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When Maricris Guerrero found out she was pregnant, she was scared.
She said it was unplanned, and she found out “extremely” late.
But fast forward to just a few weeks ago, Lyric Marie Guerrero Jackson celebrated her first birthday. She’s now “extremely healthy” and Maricris said her life has changed for the better.
“What [does] Mother’s Day mean to me? It allows me to remember how my mother raised me growing up [and] appreciating her for everything she does and hope to be half the mother she was to me and my sister,” Guerrero told Slice of Culture.
“It’s still crazy to me on some days, looking at my daughter and thinking, ‘Damn I really am a whole mother.’ Even though it was not planned, I am honestly blessed to be her mom.”
But there’s many things about a pregnancy that women said they weren’t prepared for. Ninety-two percent of women said there were parts of postpartum they weren’t prepared for while nearly two-thirds or more were not ready for breastfeeding, mental health concerns, lack of sleep and physical recovery, according to two studies.
Guerrero, 26, said she always wanted kids at some point of her life. But since she found out about her pregnancy late – a time frame she said she did not want to disclose – she wasn’t able to “enjoy” the nine months of pregnancy.
Instead, the New Brunswick resident spent the time that she did have by preparing and making sure that everything was ready.
Your life will never be the same after pregnancy, according to Parents. Aside from the initial emotions, those expecting the newborn child must now schedule medical tests, sign up for childbirth classes and pick out a car seat.
Parents.com, which is also an American monthly magazine founded in 1926, shared an in-depth pregnancy checklist that details the nine months and what those expecting the newborn child should be doing:
Month 1: Take your vitamins and choose a health-care provider
Month 2: Schedule a checkup
Month 3: Start taking tests
Month 4: Have second-trimester screening, enroll in a childbirth-education class and share the news with your boss
Month 5: Get an ultrasound, set up a nursery and start thinking about a birth plan
Month 6: Get tested for gestational diabetes, tour the hospital and line up your support team
Month 7: Search for pediatrician, find an infant-care class and buy a car seat
Month 8: Get screened for Group B strep and pack your hospital bag
Month 9: Enjoy the calm before the storm
For Kaydreanna Goode, when she found out that she was pregnant, she was worried.
“I was pregnant during a pandemic and during my last year of college, I was scared about what would happen, and if I would get the same care as soon-to-be mothers who had their babies before the pandemic,” Goode told Slice of Culture.
“I was also scared that I would not be able to finish school, or walk the stage at graduation.”
During Goode’s nine months of pregnancy, she said she had a few medical problems.
In the beginning, her doctors found a large cyst next to the baby. Weeks later, the 23-year-old began to have heavy bleeding and it was believed to be another fetus – it was supposed to be twins.
Goode said she lost one at 18 weeks.
Then, at 23 weeks, she was admitted into the hospital because of decreased fetal movement; her baby stopped moving around.
When her baby was finally born, his heart rate would fluctuate, which resulted in her being induced, and the baby being heavily monitored with doctors on stand-by.
But now, one year later, Goode said she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Tristan Smith.
“During my nine months of pregnancy, there were a lot of ups and downs. Times where I felt emotional, times where I felt helpless. But if I could use one word to describe my nine months of pregnancy, it would be ‘miracle,’” she added.
“Through all the downs, I was still blessed and able to bring a healthy baby boy into this world.”
Goode, a Jersey City resident, also went on to graduate from Rutgers University.
“Something I wish I knew before I was pregnant was that pregnancy doesn’t always go as planned. You may not get the gender you want, or the picture perfect pregnancy,” she said.
“… Mother’s Day means the world to me. It is a day I can feel appreciated, and be reminded that I’m doing a good job. Many times, mothers just raise their children without praise or acknowledgement, but sometimes all it takes is ‘You’re doing a good job” to make a mother feel good. So to have a day dedicated to remind me of just that is a blessing.”
