Something in the water...

When I first found out I was pregnant, I started to think about who else I knew that was pregnant and was shocked at how many people were obviously "gettin busy" around the same time as Jeff and I were. Must have been a cold front or something back in Feb/March time frame because I realized I had so many friends that were also expecting.

At this point, my due date is the last of all of theirs. So, I was going to get to hear all about what their delivery process was like and how they managed pain, in-laws, babies, etc... Personally, I don't mind going last in this race to motherhood.

So - a "shout out" to all my preggers friends...
1. My colleague, Tiffany, who I work with every Wednesday - due 3 days before me.
2. My friend/Neighbor Mendy - Due at the end of October.
3. My cousin McGee - Due the first week of November.
4. My friend Susan - Due the end of October.
5. My friend Kathleen - The ONLY one on this list having a Girl scheduled for the end of October - the rest of us are bringing baby boys in to the world. Watch out Kathleen!
6. My Friend Erica - she got a head start on all of us and her baby boy Rocco came a little early.

So, that's 7 of us that were all pregnant, hormonal and hungry. And what's funny is that now that I'm heading in to the home stretch, I have 3 more friends that just found out they will be welcoming babies in the Spring. I think I've reached the age where weddings are fewer and farther between but now we all have babies in our bellies. Personally, I don't like this phase because I have to come up with a calendar of when I can drink with each of these friends again. It's stressful to lose girlfriends left and right to the pregnancy bug - no sushi, no wine drinking, no pedicures and not nearly enough tennis. All that leaves us to do is gripe and complain about our husbands and how they "just don't get it". Lucky for us - we still have fun doing that.

I wanted to do a little breakdown of the pregnancy to date...

1st Trimester
I found out I was pregnant on March 29th. I went in to a complete melt down thinking back to my partying at the St. Paddy's Day parade that began at 11am and finally came to a crashing finish at 2am. I was certain our baby was probably floating in booze with all the drinking I had done. We were not the couple that had "pregnancy scares" - we were the couple that wasted a ton of money on negative pregnancy tests. It was never even a consideration that I would have been pregnant - so I was a little shocked at all 4 of those little positive pregnancy tests. Since then, I've been reassured by several friends that they too were in the same hangover predicament that I was in and that their babies all turned out great. Good thing!

I had a little bit of morning sickness that lasted almost a month at the end of the 1st Trimester. Non-stop nausea but no actual getting sick - so that is a positive. I got very ill at the smell and thought of chicken, veggies and almost all other healthy items. Welcome to my ice cream and Fritos world. I even brought back bean dip from my college days because nothing could compare to a can of cold mushy beans on Scoops Fritos.

The one part of the first trimester that I will likely never forget is the tenderness/soreness in the "girls" - Not only was I popping out and sporting the "double boob", but the pain was unreal. And, I have a husband who likes to walk around and "honk" each boob at his leisure. The only rule we have is that you can't do that in public - yes, we had to actually make that rule. During the first trimester, he became scared of my chest. The cry of pain that he would get from me when he would forget and give the girls a good squeeze would make him run out of the room. I don't think he has "Tune in Tokyo-ed" my chest since. That's one way to break a habit. ;-)

2nd Trimester
The second trimester was AWESOME! I was no longer having to take a nap every day. I was starting to show, but could still play tennis and was totally up for being the Designated Driver as I went along with friends as if there was no real difference. I would drink root beers, virgin Pina Coladas, virgin Bloody Mary's, etc... People who got drunk around me made me laugh and I had tons of patience in dealing with those situations. I had little patience for much else though, but as long as I was made to laugh, I could handle quite a bit of the shannanigans.

There were some hard moments - a very good friend got married in New Orleans. Being from Baton Rouge and having spent almost no time in New Orleans sober (it was where we went to "party"), I had a feeling this was going to be a challenge for me. It was actually great. The wedding was beautiful and the reception had great Louisiana food and lots of wonderful people. I had a hard time at the reception but I think it was just jealousy that I could not party with the group in The Big Easy. Other than that, we took trips to Austin, Fredericksburg, the lake, weekends with friends - and none of it bothered me. I was determined to be the pregnant girl who did not change much....boy, just wait till that 3rd Trimester.

The second trimester also brought some of the most exciting parts of the pregnancy. I started to feel the baby move. We found out it was a healthy baby boy. I started to show and people finally stopped saying "you don't even look pregnant". I had gained over 20 pounds -- how in the world did I look just the same? And, why have I stressed all these years over a 10 pound weight gain? It became very real to me in the second trimester that we were welcoming a baby in to our home. It was neat and I was excited. Completely overwhelmed and freaking out, but excited.

3rd Trimester
"Cool Mary" left the building in the third trimester. I am fat, swollen, sick and tired of watching people drink and carry on around me and ready to be done with this whole thing. However, I still have tons of energy - which is great. I am getting more accomplished in a day then I expected - so that is great. The downsides are that my feet ache, my back feels like it is about to snap, my hips have become a wishbone that is apparently trying to be torn in half and my husband is so completely freaked out about his "new wife" that we can't go a day without a blow up.

I've often compared being pregnant to playing the game Catch Phrase. The "ticking/beeping" gets faster and faster and faster as you get closer to the buzzer and you don't want to be left holding the game piece when the buzzer finally goes off. I'm a list maker and a deadline keeper. I like to document processes and have a true grasp of how things will fall in to place. It keeps my anxiety at bay when I feel like I can control things. I realize this is a character flaw as well as a good thing. In pregnancy - a flaw. The "beeping" was constantly in my head and getting faster - what we had to get done by what date and I did not like to deviate from that plan. And, I did not "take it easy" when my plans were challenged. My plans were not that crazy - and not too hard to keep...

Office (now the baby's room) Cleared out - deadline end of July - Check
New office completely set up - deadline end of August - Check
Baby room set up - deadline end of September - Check
Name for Baby - deadline end of October - we will make this.
Bag packed for hospital - November 5th - we will make this.
All purchases used upon his arrival completed - November 5th - we will make this.
Baby here - deadline end of November - really hoping to beat this deadline - don't think I can control this one though.

My thoughts today:
All in all, it's been a good pregnancy. One trip to the emergency clinic and only one fight with a friend is not too bad. I think the trick to making the pregnancy great is to laugh at the newest symptoms and be glad to know they are going to go away. For instance, what some call "peach fuzz," I call "holy crap I have a hairy belly." So, laugh at it. Try to enjoy it and know that 9 months is a long time to be pregnant, but elephants have to go 22 months. It could be worse.

Now, I still have another month before this is over - so I may take this positive attitude and throw it out the window. But, at least it's not hot. The weather is great and the colder it gets, the less I have to show of my skin (which has little white dots on it now - sigh).

Best of luck to all my friends who are about to pop at any minute and to my friends who are just starting this process. And high five to the friends that are drinking a glass of wine and calling all of us big old suckers. Right there with ya!

Till next time...