I would write something right now...but I'm overwhelmingly overcome by EVIL CRAMPS, achiness of carpal tunnel, achiness in my shoulders, increasingly painful braxton hicks and pressure from Ryan head butting my cervix...

As Miranda Priestley would say, "THAT'S ALLLLLLLL."

Crazy Things People Say to Pregnant Women

One day I was at church talking to this lady and she precedes to tell me how my body has taken on a new shape and form in pregnancy. Now since I announced my pregnancy these people seem to believe that they could tell every change and detail that has occurred in my body...maybe you can, even if I nor my husband can. But I really think people just like to talk and say WHATEVER they like to pregnant women. Forget the fact that some may be emotional and cry or unemotional and just cuss at you under their breath. For instance these are the things I've heard myself or friends have heard...

• "Your nose is spreading"- but I've only been pregnant for 5 minutes.
• "Oh I just KNEW that was going to happen"- ya think? after people get married they usually procreate!
• "You're shaped like an 'S'!" - WHAT the heezy? But I will admit I thought the same thing one day walking by a mirror.
• "You're carrying the baby in your butt." - don't get that one yet, cuz I've always had a butt!
• "You don't have long to go!" - ANNOYING
• "You're almost there!" - ANNOYING
• "Times flying by soo fast!" - ANNOYING

So if these sayings ever come into your mind while talking to a pregnant person, please be mindful.

THANKS!

Times finally moving

I'm 27 weeks now and finally Evie has started time passing for me again. Remember Evie? "Oh would you like to swing on a star- whoaoooaaa!" From the television show, Out of this World? Great 80s tv. 

I didn't start feeling normal again until like 24 weeks- thank God! Of course I still have my moments of back pain, which are horrendous, but I finally feel like one day this will all be over. Halle-lu-jah! 

It's a B-o-y

So I realized I never revealed the sex of our child on here. We went to get our BIG (get it?) ultrasound on August 25. I had called my mom on the way to the appointment and asked "What will I do if it's a boy?"
Mom- You'll love him and grow with him!
So we're in the room and the ultrasound tech asks if we wanted to know the sex. She begins to take the pictures and it takes her two minutes and she says, "Oh I know what you're having!!" Marc and I look at each other nervously. "It's a boy!"

BLANK STARE.

It's a boy? What do you mean it's a boy? I'm having a girl! Of course from the beginning I told people our child was an equal opportunity child and that God would bless us with what HE wanted us to have. But I was supposed to be having a girl! Marc had a dream it was a girl, I felt like it was a girl, but it was a b-o-y.

After congratulating Marc, I threw my hands and head back in disbelief "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH A BOY?!"

All I could imagine was Marc and the b-o-y playing, yelling, ripping, running, tearing up couches, broken limbs, poison ivy rashes and me ordering special made ear plugs for myself!

On the way out, Marc told me that boys have a special relationship with their mothers. My brother told me it's good for boys to grow up and be mamas boys (really?) I look forward to developing a relationship with my son as I still try to grasp the fact that my fabulous self is having a child.

The good thing is that I know he will grow up to be a WONDERFUL man just like his father and make a lovely girl just as happy as I am. :)

Visit to Toronto/Health Care

So I know it's been a while. Forgive me, I'm pregnant!! Haha, I like using that excuse for anything. Anywhoo, My hubby and I went to Toronto for our 2nd anniversary over the weekend. It was a fabulous trip and we had tons of fun.

One thing I noticed in Toronto was that everyone dressed REALLY nice. The clothes, handbags or accessories didn't have to be designer, it just seemed that everyone was well put together. I had to wonder to myself, why are there no Detroit looking bummy people? Of course they had their bums and hobos as well. One was even laying in the middle of the sidewalk sleeping while others had to walk over him. But then it hit me while watching Sicko by Michael Moore. The Canadians do not have to pay for health care! No insurance coming out of their check, no hospital co-pays or bills to pay so no wonder they can afford to look and dress their best!

People are fighting in the United States over Universal Health Care, when really the United States is pretty much the only country with stature that does not give all citizens free health care! I find it egregious that it is this way. We choose who can receive the best health care. My husband and I work full-time salary jobs and I pay into insurance, around $120 a month. But yet I have a $440 hospital bill that needs to be paid from lab fees during my pregnancy. Aren't these a necessity? Why should we have to pay? This debate could stem into so many other areas as pregnancy is a choice, but something like cancer is not. I support President Obama's plan and believe the United States is behind in a lot of areas...Next up, maternity policies!

Under Emotional

Who's seen the episode of Sex and the City when Miranda found out she was having a boy? I listened to the Directors Cut edition where he explains how he wanted Miranda's reaction of pregnancy to be unlike any other reaction seen on television where she finds out she is having a boy.
Ultrasound tech: "I know the sex do you wanna know??"
Miranda: Um, sure...
Ultrasound tech: It's a BOY!!
Miranda: (nods her head) okay...
Ultrasound tech: It's a Boy! Aren't you excited??!
Miranda: (musters up her fakeness) Oh yes!! Oh boy o boy! It's a boy!!

This episode cracks me up! Like I love that Miranda's true feelings are shown in this episode. She was an underemotional pregnant woman just like me! Even though she's a television character, I really could relate as I wasn't experiencing the excitement as I talked about in the previous blog.

Pregger women are usually perceived to be super overly emotional and cry at anything. Man, I'm just the opposite. My friends call me the "Tin Woman" I will proudly wear the hat!

How under emotional am I? Did anyone see My Sisters Keeper or even a movie like John Q, Steel Magnolios, or any really, really emotional film? Well in My Sisters Keeper, I went with our bookclub. 8 of the girls were BOO-HOOING! I mean crying like they had just missed the rapture. I had no tears. I never have tears unless I have backpain.

Another instance was when I didn't mind friends coming to my mid-pregnancy ultrasound. My husband said he wanted it to be private celebration for the two of us. I couldn't believe it! My usual hard exterior hubby wanted a private moment. To me, it was just another appointment where a friend could join if I wanted. My friend laughed at me and said "What is wrong with you! That's private!!" Oh really? Lol, my bad.

Are you excited??!

Another annoying question I've noticed while pregnant is, "Oh em gee! Are you excited??!!@EK#) 

This answer is usually followed by a mustered up fake, "Mmhmm!" just to appease the person asking. If my mother was around when people asked me that, she'll say "oh pay her no mind, that's just Laura." 

But I had to ask myself why wasn't I feeling the feelings of excitement. Even after the majority of morning sickness passed I was still searching for the missing feelings. I started to wonder if I was a bad person or a future bad mother for not feeling the excitement. The little things that other sappy mothers (Steph) would be super excited for like the hearing the heartbeat, doctors appointments or the anticipation of labor, I just didn't feel the same way.

I was telling these feelings to a good college friend and she explained to me that she felt like I did while pregnant. Her words were encouraging to me. God had told her that having a baby is a blessing, yes, but just like any new relationship, you have yet to get to know and develop a bond/relationship with the child. So it is okay, if you do not have those initial feelings that some mothers have. It does not mean you are a bad person or horrible future mother. It just means it will take time to develop those feelings, but they will come. 

Thanks, my college friend. I felt much better after that. 

Back Pain

In my 3rd month of pregnancy I started having some really intense back pain. It would come around 4 times a week for about 10-30 minutes or so.  The pain was so intense that I couldn't move whenever it would overtake me. All I could do was cry through the pain.

Friend: Hey Laura

Me: Hi (sobbing) 

Friend: OMG, are you okay? 

Me: No, I'm dying...

Friend: What? Shut up? What's wrong?!

Me: My baaaack. (Sob)Killin me, I'm dying. (Sob) If I die, you can have my Tiffany beads.

Friend: Shut up! I mean, but I'll wear them mugs though. 

On that day I had to head to the doctor because the back pain was accompanied by abdomen cramping and shooting pains. I had a UTI-typical in pregnancy, slight kidney infection (um ok) and possible kidney stones...for real? WTH?! It seemed as though pregnancy was only getting better and better. The doc checked to make sure I wasn't experiencing any contractions or symptoms of pre-term labor, which I wasn't, thank God. It just was a lot of pain for 18 weeks. 

I was ordered to do a kidney ultrasound which was clean. The doc told me my kidneys were "beautiful". Which meant that my pain for the moment was just pregnancy...I wanted to cry again, but since I'm under emotional in this pregnancy (more about that later) I didn't. Instead I developed my usual bad attitude, thanked God for clean kidneys and went on about my day. 

"So what can I do for the pain?" I asked my doc. Then he gave me words I love to hear...

"Ya know pregnancy is strange, they say you can't drink, have coffee or whatever. You can't have aspirin or motrin...but you can have NARCOTICS!"

Tylenol 3s for me! Thanks Doc! 

The cheesy stuff!

So I'm 29 years old and in my entire life I have never ate more than a spoonful of macaroni and cheese, prior to spitting it out. I wanted to like mac n cheese, it looked good, smelled good and pretty much everyone I've ever known loves the stuff. But me.

I visited my BFFs house where her mom had made some of the cheesy stuff. I hadn't been able to eat all day. I had heard and experienced that your taste can really change in pregnancy. So I decided to try the cheesy stuff. Heck why not?

One bite and the past 29 years seemed to make no sense.

This stuff was AWESOME!

I could eat mac n cheese! I was beyond excited and had to call all my family and friends to tell them about it. They welcomed me into the club.

It took 29 years for me to love mac n cheese. My BFFs mom looked in shock as I ate the cheesy stuff, "Well, pregnancy will do it to ya!" she said.

Food- Friend and Foe

Food can be a pregnant woman's best friend or worst enemy. Kinda like your husband or that ex-boyfriend that you've completely erased from your memory. 

Some foods/drinks that helped me-

Strawberry toast

french fries

oatmeal

salad* 

Whopper Jr. 

Hated it!

Orange juice

Grapefruit

Cheerios

Aruba Nachos- that turned super ugly

How?

Warning: TMI

As my tummy gets bigger, I find it increasingly hard to wash my butt in the shower I can't reach it! I had to ask my sister how I'm supposed to do it...she told me to just 'lean wit' it, rock wit' it'! So that's what I did. 

I guess it works.

Who would have thought that would have ever been an issue? Not I. 

"I don't throw up" (Insert Smug Look)

11 weeks, I was at our bookclub pamper party and let out an enormous burp. YUCK. I burp all the time since I've been pregnant (ok I burped a lot before too) but now it sounds like I'm going to hurl all my guts right onto the floor. So a friend responded with:
Friend: "Are you going to throw up?"
Laura: (Insert smug look) "I don't throw up"
I stuck my nose up in the air and walked away. I don't throw up! I'm 11 weeks! I've made it almost through my first trimester and had escaped the ugly world of vomitting. I was so proud!I had not turned into my sister who couldn't keep water down if she wanted to. I was on my way.

...Until one Tuesday morning going in for my check up, I had drowned a glass of good ole OJ. I began to feel an upsetting movement in my stomach. "Ughhh" I said. The next thing I knew I was sweating bullets as I stood over the toilet, hoping that my glasses didn't fall into the bowl below.

I had thrown up.

UGHHHH.

I thought I was different? NOT.

This was followed by many episodes throughout until I was 18 weeks. I'm 20 now, hopefully it doesn't come back.

You would think throw up knew not to appear while you are in your car. My dear husband was driving home and I was in the front seat. I burped and felt it coming up so I reached for a plastic bag. I guess I was too slow because it (cupcakes and ice cream w/ sprinkles) ended up all over my legs (was wearing shorts) in the car. GROSS!!!! And yes, I could see the sprinkles. Ahhh the joys!

Sidenote: I...how about that? I forgot what I was going to say. Pregger brain!

I feel weird.

Was my morning sickness going to be like my sisters? God I hope not! She would throw up all day long for the first 12 weeks and her pretty brown skin had turned to a nice chalky white color. She could not keep anything on her stomach which would lead to hospitals, IVs with fluids or bedrest. Nope, my morning sickness would be different because it was MINE. 

I started to feel weird...blah...flu like symptoms- achy body, unsettled stomach, slight headache and kinda just UGH. I would wake up and try to get ready which would only make it worst. Of course when 12 noon came around and morning was over, the sickness would stay for the rest of the day. 

MY morning sickness started off while at Famous Dave's. I ordered my usual dish of lemon roasted chicken and could not eat any of it. It simply tasted BLAH. "What is going on?" I asked myself. I LOVELOVELOVE Famous Dave's and couldn't eat anything but a salad for dinner. For dessert we ordered bread pudding. It wasn't until we were driving off in the car when I realized that was THEE best thing I had ate all day. I mentioned to Marc we should have gotten an order of bread pudding to take home. His response was that he would just make me some...normally I would have been find with him experimenting and eating the pudding around midnight, but something came over me. "UMMM, no, I'm gonna need their bread pudding and NOooowwW." What was this urgency to want to eat something specific? Why couldn't I eat Marc's bread pudding? 

This is what you call simply pregnancy. At times I didn't want everything or anything specific. It just depended on the moment. I could think I wanted something and once I tasted it, want something completely different. I didn't totally understand what was happening to my body, but I realized one important thing very quickly. But the main factor was that I would have to have it NOW. A pregnant stomach does not wait for anyone. The hunger urge to eat is so overwhelming that you cannot think about anything else. If you don't get your food, then basically your life or anyone else's life around you is over. 

I felt weird at work too. How I wish morning sickness knew to only appear at home and while you are in the bed, preferably while sleeping. There was this SMELL/ODOR/SOMETHING in my office. I couldn't take it because it made me gag. I relocated about three times before I settled back into cubeville where the air runs freely. I get tired of people asking me, "Why arent you in your office??" I just tell them I got demoted so then they will really leave me alone. It's been about 12 weeks now and I still can't go back into my office. 

Oh my goodness, I wanted to keep writing, but cannot keep my eyes open and its only 9:30pm...did I mention I've been in the bed since 7:30pm? This is what you call- exhaustion! Everything aches and I'm too tired to continue to type without writing in gibberish. More to come later. I. Must. Stop. Now. 

Sidenote: Has anyone ever watched the movie, Something New, and watched Alfre Woodward's face when she realized that Blair Underwood may propose to her daughter, Sanaa Lathan? "Oh my Goooddd" Her face is priceless and I am cracking up right now. 

Road to Pregnancy

I've always wanted children but wasn't exactly the kid-friendly person. My hubby is a kid magnet. Kids from all over the country stand in line to play with him. Ok, maybe not all over, but he does have a swarm of kids surrounding him on any given Sunday after church. Me on the other hand, could play with kids for about 5 minutes before my ADD would kick in. 

To be a woman, means that you birth babies, this is what separates us from the men. When Marc and I were dating, the question everyone asks was "When are you getting married?" After Marc and I got hitched the question immediately became, "How is married life?" which was quickly followed by, "When are you going to have a baby?" It seems as though no one is ever satisfied with someone ELSE'S present state of life, they are always wanting more.

I wanted kids, but also looked at it as it was just the next step in life. I never really thought about what it would mean to me, my body, or overall lifestyle. Although I did think it was incredibly cool that Marc and I could actually CREATE a life and therefore we started trying in December 2008. 

Call me Fertile Mertile like my mother because it happened the next month! January 19-MLK day and one day before the first African American President of the United States, Barack Obama was sworn into office. I woke Marc up around 6:50am and showed him shirt that read, "Baby Daddy!" We called our two sets of parents on three-way and shared the news with them. Everyone was super excited! That Thursday Marc traveled back to Tampa to work the Superbowl. I had been feeling slightly crampy and unsure of what was happening in my body. Long story short, the next day my doctor confirmed a miscarriage. With Marc in Tampa I stayed with my parents. It was interesting to experience excitement on Thursday and sadness on Friday. I imagined I would not truly be able to move past the loss, until I was pregnant again. So we kept trying...even when the doctor told us to wait- we didn't. 

It was May 17 and five days after a negative test we got a Big Fat Positive (BFP)!! The excitement was back and we immediately prayed for a happy and healthy child to be delivered at FULL Term with no complications. The journey had started... 

Song: Bless the Lord (Son of Man) by Tye Tribbett & G. A. 

You are my Strength, My Deliverer

The One who rescued me

My hope, my redeemer

Your love has set me free!! 

Today we find out It's A.....

-JOHN 16:21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that her child is born into the world.

This verse has been at the forefront of my mind since my Uncle showed it to me. While my mom had told me this had been her experience, she didn't know it was a Bible verse. I figured my mom was just talking. Since it's scripture, I hold it dear to my heart. What I find so true about the verse though, is it is not just talking about giving labor...the 9-10 months of pregnancy itself, brings pain.

Today I am 19 weeks pregnant with our first child. It's going to be one of my greatest (does this website have sarcastic faces?) pregnancy days as we find out the sex of the baby.

The purpose of this blog is to tell of MY pregnancy experience. Not yours, not yo mamas or sisters, but MINE. It's been a tad bit difficult, but I'll explain all that in the entries to come.

While some may understand my experience, humor and lack of emotions, I figure most will not. But once again it's my story. So I'm gonna tell it!

O! Before I forget, some posts will have song lyrics or verses which encouraged me or helped me through the day. I hope they will be a blessing to you as they are to me.