Sorry. . . this Air Force wife couldn't resist, but it's true. I'd assume the first time around is the hardest and after that it's generally a lot of work, but not quite as intense. Your body has met these demands before. You're already a part of the mommy "club". So this got me thinking . . . this is another one of those times where being a primary custodial stepmom prior to having a child of my own gives my journey into motherhood some gray area. Am I in boot camp now after going to military school for a few years or will things be extra hard rather than easier because I'll be caring for my first newborn with a preschooler in tow?
Some silly thoughts I had about stepmothering and pregnancy recently for your laughter and enjoyment:
Observation 1:
Although I haven't had a baby yet, I have grown to loathe going shopping with children. It's not just that they hate being in the cart and staying where you can see them, worrying about them breaking or running into something, or even that they ask to have about every fourth item they see at eye level. Though those are definite reasons I try to avoid it, one of the biggest is the likely chance that my child will have to use the bathroom while we are there.
Last night was a perfect example. Dannika had a MAJOR diarrhea blowout while we were at Target and of course, her dad was nowhere to be found. At nine months pregnant, I waddled myself and her to the ladies bathroom where I proceeded to kneel down on dirty bathroom floor, strip Dannika of all her clothes from the waist down, and use nearly half a roll of wet paper towels cleaning poop from pretty much everything but her shoes (though I will say her socks were not salvageable). I called her dad and waited for him to rescue his queen and his princess from the Target bathroom with fresh clothes to wear. Somewhere in the middle of the chaos a thought occurred to me.
This may be the first time I am on a dirty public bathroom floor cleaning poop off of a child's legs, but it certainly won't be the last.
I chuckled to myself. Boot camp.
Observation 2:
Has it occurred to anyone else that waking up in the morning during later pregnancy is kind of like waking up in the morning after a night of heavy partying? One feels dehydrated, stiff, and like the quality of sleep over the course of the last several hours was heavily compromised. The sun is especially bright for some reason.You mosey on over the bathroom, get yourself a cup of water, and contemplate the best way to cover up the bags under your eyes so that your appearance of professionalism will not be compromised at work that day. Luckily, by the third trimester most of us are done throwing up in the morning, though I have heard of some unlucky occurrences of this.
Boot camp.
Observation 3:
"You'll never sleep the same way ever again."
If I had a nickle for every time I heard this one while I was pregnant, I'd have a lot of nickles. People say that even when the baby is sleeping your sleep won't be as restful or as sound. Mama bears are highly alert when it comes to protecting their precious cubs. Although I may not fully understand this yet, my sleep has definitely been compromised since living with and caring for Dannika. I wake up when she goes to the bathroom. I can hear soft crying at the onset of a nightmare from across the house. But mostly, I can count on the fact that if it's a Saturday, Dannika will be up one hour earlier than usual and she'll probably have already made plans for what our day should entail.
Boot camp.
Well, it's almost 10am. I'd better go shower and try to cover up the bags under my eyes. I had a pretty wild night at Target last night.
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