September 9th 03, 06:56 PM
50 reasons it's good to be pregnant
1 Relishing the early weeks when only you and your partner know your special secret.
2 Knowing you've got nine whole months to plan, dream and fantasise.
3 Choosing maternity clothes — they've never been more practical or more sexy.
4 Now you've got the perfect excuse to pamper yourself — spending hours in a scented bath, enjoying
a massage or rubbing soothing lotions into your growing bump.
5 Maternity rights in the UK are getting better all the time. Now (from April 2003), new mothers get
six weeks on 90% of their pay, followed by 20 weeks at £100 per week. For those with more than a
year in service at work, there are an extra 26 weeks of unpaid leave available.
6 You can join an antenatal class and find a whole new bunch of friends
7 For once in your life you need to get heavier — pregnancy is Nature's way of making you feel good
about putting on weight.
8 If this is your first baby, enjoy the next nine months sleeping late at weekends -- you won't get
many chances later on.
9 At last you've got the bosom you've always wanted, which means you also have...
10 ...a great excuse to buy lots of pretty new bras.
11 From now on and until your baby is a year old, you can get free dental treatment — phone your
dentist now!
12 At last you'll have something more than potplants and cats to care for and nurture!
13 Suddenly you'll find you're getting lots of extra attention from parents, aunts and uncles -- not
to mention your partner.
14 You may find you develop a closer relationship with sisters, cousins or friends who are parents
themselves -- congratulations, you've just won free admission to the parents' club!
15 Telling your mum, dad, sister, brother, aunt, dog the good news and watching their faces light
up.
16 New talents! Whether it's knitting bootees or assembling a flat-pack cot, you'll suddenly find
yourself trying out all sorts of new skills.
17 Suddenly you'll feel a new appreciation for your own mother and all she went through having you.
18 Decorating the nursery -- one of the most exciting things you'll ever do.
19 Feeling those first fluttering kicks and thinking, 'Is that what I think it is? Or is it just
wind?'
20 Feeling OK for sending your partner out for chicken tikka masala followed by double-choc chip ice
cream.
21 Your parents digging out your old cot or pram, which they've kept safely all this time 'just in
case'.
22 Going for healthy walks with your partner and getting fresh air in your lungs because it's good
for you and good for your baby.
23 Enjoying the extra-vivid dreams you get in late pregnancy — and laughing about them with your
friends.
24 Feeling a little pair of heels prodding under your diaphragm and knowing you'll soon be meeting
the little person they belong to!
25 Choosing baby clothes — or just phoning round for all the catalogues, leafing through them and
planning what you're going to buy.
26 Writing a pregnancy diary for your baby to read one day.
27 Getting someone to take photos of you smiling over your enormous bump so that, one day, you can
look back and be amazed you were ever that size.
28 Finding out how many people there are out there, ready and to care for you -- doctors, nurses,
midwives, health visitors, breastfeeding counsellors...
29 Lying in bed with your partner's arms around you and your bump, knowing that love has created a
new life.
30 Enjoying indulgences, such as evenings out, weekends away and anything else you might not be able
to do so easily once the baby arrives.
31 Knowing that from now on, whatever happens, you'll never be bored again.
32 Making new friends whenever you go shopping — everyone has a pregnancy story to share.
33 You can spend whole evenings debating whether to call your baby Hermione or Cleopatra, Fritz or
Stanley...
34 Imagining what he or she will look like. Your sweet little ears, of course, and his sexy eyes!
35 Dreaming about, 'My daughter the prime minister/pop star/brain surgeon'.
36 Looking at your growing bump in the mirror and realising there's a person in there!
37 Making out a squirmy outline on the ultrasound monitor. Asking for the pic to take home and
pinning it up next to your work station, or just keeping it in your bag to sneak looks at.
38 The expression on your partner's face as he sees the test strip turn blue, looks at your growing
bump or feels the baby kicking.
39 Buying that first little cuddly toy for your baby, not somebody else's.
40 Making that phone call to your partner to tell him that — we're off! — labour has started.
41 Trying out all those exercises you learned at antenatal class and finding out that they actually
work!
42 Being held and supported throughout a contraction by your partner/midwife/labour companion and
knowing that you can trust them totally.
43 Finding out, as the contractions get tough, that your repertoire of swear words is far more
extensive than you ever realised!
44 Making an informed choice about pain relief and finding that it's right for you at that stage in
labour.
45 That huge rush of pleasure and relief when, suddenly, all the pain and effort stops.
46 Looking into your newborn's eyes and falling utterly in love.
47 Watching your partner kiss the midwife, the doctor, cleaning lady, delivery man and anyone else
he can find because his joy and pride are overwhelming.
48 Opening a bottle of bubbly to celebrate, whatever the time of day or night.
49 Making all those phone calls to announce the arrival. Telling everyone the news and hearing the
excitement in their voices.
50 Waking up to see your baby sleeping next to you and thinking, 'Wow! This is real. I'm a mum!'
1 Relishing the early weeks when only you and your partner know your special secret.
2 Knowing you've got nine whole months to plan, dream and fantasise.
3 Choosing maternity clothes — they've never been more practical or more sexy.
4 Now you've got the perfect excuse to pamper yourself — spending hours in a scented bath, enjoying
a massage or rubbing soothing lotions into your growing bump.
5 Maternity rights in the UK are getting better all the time. Now (from April 2003), new mothers get
six weeks on 90% of their pay, followed by 20 weeks at £100 per week. For those with more than a
year in service at work, there are an extra 26 weeks of unpaid leave available.
6 You can join an antenatal class and find a whole new bunch of friends
7 For once in your life you need to get heavier — pregnancy is Nature's way of making you feel good
about putting on weight.
8 If this is your first baby, enjoy the next nine months sleeping late at weekends -- you won't get
many chances later on.
9 At last you've got the bosom you've always wanted, which means you also have...
10 ...a great excuse to buy lots of pretty new bras.
11 From now on and until your baby is a year old, you can get free dental treatment — phone your
dentist now!
12 At last you'll have something more than potplants and cats to care for and nurture!
13 Suddenly you'll find you're getting lots of extra attention from parents, aunts and uncles -- not
to mention your partner.
14 You may find you develop a closer relationship with sisters, cousins or friends who are parents
themselves -- congratulations, you've just won free admission to the parents' club!
15 Telling your mum, dad, sister, brother, aunt, dog the good news and watching their faces light
up.
16 New talents! Whether it's knitting bootees or assembling a flat-pack cot, you'll suddenly find
yourself trying out all sorts of new skills.
17 Suddenly you'll feel a new appreciation for your own mother and all she went through having you.
18 Decorating the nursery -- one of the most exciting things you'll ever do.
19 Feeling those first fluttering kicks and thinking, 'Is that what I think it is? Or is it just
wind?'
20 Feeling OK for sending your partner out for chicken tikka masala followed by double-choc chip ice
cream.
21 Your parents digging out your old cot or pram, which they've kept safely all this time 'just in
case'.
22 Going for healthy walks with your partner and getting fresh air in your lungs because it's good
for you and good for your baby.
23 Enjoying the extra-vivid dreams you get in late pregnancy — and laughing about them with your
friends.
24 Feeling a little pair of heels prodding under your diaphragm and knowing you'll soon be meeting
the little person they belong to!
25 Choosing baby clothes — or just phoning round for all the catalogues, leafing through them and
planning what you're going to buy.
26 Writing a pregnancy diary for your baby to read one day.
27 Getting someone to take photos of you smiling over your enormous bump so that, one day, you can
look back and be amazed you were ever that size.
28 Finding out how many people there are out there, ready and to care for you -- doctors, nurses,
midwives, health visitors, breastfeeding counsellors...
29 Lying in bed with your partner's arms around you and your bump, knowing that love has created a
new life.
30 Enjoying indulgences, such as evenings out, weekends away and anything else you might not be able
to do so easily once the baby arrives.
31 Knowing that from now on, whatever happens, you'll never be bored again.
32 Making new friends whenever you go shopping — everyone has a pregnancy story to share.
33 You can spend whole evenings debating whether to call your baby Hermione or Cleopatra, Fritz or
Stanley...
34 Imagining what he or she will look like. Your sweet little ears, of course, and his sexy eyes!
35 Dreaming about, 'My daughter the prime minister/pop star/brain surgeon'.
36 Looking at your growing bump in the mirror and realising there's a person in there!
37 Making out a squirmy outline on the ultrasound monitor. Asking for the pic to take home and
pinning it up next to your work station, or just keeping it in your bag to sneak looks at.
38 The expression on your partner's face as he sees the test strip turn blue, looks at your growing
bump or feels the baby kicking.
39 Buying that first little cuddly toy for your baby, not somebody else's.
40 Making that phone call to your partner to tell him that — we're off! — labour has started.
41 Trying out all those exercises you learned at antenatal class and finding out that they actually
work!
42 Being held and supported throughout a contraction by your partner/midwife/labour companion and
knowing that you can trust them totally.
43 Finding out, as the contractions get tough, that your repertoire of swear words is far more
extensive than you ever realised!
44 Making an informed choice about pain relief and finding that it's right for you at that stage in
labour.
45 That huge rush of pleasure and relief when, suddenly, all the pain and effort stops.
46 Looking into your newborn's eyes and falling utterly in love.
47 Watching your partner kiss the midwife, the doctor, cleaning lady, delivery man and anyone else
he can find because his joy and pride are overwhelming.
48 Opening a bottle of bubbly to celebrate, whatever the time of day or night.
49 Making all those phone calls to announce the arrival. Telling everyone the news and hearing the
excitement in their voices.
50 Waking up to see your baby sleeping next to you and thinking, 'Wow! This is real. I'm a mum!'