Pregnancy: The Nine-Month Marathon Nobody Talks About

You know how people train for months to run a marathon? They get fancy shoes, electrolyte packets, meal plans, and an entire cheer squad waiting at the finish line. Well, here’s the kicker: pregnancy takes about the same amount of energy as training for a marathon… except we do it every day, for nine months straight, with no breaks, no medal, and definitely no cheerleaders handing us Gatorade.

Seriously, studies have shown that during pregnancy, our bodies are burning energy at nearly double the normal rate. Double. That means even when we’re “just sitting there,” we’re basically doing the mom version of cardio. Except instead of building up quads and lung capacity, we’re building a whole human being. Organs, bones, eyelashes—the works.

And yet somehow, we’re still expected to do everything else. Go to work. Chase toddlers. Cook dinner. Pretend we’re fine when we’re running on three hours of sleep because heartburn had us up all night. Can you imagine asking a marathon runner to stop at mile 20 and whip up chicken nuggets for the kids? Exactly.

But here’s the part that gets me: marathon runners get applause, trophies, and bragging rights. Moms? We get swollen ankles, stretch marks, and people saying, “Wow, you look tired.” No kidding—I’m carrying around a human watermelon and rearranging my internal organs to make space for it.

So let’s make a pact: let’s give moms the credit we deserve. Pregnant moms, postpartum moms, seasoned moms—we’ve all run the marathon in one form or another. Instead of unsolicited advice, let’s hand out encouragement. Instead of judgmental stares, let’s hand out grace. Because if growing a human is as intense as an Olympic sport, every mom out there is already a gold medalist.

Next time you see a mom (any mom), give her a smile, hold the door, or just tell her she’s doing amazing. Because chances are, she’s already run her marathon today.