Am I Ready For a Baby?
6. Are you ready to compromise on your looks?
To some, this is the saddest option of them all. Pregnancy will mean that your body will bloat up to make room for your baby. Stretch marks would appear which might restrict you to wear anything too revealing. Apart from this, pregnancy cravings may result in you adding on pounds. However, you can shed weight after your delivery but most women find it pretty difficult. In short, you might undergo irreversible physical changes that might make you feel down or depressed. So you must really reconsider this decision if you are obsessed with your looks. However, motherhood is such a wonderful feeling and if you feel that the happiness of having a baby is much beyond these small sacrifices, you are on the right track!
7. Are you ready to take the pain and the effort for 9 whole months?
Pregnancy is no piece of cake. It is one of the most difficult phases in the life of a woman. Constant bouts of nausea, giddiness, sticking to the prescribed diet, religiously having dietary supplements, morning sickness are just small parts of what pregnancy is all about. You just cannot get tired in the middle and give up. Nine months of pain and effort is what it will take to have your bundle of joy and happiness when he/she comes into this world. However, you need to be prepared to give what it takes for these coming nine months.
8. Are you ready to take up responsibilities after the baby is born?
A baby is wholly and completely dependent on you for the fulfillment of all its needs. In the prenatal stage, you take complete care of yourself to have a healthy baby but what is equally important that you be ready to take up the responsibilities once the baby is born. The entire life of the baby and its future requires meticulous planning and responsibility. You must have the desire to see your baby as a successful someone in the future which requires you to fulfill all its needs as every stage of life. You need to judge whether you are ready to take up the responsibility of another life not just for the duration of the pregnancy but well beyond it to make your baby bloom from a bud to a flower.
9. Is this decision taken by you or enforced upon you?
“Now that you both are finally married, I can’t wait to have my grandchildren!” Sounds familiar? Recent statistics show that a large number of women do not take the decision of having a baby by themselves. The decision is mostly an enforced one. Some women take this decision to keep their spouse happy. A girl may get pregnant but fear of an abortion or guilt of killing a life may force her to continue with the pregnancy, even if she is not ready to be a mother. If you want justice to be done to the baby, it is highly advisable that the decision of having a baby be your own.
10. Would your family support you in having a baby?
Family support is an absolute essential when it comes to having a baby. If the family is supportive of the fact that you are having a baby, not only will you get a lot of help from them but will also feel at peace as you would have a support system when you require the most. Pregnancy is that one phase when an expecting mother should be constantly taken care of. There cannot be a single moment where she is left alone to herself. This is where the family’s love and support steps in. They must give you that unconditional love and support. Thus, family’s advice and support, if not consent, is a very important factor before having a baby.
If after thinking over all these factors, time and again, you are convinced that you are ready to experience the joy of motherhood, then you must go ahead and live the joy.
