Fruit of Thy Womb

Lisa
New York, NY
optimist

Pregnancy brings about a slew of bodily changes to a woman, other than the obvious belly protrusion, of course. In fact, it could be said that pregnancy not only carries a growing fetus inside a woman, but with it comes out a ‘whole, new person’ carrying the unborn child, as well. The metamorphosis happening to a pregnant woman is one that circumvents the physical, mental, emotional, and even the spiritual changes, but what mostly affects the expecting mother, especially one on her first pregnancy is the daily bouts of nausea, uncontrollable mood swings, and the occasional swelling of the hands and feet.

For Lisa, however, the one change brought about by her body that stimulated her the most is something rather odd, that even the sporadic trips to the bathroom were a holiday over this one physiological alteration: Lisa discovered that her pre-pregnancy, “perfect” belly button was gradually going through a deformation of its own.

On that fateful day when this first-time pregnant mother discovered that the one feature in her body which she truly favored was no longer how it used to look like before the bump in her belly, Lisa held her breath for a couple of seconds. And then the shrieks rang all throughout the apartment.

Her devoted husband, Danny, rushed to their room upstairs, terrified of what might have happened to his pregnant wife. To his shock (and utter amusement), he found Lisa rolling on the bed, tears streaming down her cheek as she ran a hand over her navel, her muffled gasps, “My belly button! My belly button! Why didn’t anyone tell me I was going to lose my belly button?” caught between her wailing.

Totally unprepared for such an episode, Danny was still able to comfort his beloved wife, guaranteeing her in between hugs and kisses that no matter what shape her belly button took, it was still her belly button; albeit altered, it was still very much a part of her beautiful body.

Now into her second trimester, Lisa couldn’t help but erupt in laughter as she recalled that moment. Having been a teacher for kindergarten and first grader kids for over 5 years now, Lisa thought she’d already seen it all when it came to sudden outbursts. Little did she expect that the most amusing one would come from her very own self.

Thankfully, with a great support system from her mother, sisters, girl friends, and most especially from Danny himself, Lisa has gracefully accepted that the changes in her body, even with the body part she loved the most, are permanent and could be irreversible. But for the little bundle that is also developing within her, Lisa considers these changes will make the next three months much bearable and more exciting by the day.