  urlLink Yesterday I talked about what life was like here before we had kids - how people viewed us and how their concept of "a good time to have kids" is different than ours.
Today's topic is what life was like when we were pregnant. Now even though it's the touchy-feely thing to say "WE were pregnant," let's be real...Jane was the one really going through it. Therefore, I thought I'd invite her to be a guest blogger for this post. Take it away, Jane! In a culture that highly values children and also a woman's role as a mother, a childless woman can feel alienated by her peers and even her own family. For me, being pregnant - and after 6 months, noticeably pregnant - there was an almost palpable sense of respect that I had not felt before. I even held my head a little higher, feeling I had become "one of them" in a sense because I was joining the ranks of motherhood.
And the role of a mother is one that has no cultural boundaries. Sudddenly I was on common ground with a large percentage of the female population when before I was completely alien. Women in shopping malls and airports would look at me approvingly and ask how many months along I was. It changed everything for me as far as relationships and fitting into this new country. Some people would not recommend having a child within your first year or two on the mission field - too many major life changes at once. But for us, it was a real blessing and a way for us to interact with people on a new level. 
