By Gail Lynne Goodwin.
I’m in New York City today, taking part in the Million Moms Challenge. It’s a cause to unite a million moms with a million moms in developing countries around the world. The best thing about this program is that you don’t have to be a mom to help a mom. You just have to be “one in a million”. Join us to make healthy pregnancies, safe births, and children who survive and thrive a basic right around the world.
As a part of this project, I’ve been asked to answer the question, “What was the best or worst moment of your pregnancy?”
This is such an easy answer, as for me, the best part of the pregnancy was the moment that I found out that I was going to be a mother. Even though I first became pregnant more than 30 years ago, I can still remember that very moment, reading the words “You’re Pregnant”, as if it were yesterday!
At that moment in time, the world stopped. Nothing mattered but that tiny life inside of me. I wanted to tell everyone I knew and every stranger that crossed my path. “I’m pregnant!”, I wanted to shout it to the world. Life as I knew it had forever changed. Suddenly it wasn’t just about my husband and me any longer- there was a bigger force in action in my life.
When I’m on my deathbed years from now, that moment etched into the fabric of who I am, will remain one of my most treasured memories. And, interestingly enough, when I became pregnant with my second child, the same thing happened again- even though I already was a mother.
I marvel at the wonder of Nature and the special magic that takes a young woman and changes her in an instant. For those of you who are mothers, perhaps you too experienced the moment when time stood still… when nothing else mattered but that little life, that you were there to love, nurture and protect. In that instant, we became women, sisters bound by the repeating cycle of motherhood.
In my collection of moments that matter that I’ve gathered throughout my life, I’ll forget the crayons in the dryer, the magic market on the carpet, the spilled juice on my best dress and even cleaning up the mess of a sick child at 2am. But I’ll never forget two of the very best moments in my life… when I found out that I was pregnant, for these are the moments that matter.
I’d love to hear more about your best or most difficult pregnancy moments. By commenting, you will be entered to win an exclusive Million Moms Challenge Gift Pack, which includes an all expenses paid trip to a conference on mothers hosted by the UN Foundation in DC (Jan/Feb 2012), an iPad2, a custom-made Million Moms Challenge pendant and $50 donation in your name to Global Giving. Contest and prize details here.
I hope you’ll join the challenge – just visit the Million Moms Challenge to sign up!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Million Moms Challenge. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs September 19 to October 16, 2011. A random winner will be announced by October 18, 2011. Official Contest Rules.
