The (Not So) Magical Months: Real Reflections on Pregnancy Minus the Sugarcoating

Navigating the highs, lows, and everything unglamorous in between — with a dash of irony and a lot of real talk.

Illustration by the author

They say pregnancy is magical. Well, if magic is a dizzying cocktail of strange symptoms, unsolicited advice, and moments that feel more ‘mortal coil’ than a miracle, then I could maybe agree.
As I move through these nine months, I’ve had to grapple with some strange realities and an endless supply of expectations — many of which have little to do with the reality of building a tiny human.

The Daily Symptom Parade

Each morning feels like spinning the wheel of symptoms: nausea, heartburn, cramps, exhaustion, hunger pangs that turn into food aversions the moment I start eating. By the third trimester, every symptom I’d escaped seemed to pile on all at once, like the finale of a fireworks show where they light off every leftover spark. I thought I was a strong, healthy, resilient woman, but this pregnancy process feels like a second adolescence — my body reshaping itself in ways that are equally awkward and relentless.

Lately, I’ve found myself drawing parallels between pregnancy and a degenerative illness…