Today we are going to talk about freedom.   My sense of freedom left the moment I found out I was pregnant.  No drinking, no ibuprofen, no certain raw foods, and the most important is I had lost freedom over my own body.  As soon as 4 weeks pregnant, the morning (noon and night) sickness started as well as the severe heartburn.  I was dizzy, wiped out, and my hips started to get jabbing pains.  Second trimester was better, except I still had nausea and heartburn which continued until I gave birth.  As my belly grew, the excess weight hurt my back and feet.  Fortunately, I was still able to be active.  I went to a few concerts, out to dinner, met with friends, shopped, worked, and slept without being interrupted (except towards third trimester where she'd kick me awake or I was too uncomfortable for sleep).  Then little Miss Raven was born.  Her needs came and still come first which makes it hard to have much sense of freedom.  Thank goodness I have a great husband who can help when he's not working (respect goes out to those single parents or those taking care of multiple children).  Being a naturally independent person, it's been an adjustment for me to not have a job outside the home, to work around Raven's schedule, to find babysitters if there is a place I need to go sans baby.  On that note, it's important after having a baby to still have date nights with your husband or at least some alone time.  I'm lucky we are at a stage where Raven can entertain herself for a little while so I can take a shower, but she still needs plenty of attention.  I'm still adjusting to having to plan out things vs. doing what I want on a whim, but this has been good for me because I'm notorious for not thinking ahead.  I've also had to have a lot of patience, which has never been my virtue.  Some days still feel like a crash course in parenting, but the love I receive back makes me know I'm (hopefully) doing an ok job at this parenting thing.