A CHILD IS COMING: I'M PREGNANT, WE'RE PREGNANT

There is no such thing as an unnatural feeling during pregnancy. Most parents find that they experience a variety of emotions, from uncertainty and anxiety to satisfaction and exhilaration. We have tried to capture some of these feelings by collecting written accounts and recording conversations with parents. These statements, and those in the following chapters, are only a sampling. You will certainly experience feelings not found on these pages. Indeed, many will be concerned if they initially have no feelings about such an important occurrence. This, too, is a common experience, especially before the first movements of the developing infant are felt. It is difficult to appreciate the transition in feelings that occurs by reading isolated statements. Many of the parents, however, who expressed tremendous anxiety about child raising during pregnancy have found that the actual task is natural and rewarding. The advice of one mother is important to remember: "In having children and raising children, nobody is likely to experience something that hasn't happened to someone else. All of the emotions, from terrible fear to joy, have been shared by millions of others many times before."

Before our first child was born, I hadn't given very much thought to what our lives would be like after the birth itself, which occupied most of my attention. If I thought at all about it, I guess I had a subconscious picture of myself in a Woman's Day ad, one of those slightly out of focus pictures of a beautiful young mother in a pastel dressing gown nursing her baby in a pose of peaceful fulfillment. I must have imagined that she took care of her baby in her spare time. Was I surprised!

MOTHER OF TWO

Libby kept asking me, "Aren't you excited about it?" She, of course, already was, and I had to admit to her disappointment that it was just hard to realize that we now had a baby on the way and I really had no solid feelings or comprehensions about the child. She did come home wearing one of those tacky T-shirts with "baby" bold across the front. My shy Libby did this. At first I wasn't too interested in being seen at the A&P with her and her new brazen shirt. But she was and still is proud of her tummy. I begrudgingly gave her my hand which she pressed firmly on her tummy. I told her not to press too hard. I could hurt the baby. I still have a feeling of slight uneasiness when pressing on her tummy.

EXPECTANT FATHER

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