When I got pregnant, everyone who looked at me said, “Oh, you had such a smooth pregnancy!” And the funny part is, it was anything but smooth.
From the first trimester, we found out that I had a short cervix, so they told me to go on bed rest for a couple of weeks. After that, by the third trimester, I had severe pregnancy acne and something called cholestasis — things I had to Google, which is all about jaundice.
They had told us that we would have to induce the baby early, and if that didn’t happen, there could be fetal distress. Every hospital visit, I would always wonder, “What is this report card going to look like? What are we going to find out?”
But the funny part is, no matter what happened during those hospital visits, every time we stepped in, there was so much peace and so much joy. And yes, in spite of everything, it really was a smooth pregnancy because not once did God leave our side. Every time we were in the hospital room, both Nestin and I laughed so much.
I remember there was always a fear about the baby’s weight. Our baby’s weight was always less compared to what it was supposed to be for that week. I was so fearful the day before, thinking, “Oh my God, I’m going to go, and they’re going to tell me that the baby’s weight is low.”
And then, on the day, I’d go inside the scan room, get the scan done, and find out that the baby’s weight was low. But I’d come out laughing! My husband would ask, “Oh, so is this weight okay?” And I’d be like, “No, it’s less than it should be!” But it was just that every moment, God gave us so much grace and joy.
In spite of a pregnancy where there was so much bed rest, so many body image issues because I looked at my neck and chest with the acne and thought, “I’ve never seen something like that happen to my body before,” and even with the cholestasis, the one thing it did was make me restrict myself from foods I loved. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love food!
But in spite of it all, it was such a smooth pregnancy because of God, and only because of Him.
We have a perfect baby, and we have a perfect God. And I will never forget how smooth a pregnancy it was, in spite of it all.
