An Ad to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Dirty diaper and soiled clothes left in the middle of my bed.

Undrained tub post baby bath. (Is still undrained.)

The dinner (and dessert) I was supposed to eat with two of my best friends who came over for dinner. Notice, food is still there, friends are not.

Two things I never seem to be without these days. The baby monitor and pads that I have to stuff in my bra to keep from leaking breast milk all over the place. Very sexy!

The (pumped) breast milk I had to give MKB because he depleted everything I had to offer straight from the source.

Oh thank God! He's down... at least temporarily.

Which means I can eat dinner and try to embrace a small window of peace and quiet. 

The Marathon that is Pregnancy

Over the past 9 months I have documented stories and encounters of different types, all relating to this crazy journey called pregnancy. As MKB's due-date approaches, I thought it was time to organize those thoughts and put them down in blog-history so that one day he will understand the bigger picture of how he got here and some of what his (self-proclaimed AMAZING) mother went through along the way. :)

FAVORITE FOODS...

• Sweet pickles 
• Hamburgers
• Rice
• Quiznos veggie sandwich with turkey, hold the mushrooms and the olives
• Grilled cheese with turkey
• Regular Ruffles potato chips
• Birthday cake (for a short period of time)
• Tuna salad (which, I was only allowed to eat in moderation because doctors worry about mercury poisoning)
• Nectarines
• Lemon flavored Italian ice, lemon water, lemonade... (you get the drift)
• Chicken fingers from Sedgefield's pool-side cafe
• Ginger
• Fresh veggies
• Carbonated beverages

THINGS THAT DROVE ME CRAZY...

• Small bathrooms
• Ridiculously skinny pregnant women
• People who say, "oh, your body will never be the same again."
• Being hot
• Waiting 45 mins to an hour and a half to see the doctor
• My legs touching at the top
• When people would take food off my plate (This, and my long-list of cravings mentioned above, probably contributed to the leg-touching problem)
• Giant boobs, boob sweat... basically everything to do with my boobs (sorry MKB, TMI) 
• Having to pee 100 times a day
• Constantly being asked to pee in a cup - especially when I could no longer see my crotch!
• Not knowing when our kiddo would arrive

INAPPROPRIATE THINGS PEOPLE SAID TO ME THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER SAY TO A PREGNANT WOMAN (OR ANY WOMAN FOR THAT MATTER)...

• "You look very healthy." (Code for saying, "you look fat!")
• "I can tell your hips are preparing for birth."
• "Oh wow!"
• "You are huge!"
• "You are much prettier when you are NOT pregnant."
• Any thing that comes remotely close to this conversation: 
• Waitress: "Are you having a boy?" 
• Me: "Yes"
• Waitress: "I can tell because women who are having boys look ugly; women who are having girls look pretty." 
• Me: "Um... ok."
• "Just wait until your milk comes in."
• "At least you don't wear makeup to try and cover it up."

UNEXPECTED BODY CHANGES...

• The traveling belly button... it moved up and out!
• A thicker neck!
• Hands falling asleep while I was sleeping (or trying to sleep) and aching so badly they would wake me up.
• Swollen ankles with relatively normal feet - imagine under-the-skin ankle weights!
• Inability to rotate (like normal) from side to side. 
• How difficult it became to bend down and pick things up!
• How bad my ribs hurt.
• When I had to go... I HAD TO GO!

THINGS I HAVE LOVED....

• Feeling him move
• Ultrasounds
• Playing bluegrass music and watching my belly jump all around
• Talking to Mike about the type of parents we want to be
• Imagining what MKB will look like
• The outpouring of love from friends and family