Author: Kelly Rigotti

I’m going to try to stop moaning and whining for a few minutes, and be a little more positive. So here, in no particular order, are five reasons to love being nine months pregnant.

• Lovely, luscious locks and strong, healthy nails, that actually defy my attempts to bite them. I have nice, adult looking hands again… and even though it will all fall out after the baby’s born, my hair looks great!
• Maternity leave! Let’s hear it for not working! I stopped working 3.5 months before the baby’s due date…. and I won’t go back until a year after she’s born. There are many things to criticize about working in France, but this is *not* one of them.
• Daily naps. Never underestimate the power of an hour’s restorative sleep… especially when it makes up for the middle of the night insomnia!
• Being proud of my stomach. I wish I could always feel this positive about my body. I love the way I look (not feel- look) when I’m pregnant.
• The humbling experience of being open to new ideas. Each of my children’s pregnancies and births has given me a new opportunity to challenge myself and my assumptions. This time is no exception- I’m really learning a lot of things about having a hospital birth!

This post was originally entitled ‘Nine things to love about being nine months pregnant’- unfortunately my attempts at being positive didn’t stretch that far! But five reasons aren’t that bad… all things considering.

I went to the hospital again yesterday (aren’t you all getting tired of me starting my posts like that?) and had a blood pressure and baby monitoring. And, lo and behold, my blood pressure was lower than before I even got pregnant (10/6 + 11/7), and the baby is fine, fine, fine. Whatever was causing problems has gone away, and everything is normal.

As to the aches and pains complaints, the midwife on duty very helpfully suggested that ‘Madame, you could go into labor, and then everything would be all better’.

Hmmm. Never thought of that before- maybe I’ll have to try it!