Chronicles of a Pregnant Ranch Momma

Pregnancy is a beautiful thing but comes with it’s challenges. Pregnancy while being a ranch mom/wife creates it’s own set of challenges (some that can be quite comical). Every day things become 10x more complicated. Things you usually don’t think twice about all of a sudden are more difficult than you anticipated. For example, the feed pickup doesn’t have running boards, my 5’3” self now with a big round belly has to do a quick stretch, grab the handle, and add a little grunt to try to get in smoothly. On the bright side, it takes twice as long to get in and out of the pickup, so my husband hasn’t been making me get the gates. I think we can all appreciate not having to open and close the gates! All I know is that I am thankful to live in the middle of nowhere where no one can see my daily struggles.

During my first pregnancy, I was super sick until about 20 weeks. I remember moving cows during the summer and having to try and get off my horse as fast as possible so I could puke. Or I would be trying to push cows up the chute and would have to pause work to go throw up. Also you should see me try to get on my horse. I feel like a little kid, lining my horse up to the fence so I can crawl on.

Another thing that caused some issues at our house was the lack of cooking. Both pregnancies now, I couldn’t stand the taste or smell meat. I’m not sure if you all know what we do for a living, but we have meat in our house EVERY SINGLE DAY. It was extremely unfortunate. My husband would make me leave the room and close my door so he could make his own food. But for the most part, my family survived on frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, and tator tots for 3 months while I was eating strictly buttered noodles, canned pears, and milk because I couldn’t stand to eat anything else. Pregnancy does the weirdest things our bodies.

Another annoying challenge is finding decent pants to work outside. Believe it or not, maternity work jeans are extremely limited. My pony tail holding my pants up can no longer stretch any farther and is extremely uncomfortable! You can find a huge variety of maternity skinny jeans, but not a single pair of high quality maternity pants can be found. I’m extremely lucky to have a talented grandma who has converted some of my jeans and belly bands into comfortable maternity pants.

Loading feed bags, buckets, and a toddler all have become something I dread. Its not so bad when its I have to move something from the back of the pickup. Just toss it over your shoulder and its a breeze. If that feed bag is laying on the ground, it is guaranteed to take twice as long.

Things just aren’t made to accompany a pregnant woman. Its a challenge to squeeze by the steering wheel into the tractor seat. You just hope and pray you don’t have to crawl out any time soon. Not only that but some of our pastures and fields are rough. The constant bouncing is extremely uncomfortable!

If anyone was curious, pregnancy brain is a real thing. I’m sure others can attest to the forgetfulness. Forgetting to shut off the water for the water tank or forgetting to shut a gate. I often times forget what day it is!

Despite the new challenges, we are so excited to welcome a new baby into this world! Max is going to be such a great big brother! Bring on the summer and swollen ankles!