Hi everyone out there still reading... I feel like we are the most boring bloggers on the planet, probably because we are super busy but also super-not-very-exciting when it comes to pregnancy news. I was talking to my sister last night and telling her how bad I felt for all of the other women in our baby class because they are all having so many physical issues and discomforts and I'm pretty much just fine. Her response was "Yeah, because we are really good at being pregnant in this family." So I guess this post is about how grateful I am that we ARE really good at being pregnant in my family... I think (like everything) it's part nature and part nurture. Sure, I am sure I've got fabulous pregnant lady genes (thanks mom and dad!) but I am even more sure that I grew up in a family where pregnancy wasn't something scary or tiresome or bothersome. It was something celebrated and cherished. The thought that this whole experience was going to be one giant struggle full of things like back pain and heartburn never even crossed my mind. I have always had the mindset that my body was built to do this and therefore it can. I am realizing now that that mindset comes straight to me from my mom and my sister. I'm sure every moment of my sister's pregnancies were not a delightful frolic through a field of wild flowers. But I'm also sure that the message I received loud and clear was that pregnancy is normal and healthy and we ROCK at it. :-)
The other reason I am thankful that I seem to be acing this pregnancy thing so far is that it takes a damn long time to grow a person. No one warned me about how long 9 months really is/ feels like. Also no one warned me that in pregnancy world, 9 months = 40 weeks while in the rest of the world 10 months = 40 weeks. (Anyone reading who hasn't taken this journey yet - don't let them lie to you... it takes 10 months and there is some crazy math involved that even my English major brain knows can't be right.)
The reason I am glad that I seem to be pretty good at this so far is that I am not known for my patience. This may surprise some of you reading, while others are nodding their heads in agreement with my self assessment. I have been, on occasion, known to decide I need or want something new and then decide that I need or want it now. Not in a few days, not in a few hours... now. I may or may not have been this way about buying an ipod, buying a Kindle, and marrying Jerry. (half kidding of course) When I finally get around to making up my mind (which can take a long time), I am fully committed to the decision and I would like it to happen now. Babies don't happen now. They are a journey. And this pregnancy journey is teaching me A LOT about patience. A lesson I am fairly positive the actual child will continue teaching me for, well, the rest of it's life. I am learning that if I am patient through the weeks of wondering when I will feel a kick, I will be rewarded with the coolest kicks, jabs, head butts ever to happen. This baby and I trade pokes back and forth all day and I love it. I am learning that if I am patient through the weeks of mental torment leading up to an ultrasound, I will be rewarded with some freaking adorable shots of baby. I am learning to wait and the reward for waiting will be amazing. I was about to say that I can't even wait to meet the reward coming in June but I take that back. I can wait. I can wait and I can rock this pregnancy thing and the reward will be spectacular.
And now... for reading all of my rambling thoughts and not giving up... YOU GET BIG BELLY PICTURES!! YAY!!
I feel like I can't let this post go by without agreeing with Brittany on two points. One, I fear that we've lost all of you out there in the blogosphere because we're boring and spend our days prancing through fields of wild flowers. And, two, Brittany does ROCK at being pregnant!! I've been right here the whole time, and it's pretty awesome how great she is at it - thank goodness, because I would never be able to do it myself ;-)
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