Bare Your Belly Contest

Canadian Parents.com would like to introduce the winner of the 2009 Bare Your Belly contest, Kristy Shute from Kitchener, Ontario.

On September 20th, 2008 my husband and I looked at those two pink lines on our pregnancy test and celebrated the start of our adventure into parenthood. I was so fortunate that my pregnancy was basically textbook. I had some pretty severe nausea up until 17 weeks but after that it was smooth sailing. I really enjoyed being pregnant. My favourite part was feeling my little girl kicking. I will never forget that feeling. And I really did love my belly.

I spent a lot of time reading up on what to expect from my pregnancy as well as how to deal with the new bundle that would soon enter my world. I was also very focused on what I could do to help make my baby as healthy as possible. I made sure I ate and did everything in my power to give her the best chance at life. CanadianParents.com was a big part of that. I loved all the articles and would often read through the message board to see how other soon to be Moms were coping with things.

Then on June 10th, 2009, after 14 hours of labour and a completely natural birth, Emily was born. I was set on labouring and giving birth naturally and am so proud of myself for doing it. But I couldn't have done it without my husband's support. I was exhausted but so happy to finally be holding my daughter in my arms.

Parenthood has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done. There were many struggles in the beginning as we learned how to be parents but there were also so many amazing moments as we watched our little girl grow. Emily is now almost 8 months old and amazes me every day. She is such a happy and energetic baby and has started crawling, standing and getting into everything! We still have our struggles as all parents do but Emily is the love of my life and worth every sleepless night and every stressful moment.

From Belly to Baby, Meet Emily

More Bare Your Belly Photos

To see more photo from the Bare Your Belly Contest visit the Canadian Parents Gallery.