Pregnancy Memories: Part 1

35 weeks prego today. So soon he will be here. Once he gets here, he will be an integral part of our family. Soon life without him will seem like another time and place. This is OK with me. I had very fulfilling, adventurous life up until Mommy-hood. I know my crazy memories will remain vivid. I am ready for this new chapter. And I know my adventures aren’t over. There isn’t anywhere I can’t go with a Baby Bjorn or a stroller in tow. I tell him all the time that I am going to take him EVERYWHERE.

One thing that may fade with time is this relatively short interlude I’ve had with my son inside me. So I feel the need to put down for posterity my memory of this special time with him.... this time that he is living and growing inside me alone. I can’t wait to see his face and kiss his cheek. And pretty soon, I will get to share him with the rest of the world.

So here is my first installment of memories I have of this most amazing adventure I’ve had with my boy

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The beginning:

Greg told me when we got engaged that he was ready to start a family as soon as possible, but that he wanted to wait until I was completely ready. A month or so before the wedding, I told him that with all the stress of planning the wedding I wanted to wait a few months before trying for a baby. I couldn’t imagine jumping into planning something all over again. He was completely supportive of this.

All of this flew out the window once we got done with the wedding and spent some blissful time alone together on our honeymoon in Spain. I knew I wanted this wonderful man to be the father of my children as soon as possible. I told him I didn’t want to twiddle my thumbs like I thought and that I was ready for another whirlwind. He was elated, and we, well.... you know, honeymooned it up!

Our last day in Barcelona we stumbled across an outdoor market while cruising the Barri Gotic. In one of the stalls some women were selling some beautiful hand-woven organic cotton baby clothes. As we had a new niece, Ava, in the family, I stopped to admire and coo at the clothes (isn’t it weird how tiny dresses and ties can make women do that). Greg picked up a tiny pair of booties and said, “We should get these.” I said “Those are too small for Ava, I think.”And he smiled and said, “No, for our baby.” It was then that I realized we were really committing to starting a family.

The booties are sitting on a shelf in the nursery right now, ready to be worn home from the hospital. I plan to have all of my babies wear them (God willing).

The news:

Due to some cramping and other PMS-like issues, I thought Aunt Flow was well on her way, but I decided to take a test anyways since I was ½ a day late. I felt sure that it couldn’t have happened so quickly since we had only just started trying. However, I had plans to drink a big fat glass of red wine to drown my grumpies that evening, so I decided to take a test just so I could have the wine without a side of uneasiness and doubt. I bought the test on my lunch break, and since I am reeeeeeealllly impatient, I took it in the bathroom at work. BAD idea. It came back positive and I didn’t even know what to do with myself, I was so happy. I think I paced back and forth in the handicapped stall for 15 minutes before exiting the restroom. I put my hand on my stomach and I promised the life inside me, the little piece of heaven, that I would do everything in my power to take care of it. Part of taking care of my baby, means taking care of me... so I headed off to my bootcamp. Outdoors. In August.

After bootcamp, I went to Barnes and Noble and picked myself up a copy of “What to Expect When you are Expecting” and a book for Greg called “The Expectant Father.” When I got home, I told Greg I had gone to the bookstore to pick up a book for school and had grabbed a book for him too. I pulled it out of the bag, and had stashed the test (in a plastic bag) inside the front cover. He looked at the title of the book... then opened the cover and looked at the test... then looked at me... and said “Are you pregnant?” I never want to forget the look on his face when I said yes. The strongest man I know almost fell down because he got week in the knees. I could see so much pride in his eyes.

We went to our favorite place, Grimaldi’s for pizza and root beer to celebrate and then plotted how to tell family and friends. This was also the last time we ate Grimaldi’s... as the thought of it, even now, makes me nauseous.

We told Greg’s parents the following week on the day they helped up make an offer on our first house. Greg’s mom was ecstatic and Greg’s Dad seemed happy but a little confused.

We told my parents on my Mom’s 50th birthday. I gave her a book called “Read to Me, Grandma” with a card from the baby. My mom, of course, was elated. And I looked over at my Dad and he, of course, had his famous “twinkle” glistening in his eyes. I get the waterworks from Dad. Mom is a bit more stoic.

The universal response to the news of our pregnancy was "That was quick!" I know we will forever have people doing the math when we tell them the date of our wedding and the date of our eldest's birth.

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I’ll be back soon with everything I can remember about the first trimester...