Inside: By this point you are very clear on what pregnancy “feels like.” You are already preparing for postpartum, but it just seems like every day lasts a million years. Here’s what you need to remember when you feel like you’ll be pregnant forever and can’t stand one more minute.

I laid down on the bed crying. Sobbing. Ugly crying, really. I was feeling exhaustion, self-pity, and an all around sense that I was going to die of misery before I ever gave birth.

I could barely move, eat, sleep or think about anything other than the apparently false contractions I was having and whether labor would ever actually happen.

“Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God. Isaiah 66:9″

Well, labor did come. And it came 5 times. And now the kids are a bit older and I can’t believe how fast the time has flown.

Words to Remember When You Feel Like You’ll Be Pregnant Forever

When you feel like you can’t go on and you want to rage and cry and eat all the pineapples and walk for 5 miles and whatever else, remember these things.

An Hour Is Like a Day, But After…

Every hour of life those last few weeks feel like entire days. Everything is in slow motion and even the smallest thing like cooking a meal or doing the dishes feels like a huge chore. A strain. That one straw that’s about to break the camel’s back. But take heart…

After you have your baby in your arms, time goes back to normal. In fact it speeds up. Just as slow as those final days feel, the postpartum days go by quicker than you can possibly imagine. It feels like an eternity between now and then, it’ll be here before you know it.

Read: Why I don’t weigh myself during pregnancy and why you shouldn’t either

Your Body Was Made To Do This…

Whether or not you think your body is revolting against you, turning weird colors, and causing things to grow or shrink… your body was made to do this. One of the female body’s primary functions is to grow and nurture life. Though everything feels Large and Swollen and you can’t remember what life was like when you fit into real clothes, your body is doing it. It’s doing the exact right thing.

Read: How my 3 year old daughter caused my water to break 

Giving Birth Is Better Than Being Pregnant… Focus

If you are a first time mom, you may find this hard to believe. But believe it, by the time you are ready to push it’s nearly over. The labor is pain and discomfort with a purpose. If you start to feel stir crazy and Over It, do some relaxation exercises. Practice your preferred birthing position or do some stretches.

After birth, you’ll be amazed how wrecked your core is and how loose and wobbly all your leg muscles are. Even though you’ve been carrying around all that extra weight! Do something physical that helps you feel as though you’re preparing for labor. It’ll give you focus and take your mind off the present discomfort.

Read: What’s the difference between a midwife and a doctor? 

You Are Beautiful, But You Can’t Feel It

Every time I’m pregnant I feel ugly, huge, and gross. The physical feeling is too strong for me to even believe my husband’s kind words about how I look. He says, rightly so, that pregnancy is a special time so how you look now is outside of comparison. When a woman is carrying a child she’s fuller, rounder, softer, and – well – bigger. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t beautiful. There is something inherently beautiful about being pregnant.

Read: Pregnancy Fitness: Your Ultimate Resource Guide

Women love seeing other pregnant women and men do as well. I remember many many times throughout my pregnancies, having men (dads themselves, clearly) give me sympathetic and encouraging smiles. Their smiles said what I did not believe in the moment…

That pregnancy is beautiful. 

That pregnancy is hard.

That pregnancy is fleeting. 

Hang on, mama. 

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