There are two very special things that my family values: Reading and Music. Reading has always held a special place in my heart and although my husband probably doesn’t want to join book clubs or watch book awards being handed out on television, he reads even more than I do. Now that we have children,…
Pregnancy
I Hoard Pregnancy Tests
I may not be good at much, but I am really good at getting pregnant. Sure, I only have a 50% retention rate, but infertile, I am not. In July, Dan and I marked our four year wedding anniversary, and in that time I have been pregnant four times. I really liked being pregnant the…
When Will I Learn?
“We’re pregnant again” she told me. Oh bliss! Oh joy! Oh the wonderful blessing of new life! When are you due? She told me, and then “but I will probably have the baby sooner because of the scheduled C-section.” What?! You don’t want to try for a VBAC? You know if you do, you should…
Get Out That Door
I have dealt with anxiety my entire life. It isn’t debilitating and I manage it well, but every once in a while I start to notice that familiar feeling of fear and stress rise up within me. Because it doesn’t happen often, I tend not to notice it until it has taken a firm grasp…
The Tweetest Thing: A Birth Story
Here is my confession: I don’t like reading Birth Stories. I love the actual story, but when written down they tend to get long and wordy before they start getting interesting. While I’m at it, I might as well admit something else: After going through hours of labour, the memory of my birthing experiences always seem…
Mama Home
“Dada? Mama sick. Mama sick. Mama no home.” We had just seen Cameron for the first time after leaving home for the hospital nineteen hours earlier to deliver his baby brother. For the first time in a long time, someone other than Mommy or Daddy had put him to bed the night before and for…
Splash!
You can just picture it can’t you? An extremely pregnant woman. In public. Surrounded by people. Suddenly, the camera zooms in on her face and she stops… startled. “I think…” she says, “I think my water just broke!” Every sitcom or movie that stars a pregnant character has a scene like this. People rush to…
Ambiguity
Seventeen years ago. I was a nine year old little girl unbelievably excited about something special. My Mom was having another baby. I was much older than Cameron was so I understood that it would take time for this new little baby to grow inside my mother. I knew when she was due and I counted…
Anti-Gravity
As my belly has grown larger and my pregnant days continue to tick off, gravity seems to be my worst enemy. Everything seems heavier. I have never been so conscious of the natural phenomenon that attracts my body to the center of the earth as when I am pregnant. I have never been more aware…
Not At My Best
I don’t know what changed. A due date is really no different than any other day late in pregnancy. But since my due date passed, I have hit a wall. A switch has been thrown and I seem to have reached a breaking point. I don’t need this baby to be born right now. I…
Pregnancy Plateau
I have made it. To that pinnacle of pregnancy. My due date. And still my baby is snug inside of me. Sigh. Today is precisely why I hate due dates. Because even though everyone knows that babies are rarely born on their actual estimated date of delivery, a due date feels more like an expiry…
