Baby, Baby

Today, I was thinking back to when I was pregnant. It seems so long ago and, as much as I am blessed to have had 2 beautiful and healthy babies, I am quite happy to no longer be pregnant. Here is a list of 5 things I distinctly remember about being pregnant, remembering these things is what make me certain that yet another baby IS NOT in my immediate or distant future.

1. Ultrasound Worries

Every night before a scheduled ultrasound, I remember getting this gut-wrenching feeling, thinking that I would get to the ultrasound, the specialist would find that there were TWO babies in my womb, or that the baby had some kind of health problem. I remember getting so stressed about the ultrasound that it made my morning sickness worse. This in and of itself would not be enough to never have a baby again, but coupled with an ultrasound specialist who would leave the room unexpectedly to fetch the doctor, that is enough.

For my second baby, I was living in Quebec over the first half of my pregnancy and, after a night of worrying about what the ultrasound might turn up, the specialist walked out of the room unexpectedly, stating that she needed the doctor's opinion about something. Had she told me that it was because she couldn't get a good measurement because of the baby's position, that would have been okay. The fact that she just ran out to get the doctor made me want to punch her because she made me think that my baby was not in perfect health.

2. The Comfort Factor

Going to bed every night, even when I wasn't even showing yet, was one of the hardest tasks of the day. I remember spending all night flipping around and punching pillows to try to get comfortable. Of course, as soon as I was finally comfortable, my husband would move. He would either get into my space, or he would move because having my leg draped over his face just was not comfortable for him, either way, it sucked. Out of the 10 hours I would be in bed, at least 5 of those hours would be spent getting comfortable.

3. Pain

Is it just me, or does a normal headache just feel worse when you're pregnant? Of course, when your pregnant, no matter how much you hurt or where, the doctor says, "tylenol". I once complained to my doctor and asked him to write me a prescription and, when I looked at the paper, it said, "TYLENOL"! Thanks a lot, buddy. The worst of it was when the pelvic pain started in my 4th month, when I could hardly walk and, somehow, doctors, friends and family would take it upon themselves to tell me that it meant that I needed to walk. How do people expect you to have motivation to walk when you are carrying 30 pounds of extra weight and your pelvis feels like it's in the wrong place? I wouldn't even have to finish this list to not want to be pregnant again, this one is enough.

Carrying on...

4. Friends and Family

Don't you just LOVE how, the moment you tell someone you're pregnant, the first thing they do after the initial "congrats" is bombard you with advice about raising your unborn child and grab the chocolate bar out of your hand? Admittedly, not all the advice was bad, but when I was having my first child, it was overwhelming. When I was pregnant with my second child, the advice was still fresh enough in my mind that I could quote every word that came out of their mouth.

5. Hormones

If there's anything my husband can remember quite distinctly about my pregnancies, it was the hormones. I sometimes laugh at Jude because he can being crying one second and laughing the next, but that's how I was when I was pregnant! Now, you know it was bad when the woman actually whole-heartedly admits it, I WAS HORMONAL! There are not many things that I will agree with my husband about as far as "emotions" go, but those 18 months of pregnancy (2 babies, remember?)were, by far, the most emotionally unstable months of my life.

Even though the pregnancies were difficult and I often felt like a giant balloon, the babies aren't so bad. Like I said, they're a blessing. Sometimes I think that God makes it hard to be pregnant so that the pain of labor will pale in comparison to the thought of one more day with baby on the inside, scratching at your womb. Plus, it helps to know that, at the end of it, there will be a tiny, wrinkly human, waiting to be loved and cuddled!