My Neice, Celeste's thought on pregnancy, nursing and exercisng during pregnancy!

I was so excited to read your new Blog. I have always loved learning about Pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding etc., but I didn't realize how important it is to me until more recently and while reading your Blog. You are more than welcome to put any of this e-mail on there if you would like to.

I always knew, even as a child, that all I ever wanted to be when I grew up was a Mom. I didn't realize until recently that this feeling I had was from my Heavenly Father. I am definitely far from a perfect Mother. I have so much to work on, but I have learned so much about myself by asking for help in raising my children.

I loved being pregnant. I loved the way it made me feel; kind of in awe at how my body could grow like that and how amazing it was to feel the baby moving. I am very thankful for modern day medicine, because if I had lived even just a hundred years ago, my first baby would have died (she was born at 32 weeks) and I would have died when I was bleeding from a ruptured fallopian tube because of a tubal pregnancy. Hospitals were great to me, but I would have loved the opportunity to have mine at home.

I also love being able to nurse. I didn't realize how well my first one nursed until my second one wasn't gaining weight and I had to supplement with formula after every feeding. Then my son didn't like nursing. He would just cry every time I layed him down to eat. I think there could have been a lot of reasons for this (for example; I was too tense, he had acid reflux, etc.) and I might have done things differently had I known what I know now, but that is how we learn. I nursed him until 7 months then for the sake of both of our sanity, I got him to take a bottle. I felt so sad that my baby didn't want me. But my last one loves nursing and I couldn’t be happier. My prayers were definitely answered.

I didn't try very hard with my first three babies to keep myself healthy, and I didn't realize I was missing out on anything until a friend got me to start going to our free exercise classes at our church. (I think exercising with someone else is the key) Now I know what I was missing. More energy, my mind seems clearer and I can deal with my emotions better. I felt great during my last pregnancy and was able to work out the whole time. Since then I still feel great. My body is not back to normal but I'm trying to be patient because I know it will get better. The thing I want people to know, though, is that it doesn't matter how much you weight, or even how you look; what matters is how you feel. Of course being in your weight range is important to keep your heart and all other parts of your body working well so that you can have a more active healthy life, but we shouldn't worry about what the world thinks women should look like.

I hope women can read this Blog and realize how great it is to be a woman. Whether you have children or not. And women who are contemplating having children need to know that it is an awesome thing and you don't have to do it alone! We are all here to help.

Nancy- Thank you for being such a great example of a women and mother to me. I'm thankful for all the women in my life who help me be better! I love you

Love Celeste

Nancy's comments:I have really loved seeing you with your children you are such a good mom! You have such cute and darling children too! Thanks for your ideas It is really good to hear your experiences! I like how you were able to exercise with this last pregnancy, exercising with others would make it so much easier!