It’s true that pregnancy and parenthood are both great experiences. Also true: Having a baby and being pregnant are both stressful endeavors. Line Severinsen, an artist and a mother, made the conscious decision to confront these two realities head-on. Since then, she has been drawing her experience of going through pregnancy and being a mom.
Her images will make you roar with laughter, which is especially applicable if you are a parent now or have previously been one. There are probably around 4 million posts on Instagram that show the realities of parenting for every post on Instagram that depicts a mother calmly breastfeeding her kid or that showcases a 9-month-old child carrying her own bottle like a champion. These postings include the following examples: It does not look like a photograph.
It is precisely because of this that the pictures of Line are so impeccable: She is a representation of all the aspects of parenting that aren’t typically brought up in conversation. When you are traveling alone with your children and have no idea how your luggage will get from point A to point B; when you finally (finally!) carve out some alone time for work or a just-because project and promptly pass out at the table; when your breast milk leaks out of your shirt in public; when you are traveling alone with your children and have no idea how your luggage will get from point A to point B. All real! It’s all quite funny.
Babies are scary when you think about it
It seems like everyone I’ve ever known has, at some point or another, been absolutely petrified by their own pregnancies at some point or another. There was always one circumstance that really freaked me out, and that was whenever my child would perform what felt like Olympic-level gymnastics inside of me while I was pregnant. I mean, I was freaked out by my pregnancy multiple times throughout the experience, but there was always one circumstance that really freaked me out.
When you can make out what appear to be little hands and feet trying to expand outside of your body, it is a particularly unsettling feeling.
Tick … tick … tick …
Along the same lines, pregnancy clearly has the potential to make a woman feel like she is carrying a time bomb that could detonate at any moment, right inside her own body. I mean, how are you? When you stop to consider it, that is incredibly strange. You might be overjoyed to learn that you are pregnant, but at the same time, you might be extremely anxious about the future.
How will your labor and delivery go? Is your child going to be okay? Are you going to be okay? Will there be a shift in how life is lived? (Yes.)
Pregnancy has its perks!
Listen up: If you want to learn how to balance a variety of things, there is nothing quite like having a pregnant belly. Snacks and light meals are frequently at the top of the list, and there is a sound rationale for this practice. It is a tremendous time saver to be able to watch your show while still having your food right there, so that you do not have to awkwardly lean over and try to pick it up.
Thanks, babies.
Pregnancy also has its pitfalls
Pregnancy does, however, come with its fair share of challenges, such as the fact that a woman’s life can be challenging to navigate while she is also responsible for the growth of another human being inside her own body. As you can see in this example, parking lots are not always easy to navigate. It’s the kind of thing that, until you’re actually confronted with it, you don’t really give much thought to, but once it’s there, you can’t unsee it.
Poor puppy
We like to make light of the fact that it took our eldest dog around a year to become comfortable around our son, but the funny thing is that it’s not really a joke at all. Before the birth of our kid, we had our dog for a year, so she was already accustomed to being the center of attention in the household. When our son arrived like lightning, a full two months before his due date, he rapidly overtook her as the most important member of our family.
After some time, she came around to him, but only after she realized that her own gymnastics wouldn’t be enough to replace his.
After the baby comes, everyone hates you
Okay, I don’t actually believe that people look down on parents just because they have children, but sometimes it seems that way. It would appear that there are moments when we fail to remember that infants and children are also humans. And because they are people, they have the same needs as the rest of us, including the requirement to feed.
And when they are infants, they are frequently breastfed, which means that you might have to get used to the idea of witnessing a mother feeding her own child in public. You’ll be fine! However, the mother that you embarrass with your condescending gaze may keep the memory of that moment with her for the rest of her life. Consider the implications.
Your body is not your own
One of the more mind-boggling aspects of the experience for me was the fact that I had to share my body while I was pregnant and after the baby was born. You are aware that you will be required to do this at some point, especially as the baby continues to develop inside of you, but the actual event is something that you are unable to plan for. You live it out.
And then the baby is born, and all of a sudden your body is lashing out in a whole slew of different and peculiar ways! If you want to breastfeed your child, you should be aware that the experience as a whole is likely to severely disrupt some of your plans (and tops).
You will probably fall apart
This won’t be something that happens all the time, but it will undoubtedly take place at some point. There will be at least one occasion, but probably numerous, in which the baby, you, and your partner will all be a mess and covered in a mixture of drool, vomit, tears, and pain. This will occur at some point during the labor and delivery process.
You will be completely discombobulated and agitated as a result of this. It is quite acceptable to give in to those tears. You are deserving of them.
Must keep baby safe at all times
There is nothing quite like becoming a parent in the 2000s to make you completely frightened to ever let your baby experience any form of pain or danger for the first time in their entire life. Oh my. The media is replete with reports of parents who have somehow put their children in a position where they could be injured or killed.
Every parent you will ever meet has a heartbreaking story to tell about the time their child was injured, whether it was because the child was dropped off a couch or because the parent was dancing down the hallway with the child and accidentally hit the child’s head on the thermostat (me!). It is terrible! But it happens.
“Sleep when the baby sleeps” is a joke
Everyone you have ever known will give you the piece of advice to sleep when the baby sleeps at some point in their life. As if it were that straightforward! It’s possible that while the baby is sleeping, you have a million other things to do around the house that need your attention. It’s possible that you work from home and need to put those valuable 45 minutes to better use.
But if your kid likes to sleep directly on top of your body (as so many babies do), the idea of sleeping when the baby sleeps takes on a whole new level of impossibility because it is physically impossible to do so. Bless.