line severinsen

Pregnancy can be lovely. It can also be like a fresh hell dimension where even the tiniest things get on one's nerves.

It's taxing being a human incubator and a lightning rod for the ideas (right or wrong) that everyone around you has about what pregnancy and parenthood entail!

The all-too-relatable scenes here are from the horrifying but humorous worries of Line Severinsen in her own family life. She's a Norwegian artist and mom with a growing collection of interpretations of her parental world.

Here are five of my favorites.

1. Sometimes you can't stop obsessing over when certain uncontrollable things will happen.

Some women's water doesn't break until they get to the hospital and the doctor helps move it along. Other times, it can take you by surprise. It's the not knowing that wreaks havoc with pregnant women's minds. All images by Line Severinsen and used with permission.

2. Sometimes your hormones make you really want to get it on at the same time your partner is getting a little skittish about disturbing your "tenant."

For the record, the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology assures couples that as long as your doctor or midwife hasn't said otherwise, you are safe to have sex throughout the entire pregnancy.

3. OMG — touching my belly, could you NOT?!

There should be a public service announcement helping the general public get on the same page about this — somehow there are still people who've never gotten the memo. Don't be that person!

4. You've never wanted certain things so badly until you've been told you can't have them.

You willingly forego these things because, hello, responsible new parent-to-be. But, man. Sushi, cocktails, tuna, and your old standby double-shot espressos start to seem like a distant memory after nine months.

5. Just when you think you've had enough of carrying and catering to a little growing human in utero and beyond, you find you can't tear yourself away.

It's nature's neat little trick. Your cute little doppelgänger stirs emotions in you once you've bonded, ensuring you'll respond to their needs. They've got you now. And there's no greater little finger to be wrapped around.

This is all par for the course!

A lot of us have been there, are in the midst of it, or know someone who is. So send a little reassurance people's way and let them know this is all perfectly normal — and maybe even a little laughable.