Happy Ramadan to my fellow brother and sister who are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan.
Months prior to Ramadan, I was convinced that I would not fast this Ramadan because of being pregnant. I was fatigue and tired; being pregnant with two toddlers was hard enough and I was not going to add another obstacle on top of that.
However, as time grew closer to Ramadan my mind began to swift and I started making some research online about women who fasted during their pregnancy. To my surprise many women can fast while pregnant and although I have the green pass from my Creator for not fasting if I feel physically overwhelmed, it is still encouraged to give it a try and fast.
I must confess, I was very nervous to fast. I’ve fasted while breastfeeding and I know how much harder it is on the body than someone who is neither nursing or pregnant. I can imagine being hard on older people too, who do not have the same strength of the young.
I tried to find online if there were any pregnant woman sharing their experience of fasting during Ramadan. I didn’t find much but the one I did find gave the final push to try and that was an youtuber that I admire dearly, Chealsehijablove.
Therefore, I resorted to write my experience here on the blog so that I can motivate someone else in the same situation, who is on the fence of fasting.
My night prior to the first day of Ramadan could not have gone worst. My youngest daughter kept waking up crying from a stomachache and my oldest had vomit all her dinner in the bed and on herself. I mean, she had vomit everything out! I had to clean her up, clean the bed and the floor and tuck her in bed. Before I knew it, there was only one hour left until I would have to get up and make my breakfast before the call of the first prayer.
I had slept one hour in the night and went to bed around 4:30 AM after I had my breakfast. Luckily, since the girls were fidgety during the night they woke up pretty late in the morning a little after 9:30, so I was able to get enough hours of sleep to keep me insane through the day.
I tried to keep my mind as far away from food as possible, even though I still had to cook for the kids. I was surprised how I still had the strength to do my house chores but I concentrated mainly on homeschooling my oldest.
I went down to my mother in laws apartment for a change of scenery and realized I needed to nap if I was going to survive the day. So we all nap and surely enough woke up less than two hours away from breaking my fast. I couldn’t believe at this moment that I did it! A pregnant woman can actually fast, I was shocked!
Towards the end of fasting, I was feeling a little shaky but nothing that I couldn’t handle. I must confess what had helped me the most was not having to cook dinner as I ate at my in laws.
The first day is always the hardest so keeping it low key was the best thing for me while fasting. I know I will have to cook dinner some days and go out side and my kids will give me the biggest test during my fast. But it should get easier with time as your body gets used to it.
Advice for women who want to fast while pregnant are;
- take your prenatals every day
- drink loads of water
- eat a balance meal
- skip junk food your body will need as much nutrition as possible
- try to sleep, most people are sleep deprived during Ramadan so if you can squeeze in a nap that would help a tones.
- listen to your body and your baby
- don’t do too much, try to spread your errands throughout the week
- pray for a safe delivery
Andrea Blossom 
Leave a Reply