Thoughts on Preparing for Motherhood

I’m currently 38 weeks pregnant…. and very ready for this little guy to come! I kind of meant to blog more about this season, but oh well, here we are! I fluctuate at times between being very excited and slightly panicked… I’m going to have a little person to take care of and raise!!!!! It’s scary, humbling, but oh SO amazing! I am so thankful for this blessing, and for my wonderful husband who’s doing this with me!  

 

Preparing for motherhood is much more than scrapbooking your pregnancy (although that was fun). It's also a lot more than putting the car seat in the car or setting up the baby's bed (all very exciting stuff!). In some ways I have been preparing for this my whole life. If you’d asked me when I was 8, 13, 16 what I wanted to be when I got older I would have said “A mommy!” (This involved getting married first of course! My first dream came true in the form of my husband Mike, and the second is coming true very soon!) I spent several years as a teen and young adult working as a mother’s helper, teaching a kindergarten class at church, working with youth group and babysitting a ton. So, I certainly didn’t lack experience with children and babies. I came across this book recently that I’d saved from when I was younger because it’s what I earnestly dreamed for.  

 My mom, having been a great mom to me, has been very instrumental in who I am and how I am approaching motherhood myself. I am blessed to have had a great mom who I want to be like (for the most part anyway) and have learned so much from. Also, having an older sister who has four kids has been immensely helpful as I’ve walked through pregnancy and preparing for motherhood. She is not only one of my best friends but an amazing example as a wife and mother, and I am so grateful! Pictured with me below at a baby shower last month is my mom, my sister and my sister’s two daughters (I was 35 weeks there).

I’ve read a number of books so far in regards to pregnancy, birth and parenting. The main ones (all very helpful) were: Mama Natural Guide to Pregnancy & Childbirth (by Genevieve Howland), Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (by Ida May Gaskin), Baby Wise (by Gary Ezzo – focuses a lot on sleep training, we’re going to try it and we’ll see how it goes!), The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, and Parenting (by Paul Tripp).

I’ll (hopefully) be giving birth at a birth center about 35 minutes from our home. There we were also required to take three classes: Breastfeeding, Childbirth, and First Days At Home. There was a lot of content that I already knew from my personal reading, but good review and questions/answers. I feel very blessed to be so educated about how to take care of myself and my baby… many women don’t have the same support or experiences or don’t take the extra time to learn.

Preparing for motherhood is a journey… one that you can never fully prepare for, you can just do your best. As I’ve read and learned I’ve been remind of how much I need JESUS to be a good mom. I am going to make mistakes, disappoint my children and even sin against them. How thankful I am for God’s grace that will continue to teach and grow me as I seek to be a mom who raises her children well. I pray for the humility, wisdom, patience and the grace that’s going to be needed every single day.

I am looking forward to this new adventure and sharing news of our little one’s arrival with you in the near future! 

                                                       (with my husband at 37 weeks)