By Heather Congrove 
It is amazing—the transformation a woman goes through during pregnancy. Each day upon waking, she must adjust to a different weight, a bigger belly, a different walk and balance. Not once after she conceives will she wake up exactly the same as she was the day before.
She learns to live with new struggles like bouts of nausea and favorite foods turning repulsive. The harsh realizations of not being able to pick something off the floor or a favorite outfit no longer fitting. New aches and pains from growing pressure from deep within. Unfamiliar worries and fears as thoughts of the future always play through her head.
Her entire body chemistry changes, resulting in physical changes. These changes affect the organization and structural makeup of the brain, causing her to be more moody and forgetful. The changes affect her equilibrium, heart and liver function, blood flow and cardiovascular systems. Along with these chemical changes, physically, her organs are slowly displacing. Almost every organ shifts an astounding 45 degrees by the end of pregnancy.
Then after nine months of continuous sacrifices of her body, she endures the tremendous pain of childbirth. Her body opens up to an average of 13 inches as bones separate to make room for the infant to transverse the birth canal. It has been said that there is no true comparison to childbirth because, in any other such instance, the person would perish. It is God’s great design and the mother’s love and determination that brings the child into the world and allows her to push past the breaking point.
In an instant, she is no longer pregnant. The kicks and pokes she came to expect and count, cease to exist. The belly she was accustomed to accommodating is now gone. The only thing that has become familiar, now is absent. The essence of life inside her is at once replaced with an unsettling void. Vacancy lies heavy in her belly as her mind scrambles to make sense of the tiny bundle before her. Love flows like a raging river but so do her hormones.
It takes a moment for the body to realize and adjust as vital organs shift back into their intended places. It takes even longer for the mind to catch up chemically. Once again, every aspect of her internal working changes. From biological to sleep schedule, circulatory system to cardiovascular, all functions have to find a new rhythm to operate. All this is happening while her body uses every available resource to heal itself from the inside out. During this time, she is still expected to feed and nurture the newborn, which she does with joy and eagerness.
Oh, how desperately awful that void can feel when it once was filled with such preciousness. How confusing all the happenings can appear when each day is a new and different challenge. Gone is the baby bump and what is left is a woman who is not the same as she was before and never will be again. It can not be expected of her to know how to act or what to do because she is a different person every day. Each morning the face staring back is new.
So be patient with the new mothers, they are trying their best I am sure. Sometimes the whole story doesn’t show on the surface, and things are harder than they seem. In between wishing her blessings, remember to offer a helping hand. We should all be in this together as only mothers understand.
by Kathryn Bartling 
by Lauren Eberspacher 
