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Nine Months & The Power of The Female Body

Writer's picture: Juliana MarieJuliana Marie

Updated: Dec 26, 2022

As with my last blog, I would like to start with a little back story. You see, when I would encounter a pregnant woman I always had the same two thoughts; one being “I will never stop being in awe of the ability of the female body to grow a human” and two, “Wow, that definitely does not look comfortable.“ Lets be real ladies, the nine months of pregnancy is a beautifully challenging yet transformative experience as it requires letting go and settling into the flow of the needs of your body and developing baby.


At 37 and pregnant I felt a little unease about the upcoming nine months; weight gain, possible stretch marks, digestive woes, and hormonal surges to emotional instability to name a few. Having experienced many years of digestive issues and overcoming them through natural health, intuition and self-love, I feared a flare-up while pregnant. In addition, knowing my body was about to put on weight (although healthy) had me feeling a little unsettled in my skin, to be honest.

Even if a woman has cultivated a healthy relationship with food and her body, knowing that the body will soon be changing each month (and not knowing in which ways) can feel scary. We can acquire knowledge of pregnancy and potential symptoms we might experience, yet no one can be fully prepared. It is the art of presence, kindness, self-love, and inner-listening that will guide and help you manage the nine months. To live is to teach and to teach is to learn and so, I utilized the vast tools in my toolbox including nutrition, mindfulness, exercise, meditation and affirmations to light my way symptom by symptom. First trimester was filled with persistent nausea, insomnia and a one way ticket to bloat city. You know that feeling of being so bloated that the mind distorts the actual size of your belly? Thinking my belly was visibly pregnant at this stage was quite humorous (in hindsight). I relied on ginger chews and nutritious carbs to help ease the nausea in addition to over doing it on my one crave, lamb tacos! Also, being very in tune with my body, I was able to know and feel when a hormonal surge was coming on, and with that brought on an unknown feeling of anxiety that lasted to the very end of my pregnancy. I would find myself with random thoughts such as “What if something happens to me and I will not be able to see my baby grow?” Hormones are potent chemical messengers and the vast shift in hormones was for sure wild.


Second trimester aka the “honeymoon trimester” was definitely still a challenge yet it was also coupled with a few beautiful moments. At 12 weeks I found out the gender (a girl!) and at 17 weeks I felt my baby’s first moment, which felt flutter-like. Feeling my baby move was one of the best and most unforgettable experiences. For myself, that is when being pregnant became more real since my belly still had not “popped.” The nausea lasted until the end of second trimester and by then I was a full on insomniac, and that definitely was not helping pregnancy brain. Walking into a room in a daze and not remembering what I went in for to placing items in the wrong location (chips in the fridge…I will have a side of chilled chips with salsa please). By week 24 I began to look pregnant and received less side ways looks from strangers, “Is she pregnant?”


By third trimester I was loving being pregnant despite a few symptoms. I was finally enjoying solid night’s sleep with the aide of a pregnancy pillow that I still use (great investment!). I was able to resume eating pre-pregnancy foods I enjoyed without any aversions. And, I was loving the daily kung-fu kicks in my belly along with having my baby with me 24/7. The challenges of third trimester included constipation as the baby was taking up full capacity in my belly and my intestines were pushed around in every which way, fatigue as if I had just run a marathon, and lower extremity swelling that was up to my knees by the evening. The only shoes that fit were my slippers and I wore those things unabashedly daily. The lower extremity swelling I experienced placed me at high risk for developing pre-eclampsia which thankfully I did not develop.

If you were to ask me if I would do it all over again my answer would be YES without any hesitation. There was a newfound sense of confidence and freedom that came along with being pregnant, in addition to stronger, more clearer intuition. Leaning into acceptance of the weight on the scale with each OB appointment was liberating. The female body is a sacred vessel and we are made to have children. Seriously, if men had to endure nine months of pregnancy and go through labor, we would be population zero.

Wherever you are on your pregnancy journey do your best to savor every minute, see every symptom as an honor for being able to grow a human, and most importantly love yourself every step of the way. You are made for this!

~Juliana


P.S….stay around for the next post on labor, which is truly a mindset.


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