I know when I first found out I was pregnant I thought I would have this whole 9-month growing a human thing down. I had done a lot of hard things. Endured personal losses, navigated through the world of single dating in my 20s and early 30s before finding my match, fighting my way up the ladder in my career, battling anxiety, etc. I’m not complaining – I have had a great life so far. But we each have our struggles and I felt like I had overcome them pretty gracefully. Then I got pregnant.

I had always longed for the experience of pregnancy. Growing and dressing a cute baby bump, enjoying the pregnancy glow, indulging a little more with the “I’m eating for 2 excuse”. Then at the end of it all I would get to snuggle and love on a perfect little baby. That is the scenario I had dreamed about since I was 6 years old and realized I wanted to be a mom.

So when I actually realized my dream and found out I was “expecting” I was 3 months into my marriage and totally excited and very clueless. I remember going out to celebrate with my mom and sister 4 weeks in and looking forward to ordering my usual BBQ chicken salad and split pea soup at California Pizza Kitchen in La Jolla, CA. For the first time the nausea hit me like a wave. I ended up eating only the free bread and butter on the table (…and let the pregnancy weight gain begin). The next week I just struggled to get through each work day. I told my husband to stop touching me and that his smell was bugging me, and I was irritable at every turn. My skin broke out like it did when I was 13, and I didn’t get a baby bump, I got baby chub. My whole body started swelling up. At the end of 9-months, I was eating an entire pineapple a day to try to get the baby out (it doesn’t work by the way!), I had gained a whopping 75 lbs, and I looked like I had elephantitis. But the one thing that did come true from the fantasy I had dreamed up over all those years was the perfect baby girl I got at the end of all of it.

The end goal of having my daughter definitely got me through the entire 9 months, but during those excruciatingly long days of endless nausea, mashed potato-eating contests and constipation battles, it was my friends, family and support system that rallied. I HATE asking people for help and yet there I was helpless, and they were they without a second thought. Supporting me along the way and getting me to the end goal. Perfect strangers even stepped up to help me out on airplanes, with groceries, and letting me cut in line in public restrooms. It just felt like the village was getting me through – I was definitely not alone.

Going through all of that really inspired the direction of Mommi. I started the company with a team of awesome people when I was about 3 months pregnant, and the goal was to create superior prenatal nutrition (because carbs just weren’t cutting it and I knew it). I hated knowing that other pregnant women were struggling with the physical and emotional hardships of pregnancy just like me and I wanted to help.

Our vision is to bring women together during this difficult and confusing and wonderful time of life called pregnancy. Smart – Healthy – Strong.

A few days ago we started doing something we will do regularly throughout the year. We brought together a group of 13 beautiful pregnant women at different stages and we bonded during a photo shoot. We shared stories, ate gender reveal cupcakes and took maternity photos that we will share with you in a few weeks while we also get ready to announce a new product line! We are so excited about all of the support and love we received that photo shoot day and cannot WAIT to share the beauty of that day and these pregnancies with you.

We have some big announcements coming and we are so grateful you are part of this movement with us! For a chance to become part of the early adopters of new Mommi products make sure you are signed up for our newsletter and share this link with anyone you know that is thinking about getting pregnant, already pregnant, or breastfeeding a newborn. Our new products are designed specifically for the things you go through during pregnancy.