Every once in awhile, I catch a little snippet of the Today Show when I have to sit down and nurse in the morning. This morning the hot topic was “Mommyrexia,” which is when celebrities and others try to gain as little weight as possible during pregnancy so they can still look glamorous.

Dr. Nancy Snyderman is the chief medical editor for NBC, and she was disgusted by this, as was I. She called it “vulgar” and “an upper East side white girl obnoxious problem.” (Go Dr. Nancy!)

I miss that beautiful round belly!

These days, some people don’t see pregnancy as the gift that it is. They see it as a distortion of their bodies, as being ugly, and as just getting fat. Perhaps I’m against the norm, but I have always loved being pregnant. I have never felt better and more confident about my body during pregnancy than at any other time in my life – even better than when I was a senior in high school running 8 to 10 miles a day. That beautiful round belly contains the most precious gift, a child. When a mother feels a child moving inside her, the love grows and grows.

Although I can sympathize with the feelings of being fat and wanting to be thin again, the love overshadows everything else when I’m pregnant.

Pregnancy and children are truly a gift from God. I have many friends and acquaintances who have had trouble getting pregnant and have longed for years for a child. This story about “Mommyrexia” would make them all want to puke. These women are given the responsibility to care for a child growing inside them, and they squander that gift by trying to be thin? It truly is sick.

Pregnancy is the best reason ever to “get fat”, to take care of yourself, and to let your body do its job. Pregnant women everywhere: cherish this gift! Far too many women out there wish they were as blessed as you.

Please pray with me for all those men and women who long to be parents.

Prayer to St. Gerard

O good St. Gerard,
powerful intercessor before God
and Wonder-worker of our day,
I call on you and seek your help.
You who on earth did always fulfill God’s design,
help my friends to do the Holy Will of God.
Beseech the Master of Life,
from whom all paternity proceeded,
to make my friends fruitful in offspring,
that they may raise up children to God in this life
and heirs to the Kingdom of His glory
in the world to come. Amen.