Pregnancy is about Trust!

Being at peace while pregnant is like trusting in God. In fact, I’ve realized that I can’t do this without God.

You can’t see the physical body of God, nor can you audibly hear God (if you can please make sure that’s God speaking). You can’t see your baby unless you’re looking at a screen in your OB’s office and even then it’s a distorted view. You can’t see if your baby will have a birthmark that will cause her to overcome self-esteem issues or whether he has your husband’s head or not. All you can see is an image from a wand pressed a little too hard up against your pelvis.

Throughout my pregnancy, I’ve worried about my baby. Is it a girl and is she developing adequately? Is it a boy and does he have all the right chromosomes or too many? Not enough? I’ve heard stories and see people share their hearts about choosing life for their sick unborn babies. It’s all too much sometimes. But if you’re like me and you want to believe the best, here are a few tips that helped me:

1. Think the best: What you think in your mind eventually leads to what you say out of your mouth and believe in your heart. It may seem naive or childish to some people, but I believe that my pregnancy will be different. My baby will be healthy. My labor and delivery will be a breeze (really believing that one, stay tuned). No one can tell you what’s going to happen because every woman is different and so is every pregnancy. So when people wanna share their opinion, say thanks, but no thanks. You are the first line of defense for you and that precious life inside of you.

2. Tell people: I was scared to tell people I was pregnant because I didn’t want to jinx myself. I realized that by saying it out loud and believing it would be great was acting in faith. The more I said it the more I believed that this would be a wonderful journey that resulted in me giving birth to a healthy baby. The more we told people, the more they wanted to cover us in prayer and bless us. Telling people isn’t a jinx, it’s a way to celebrate the blessing of even being able to get pregnant.

3. Fast from social media: Fasting doesn’t always have to be choosing from abstaining from food for a period of time; it could include other things that serve as distractions or things that cause you to have doubt. The Gram was the enemy for me. There were plenty of lovely people sharing the bliss and struggles of pregnancy, but there were also plenty of stories about miscarriages and babies suffering in the womb. Don’t get me wrong, I obviously know these things happen, but remember, the goal is to believe the best for you and your child. Stay focused. Your little person can sense any anxiety you feel so if social media causes you anxiety or places a negative thought in your head or plants a seed of fear, get rid of it!

4. Read Pregnancy Devos and Prayers: Keeping your mind focused is such a difficult task. There’s so much to read about pregnancy and it can be overwhelming. I remember when I first found out I was pregnant, I would search for a reason why I was experiencing that symptom. I called the midwives all the time asking questions that seemed so silly because I had read something that I thought I might have developed. Instead, of flooding your mind with every Mommy Blog or Pregnancy app you come across, add some godly wisdom to your daily read. I love using the YouVersion Bible App to find pregnancy prayers that we have read over our baby. They are also fun to read with your husband and helps to bring you closer as a couple.

5. Be wise, but trust God: There are a plethora of things you will find that you can and cannot eat. Sometimes you can steer clear of them, but other times you may eat something that isn’t the best for you and baby because you didn’t know it was bad. When that happens, pray and trust that God is watching over your baby. Nobody is perfect and no you’re not a bad mother. Just to help (not cause you to feel guilty) click here for a list of things we cannot eat during pregnancy:

1. Nitrates & Nitrites because they’re carcinogens (often in pepperoni, bacon, sausage, salami, and deli meats)

2. Roasted Nuts (can cause nut allergy)-the label may not indicate whether or not the nuts have been roasted, but if it lists a type of oil, then they were more than likely roasted in that oil. For example Peanuts (sunflower oil). To be honest, almost every item that included nuts contained roasted nuts of some kind, so eventually, I gave in and had a PB & J because I was hungry gosh darn it!

3. Soft cheeses like ricotta and Brie unless you know they have been pasteurized

4. Shark, sushi, seaweed due to possible contaminants

5. Salmon in more than one to two meals per week to avoid too much mercury

Ovia & The Bump Pregnancy Apps have food finders to search for safe foods but always check with your doctor to know what’s safe for you to eat.

Above all else, enjoy this journey! If you’re currently pregnant and this post helped you, let me know in the comments!