) life begins to grow. In spring the seeds which were planted start to grow - just like in the early days of my pregnancy when my belly started to show. At summer when the sun is at its strongest and the land at its most fertile my belly is full and round - almost ready for the harvest - when my child comes from me and is finally birthed. Ultimately, spirituality and nature teach us that all which is birthed will eventually face death, with the hope of rebirth.
Another symbol of the Mother Goddess is the moon at its fullest. From her maiden phase (when the moon is a crescent and is waxing) the Goddess, and therefore women, progress naturally to be "Mother". The full moon is a symbol of the full pregnant belly of the mother and all the potential she holds. As she ages a woman becomes the old lady (or "crone") symbolised by the waning cresent and new dark moon. As the moon starts a new cycle, so do we.
Pregnancy is an amazing blessing to those who are able to experience it. I will always remember mine with awe and reverence.
Dawn
