Things I Can Do Because I'm Pregnant

Pregnancy comes with plenty of discomfort, but it also comes with a short list of genuinely great perks. Consider this permission to enjoy them.

The everyday wins

• Taking the best seat in the room, no questions asked, and nobody arguing about it.
• Napping in the middle of the day without a shred of guilt, because growing a person is quietly exhausting work.
• Asking for help carrying things, reaching things, and lifting things, and having people actually offer before you even ask.
• Eating on a schedule dictated entirely by your stomach, snacks included, meetings be damned.
• Skipping the awkward "just one drink" small talk at parties by ordering something fun and non-alcoholic and letting everyone else feel slightly self-conscious instead.
• Blaming forgetfulness on "pregnancy brain", even for the things you'd have forgotten anyway.

The social upgrades

• Getting out of the more physically demanding chores around the house, at least for a while.
• Having a built-in excuse to leave events early when you're tired, uncomfortable, or just done.
• Receiving unsolicited kindness from strangers, from holding doors to offering seats on transit, more often than at any other point in life.
• Being showered with attention and questions about how you're feeling, which, love it or find it a bit much, is at least a sign people care.

The purely physical perks

• A genuinely impressive appetite that nobody questions, no matter how many rounds of snacks it takes.
• An excuse to buy comfortable, stretchy clothes and wear them everywhere without a second thought.
• Permission to move slower, rest more, and generally treat your body a little more gently than you might otherwise let yourself.

Enjoy the good parts too

Pregnancy is often talked about mostly in terms of what's hard about it, the nausea, the exhaustion, the aches. It's just as fair to notice, and enjoy, the small things that come easier or feel a little sweeter because you're pregnant. You've earned them.