Jenny Wen — Grieving this part of my life
When I got pregnant, I didn’t realize how quickly my life would change. Before this, I prided myself on intensity, on jam-packing my days, committing to all things work and social and hobbies. Within the first week of being pregnant, my body started changing. I was exhausted, sweatier on the subway platform, and I craved things. And then within the next few weeks… I didn’t exercise at all, I felt the (tiny!) biceps I worked so hard to tone in the last year or so melt away. I couldn’t do social commitments, I hated going to the pottery class I signed up for. My life didn’t feel my own. And I laid awake during hormone-disturbed nights worried about the one-way door I’d walked myself through. Everyone makes pregnancy out to be this joyous thing! I should be so grateful. (This dream also isn’t possible for many people and I don’t want to discount how lucky I am.) So, it feels unholy to feel this way. A pregnant woman has no ill feelings toward her future child. She chose this. Her job is t
Jenny Wen — Notes March 23, 2026 Grieving this part of my life When I got pregnant, I didn’t realize how quickly my life would change. Before this, I prided myself on intensity, on jam-packing my days, committing to all things work and social and hobbies. Within the first week of being pregnant, my body started changing. I was exhausted, sweatier on the subway platform, and I craved things. And then within the next few weeks… I didn’t exercise at all, I felt the (tiny!) biceps I worked so hard to tone in the last year or so melt away. I couldn’t do social commitments, I hated going to the pott
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