Shop My Look: I’ve included maternity and non-maternity versions
I cannot believe I’m sharing my final pregnancy blog post (this was supposed to go live the day we had Scarlett, but the night before I gave birth I was in too much pain to finish scheduling it). Scarlett has been here for 2.5 months and it’s crazy how fast time is flying. Pregnancy was a huge blessing and a dream come true for Jake and I. We found out on September 6th that we were expecting, and my whole life changed for the better the moment I saw the positive pregnancy test. When Jake and I first started dating, we knew our relationship was something special and that we would be getting married someday. They say when you find the one you know and that’s exactly how we felt. We started to talk about marriage early on and talked about having a family from the start. We’ve talked about our future kids for the past 9 years and now we’re finally living our dream. To be honest, I LOVED being pregnant, but I don’t really miss it. I always hear that you’ll miss your bump but I haven’t yet. Although I’m sleep deprived and don’t get much free time, being a mama is the biggest blessing ever and I much prefer life now. I don’t remember life before Scarlett came and it’s so much sweeter.
Pregnancy was truly a special time in my life and taught me a lot about myself personally. I feel truly blessed to have got to experience this time and will never take the experience for granted. It was also such a sweet time for Jake and I’s relationship. We grew a lot during these past 9 months as a couple and I learned a lot about myself. I wanted to reflect on my pregnancy and share some life lessons that it taught me.
3 Life Lessons That Pregnancy Taught Me
- God’s Perfect Timing: In my pregnancy announcement blog post, I opened up about when I finally made up my mind I was ready to get pregnant, I selfishly wanted it to happen immediately instead of trusting God’s perfect timing. While it didn’t take us long in the scheme of things, it didn’t happen immediately either (it took us about 6 months). I became anxious and God has used times of anxiety to show me that He is in control. After finally realizing God’s plan is better than mine, I was at peace and was able to enjoy every moment during this time. You can read more about my story of being taught his perfect timing here. After meeting Scarlett, it’s truly amazing to think that, out of the trillions of babies we could’ve been blessed with, God picked her.
- Patience/All Good Things Are Worth The Wait: To go along with God’s perfect timing, God has taught me a lot about patience as we waited 9 months to meet Scarlett. This is still true with motherhood too, I’ve really learned a lot about patience and priorities. Pregnancy flew by, but it also feels like I was pregnant forever. Especially in the last couple of weeks (they were the slowest) and the actual birth process, I was reminded that all good things are worth the wait.
- Embrace My Body/Change: The woman’s body is truly amazing. Pregnancy really empowered me to love my body (if you saw this post on my milk bath photoshoot, I never in a million years thought I would do that, but I honestly never felt more beautiful than when I was pregnant). Growing up I had a lot of self-image issues with my body. My word for 2020 was “embrace”, and pregnancy truly taught me to embrace my body. Postpartum has been a little hard seeing my body change from what it was before. Although I’m pretty much back to my pre-pregnancy weight, my body looks completely different: my stomach isn’t the same and I have stretch marks on my breasts. It is 100% worth it and I’m learning to embrace my body and be proud of the miracle it performed. I keep reminding myself of it took 9 months to get there, so I shouldn’t expect it to go back in 2.5 months.
Thank you so much for reading! My plan is to share one blog post a week (either Monday or Thursday). I’ve had to give myself a lot of grace as I’ve learned to navigate this time and eventually will get back to my normal 2 posts. Some weeks I may have 2, but I’m really soaking up this time with Scarlett and learning not to overextend myself.
I’m glad you learned so much!!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
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Thanks, Jennifer.
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Thank you 🙂
Aww I love this Courtney! I can already see each of your three lessons in my own life. These photos are some of my favorite of you too! Beautiful to reflect back on that precious time.
Katherine | http://www.oneswainkycouple.com
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Aw thank you so much, Katherine! It’s such a special time, enjoy 🙂
Embracing the changes in your body is super important! You look absolutely gorgeous 😘
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Aw thanks, Ashh 🙂
You looked so beautiful pregnant and of course now, too!
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You’re so sweet! Thank you.
Hi Courtney, believe me, time does go so fast (too fast) when there is a new baby in the house! Its great you both had firm plans to have a family early on. God knows better than us when we should become pregnant and it was when you were meant to concieve in this year 2020! Patience is always a challenge for us human beings, but after 9 months the wait is worth it. Please don’t worry about posts! When you have time you will get them published , enjoy these precious times as a family! Have a lovely day, Terri xo.
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It really does, I blinked and now Scarlett is 3 months. God always has a plan that’s better than our even if we don’t realize it immediately. Thank you so much, Terri! I am taking it slow right now and doing what I can on here. 🙂
I’ve really enjoyed following your pregnancy journey, Courtney, and I am so glad you’ve shared it with us. I really love this line – “I keep reminding myself of it took 9 months to get there, so I shouldn’t expect it to go back in 2.5 months.” That is such a perfect reminder to think about! I love it!
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Aw thank you, Lindsey! It’s hard when your body takes time to recover, but it’s important to give yourself grace.
Aw love what you wrote! It really is amazing that our bodies can grow one!!
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Thanks, Jenna 🙂