Written at 10 weeks.

I saw a Facebook post this morning, while laying in bed with my terrible cold (happy new year, am I right?), that made me laugh out loud. A friend of mine with two little boys, similarly aged to mine – oldest is a bit younger than EK, youngest a bit younger than J – posted her resolution for 2015: no childbirth. She elaborated that after two consecutive unmedicated labors/deliveries, she wanted a pain-free year in which she could have more than one cocktail. And you know my reaction – directly after the laughter, that is? Total understanding and a little bit of jealousy. I will have had a baby in 2012, 2013, and 2015. I will have been pregnant or nursed most of the way through each of those years and also obviously 2014. That’s a long time of taking extra precautions because another living thing is quite literally depending on my health and habits. Not just that if I’m sick, I need to get well quickly. Not just that I need to be present and attentive. It’s literally growing a child in my womb, who relies on my every decision. It’s literally nourishing a child via the nourishment I provide for myself. That’s pretty heavy stuff.

But it’s also been good for me. I’ve led a healthier lifestyle in general – I’ve eaten more nutritiously and intentionally (food as fuel, know what I mean?). I’ve exercised, yes to lose my baby weight twice, but to be a healthy pregnant woman also. And having two little ones depending on me, not to mention a husband who depends on me (not in the same way, but he still does), has been the ultimate weighing factor in my decision-making. I need to be healthy, mentally and emotionally available, present and nurturing for those in my life counting on me. The best way for me to help others is to be my best self, my healthiest self.

Has anyone else had a few busy years here, creating and nurturing lives? I know I’ve got a few friends who can relate to a few years in a row of eating extra greens and drinking less alcohol/caffeine. Did you change your lifestyle? How? Do you have tips, or best practices to share?