During the blissful 60 minutes of my prenatal massage, I lay in the fetal position, draped over a pillow, while a masseuse gently worked out the knots that had developed along my spine over the course of my pregnancy, and in tandem, began to loosen the tangle of thoughts I’d been grappling with, the tension I felt between the excitement for the life inside of me and my resistance to the altering of my own.
Throughout the nine months of gestation, “it’s normal” is a refrain you hear often in response to the variety of symptoms that come with pregnancy. I found myself starting to absorb the word, regarding the extraordinary thing taking place in my body as a bit ordinary. Technically speaking, it is. Millions of people have gone through this primal rite of passage since the beginning of time. But nothing about growing a human in your own body for the first time bears any resemblance to normalcy.
What our babymoon gave me was the chance to bask in the extraordinary act of pregnancy, and to shift focus inward toward myself, my partner, and our daughter. Walking around the resort in a bathing suit felt strange at first, then quickly, empowering—there is no disguising oneself in the 100+ degree, balmy embrace of the Yucatán.
Of the three items on the babymoon itinerary—a private dinner on the beach, an astrological reading based on the baby’s due date, and a prenatal massage—it was the astrological Prehispanic calendar reading that surprisingly ended up being our favorite. “Bebestrology” might sound a bit cringe, but we hung onto every word the astrologist told us. Our private reading took place in the wellness center inside the SANA spa, where our kind astrologist guided us through the complex workings of the Mayan calendar. She told us about our greatest challenges (eerily accurate), our life purposes and how our daughter fits in, where we can help guide her through challenges, and where she will help guide us.
We unpacked it over our Luna de Bebe dinner, a three-course pregnancy-friendly meal, set in a private palapa on the beach, with an incredibly attentive personal server. We’d been sent menu options by our assigned guia earlier that day and could choose from two appetizers, entrees, and desserts. We each opted for different menus, so we could sample one of everything. The “betabel y queso” (grilled beets with burrata and chaya pesto) and “chocolate textures” (including a mousse, sponge, and carmelized cacao nibs) stood out as favorites.
I didn’t anticipate becoming such a fervent babymoon advocate, but here I am. And, while a curated babymoon at a luxury resort is absolutely lovely, you don’t necessarily need all of the bells and whistles. What I believe new parents do need and deserve is the time to step away from the day-to-day and indulge in this phase of life, to take your body where you feel happiest—whether that’s in the tropics or in Iceland—and to reconnect with yourself, your partner, and your baby.
The relief I felt, finally floating in the sea—a reminder of myself, and who I am without her—and then gravity returning the weight and power of her back to me as I emerged from the water turned out to be all I needed. I’ve been excited to have a kid for as long as I can remember; now, I’m finally excited to be a mom.
