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Women experience numerous emotions and feelings throughout pregnancy and actress Rain Pryor was no different. When Rain learned she was pregnant with now 1-year-old daughter Lotus Marie, she admits that she “never understood nor could comprehend the value of that zygote, turned fetus, turned baby until I witnessed the miracle of the first heart beat.”For her and partner Yale to “see our baby’s heart beating so fast confirmed the miracle that is life … I was in awe.” However, it wasn’t long until the awe turned into something else — nausea. “My morning sickness was 3 p.m. sickness. I was conflicted with the desire for the life that was growing inside me, and wanting the nausea and the sudden urge to pee along with it to disappear,” blogs Rain. Along with the nausea, she had all of the normal pregnancy symptoms — bloody noses, mask of pregnancy [chloasma or melasma], linea nigra, constipation, breast tenderness, exhaustion and more. One other symptom she had was hunger!
“I was hungry like nobody’s business and my ass was expanding to the size of two basketballs. In some cultures that is attractive — in my mind, it was terrible. Not to mention my breasts were the size of melons, which I didn’t mind. In hindsight, I never would have gotten a boob job if I knew they would do that.”
Even though she knew she would be eating more while pregnant, Rain didn’t expect to gain as much weight as she did. “I looked as if I were about to give birth to twins. I went from 165 to 219 … I wanted to be one of the Hollywood pregnant skinny bitches. The ones that look like they just popped on a pregnancy costume still wearing lowrise jeans and Prada high heels,” jokes Rain. The actress “loved being pregnant” but admits that it was “hard to adjust to this new body that could no longer fit into any of my clothes.” Rain was not a fan of maternity clothes either because she didn’t find them flattering — instead, they “added a sign that said, ‘Move — Wide load coming through.’”
Each trimester brought something new for Rain, but it wasn’t until the second that “it all began to sink in.” At the first ultrasound, the couple cried. “There she was the size of peanut with little nubs, and that tiny heart just beating away. It was beautiful.” Near the end of the second trimester “I could feel her move a little at first. It felt more like a hiccup. I waddled like a duck and wore flat shoes even with an evening gown,” shares Rain, adding that she even “found myself constantly holding my belly to let her know we were there and all was right with the world. While Yale began to plan her future education. Sheesh! She wasn’t even here yet.”
By the third trimester, Rain admits that “I wanted her out. I wanted to reclaim my body that had been taken over by the baby now turned alien.” However, she was also “afraid that she would arrive too early. Nothing allowed me to get over the feeling that I could lose her,” after having suffered through three previous miscarriages. As the time neared for Lotus’ arrival, Rain entered “massive spring cleaning” — and she is not talking about a quick sweep! “It’s not enough to mop and disinfect you have to get into corners you didn’t know existed. Under the refrigerator, stove, the bed,” says Rain, as the nesting instinct hit her hard. “You vacuum like your life depended on it. When it fact, her/his life depended on it.”
While she was getting ready for her daughter’s arrival, so was her partner Yale. “He was ready for Lotus because we had been trying for a while. But he had ideas about what kind of father he would be. ‘She won’t be bringing any boyfriends home that’s for sure,’ he said with all seriousness.” She quickly learned that Yale considered himself ‘Super Daddy’ and that “nothing was going ever harm, his baby girl.” Rain now realizes that “the first, second, and third trimesters are not only about the changes your body is going through while the life inside grows. It’s about the changes your life is going through.” Rain says,
“Every animal instinct kicks in and you can’t control it. And believe me when I say, you may be pregnant, but he’s pregnant too. Those nine months are exciting, scary, joyful, tearful and all at once. Your lives are about to change. And, for the first time, you can feel your heart beat outside your chest.”
Source: Pryor Parenthood
–Angela
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Paul Emmans/Startraks
