I feel a rush of emotions right now. I am so very excited to be pregnant and I love this baby so much already. I am a little stressed trying to explain to my boyfriend how physically demanding pregnancy is. I know it is a natural process but it changes our bodies in countless ways. It makes us more susceptible to illnesses (ex. diabetes, hypertension and even gallstones), it rearranges the placement of our organs, increases blood volume, can temporarily decrease lung capacity and make us sick on end for weeks, unable to take any medications might I add. That’s just pregnancy. Then childbirth has a whole other list of reasons why it’s physically demanding. It takes time for our bodies to heal afterward, weeks and sometimes months. Side note, before I got pregnant my boyfriend was confused why woman should get anything more than a week of maternity leave 😑. We are having this argument because I am deciding not to breastfeed. If I am gonna be up nursing every 2-3 hours, I want to spend the time in between resting and letting my body recover. The body being in a constant state of supply and demand definitely takes a heavy toll on the body. It’s exhausting to say the least. It can also be extremely painful and you run the risk of having engorment or infections. I just want him to see things my way, coming from the body that has to endure all of the physical aspects. Help?