MATERNITY MATTERS
THE DEFINITIVE PREGNANCY SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR WORKING WOMEN.
Woman gets married. Woman and man live happily together. They go out. Watch movies. Eat nice meals. Meet friends. Wake up together. Go to work. Come back. Cook dinner. Meet the parents on weekends. Then woman takes a pregnancy test. It is positive. Life changes forever.
Pregnancy is without a doubt, THE most fantastic ride a woman will ever take. I would be pregnant forever if I could — it’s just that I don’t want any more babies! I have never felt more ‘one’ with anyone than I did when my babies were growing inside me. I have never felt more powerful. I have never felt more supreme; Goddess- like. However, Pregnancy also comes with its fair share of emotional and physical stress. From keeping up with the daily changes in your body to trying to figure out the source of constant emotional turbulence is a full time job in its own right. If you add that to your actual full-time job, your hands are well and truly full.
When people see a bump on you, they feel it is their duty to guide, advise and protect you; irrespective of whether you ask for it or not. In doing this, all those people are discounting your already there and pretty potent— mother’s instinct. The minute you conceive your child, you become a mother. Motherhood does not begin with physically holding your child, but by holding them in your heart, by making every decision with them in mind. One of the major struggles that women today have when they are pregnant is about their work lives. Some get pressure from home to quit, some feel they should resign so they can focus more on the home and baby-to-be front and others worry about losing momentum in their work lives because of their pregnancies.
If you choose to continue to work during your pregnancy, remember that it is perfectly normal to do so. I have multiple clients who have worked right up till their labour started and then drove themselves to the hospital as well! Just remember to listen to your body and those messages from your gut which we call ‘mother’s instinct’.
Following simple tips in your daily routine can ensure that you enjoy a healthy and stress free pregnancy while maintaining your career aspirations too. For instance something as easy as carrying healthy snacks to work can do wonders during the big nine months. This is because there is a strong connection between the mind and the body — if one is not taken care of, the other is bound to suffer for sure.
When you are pregnant, it is extremely important to eat right especially if you are extra active and have a job as well. Just because you are at work, doesn’t mean you can’t eat nutritiously. Carry small containers of nuts, fruit yoghurt or smoothies, fruit, cheese and crackers, fresh vegetables and juices. Keep nibbling every two hours to keep your energy levels up. Eating right also helps to keep your mood balanced.
Remember, you CAN have it all as a working mom but if you continue to have a career even once your baby is born, it just gets tougher to balance it all out and keep your sanity.
I juggle the balls of kids, work, home, husband and parents every single day but I’ve realised over the years that the main ball to keep in the air, is the one that holds my own health in place. The days that I am mentally or physically exhausted are the days where all the balls crash to the ground. As I said, you become a mother from the minute you conceive a child. And then you become the centre of the universe. When you shine, it will reflect on the whole universe.