Welcome to Love, Laundry and Laughter!
While I am not new to blogging, this is my first mommy post.
Nearly 9 months ago I gave birth to two of the most beautiful baby boys. From their first breath they have been nearly perfect children. "Nearly" because we have endured being peed on while changing diapers, barfing, difficult breast feeding, middle of the night screamings and now we are up to temper tantrums. Who knew that an 8 month old child could throw a temper tantrum? I had no idea. But, they have slept through the night (most nights) since they were four months old. They are happy, wonderful, friendly babies that people love to be around.
As a more "mature" mother, translation: old, I have watched my younger sister and older brother not to mention scores of fertile friends raise their children. Many times I have said to myself, "I would never let my kids do that." Yes, I have judged. I was a step-mother for a long time. I have done the teenage years, argued over the cleanliness of bedrooms, whose turn it is to clean the bathroom and even taught kids to drive. I have much more intestinal fortitude than I thought I did :) My point is that I am not without experience.
Babies! Babies are a whole different thing all together. No two babies are alike and that goes for my twins. One is laid back and capable of entertaining himself. The other is a smuggler. He's not a mommy's boy he loves daddy or anyone else that will hold him. He is happiest on a lap.
Twin pregnancies don't exactly adhere to the common pregnancy beliefs such as "morning sickness ends with the beginning of the second trimester." My morning sickness began with, "Congratulations, you're pregnant!" and ended with an emergency C-section.
Well-meaning, experienced, ladies made suggestions out the wazoo! Six months into my pregnancy, they would tell me, "Just keep the Saltines close." Each time I would have to bite my tongue to keep from saying, "A cracker?! Really?? You mean to tell me that I didn't need three medications all I needed was a freakin' cracker to fix this?"
I tried Saltines.
Saltines gave me the worst, and I mean worst, heartburn you could imagine, second only to mustard and did nothing to alleviate my nausea.
When I told these well meaning ladies about the heartburn they countered with, "How about Ginger Ale?" Ginger ale made me want to vomit. I tried Sea Bands. They helped a little but within two days my hands and wrists hurt so badly that I couldn't even lift a glass of water. I restricted my diet to low carb high protein to help with the ups and downs of digestion. That just made my constipation worse. Yeah, constipation. There's a wonderful side effect of pregnancy that no one tells you about until you're already well on your way!
I was on three, yes three, anti nausea medications and they just took the edge off. I tried acupuncture. Acupuncture worked wonders, but I would have had to go in for treatment nearly every day for it to continue to work. In the end the only cure for both my nausea and my skyrocketing blood pressure was birth.
The acid reflux was hideous! I drank Gaviscon like it was going out of style and ate Tums like they were M&Ms. Zantac barely helped. The doctor finally resorted to prescribing Nexium for me which, thank God, actually worked.
Any woman who bragged about "feeling great" or "never feeling better than when they were pregnant" I wanted to slap in the head or at the very least kick in the shins! I was jealous that I didn't get to have that kind of "dreamy" experience. One friend even told me to, "Just relax and enjoy being pregnant." I don't remember exactly what I said but she ended up apologizing. Hmmmm come to think of it, I should probably apologize to her.
I was a high risk pregnancy. So in addition to all the rest of the issues that I had, I was not permitted to exercise. I was not on full bed rest but I wasn't allowed to do anything either. I wasn't even allowed to walk around the block! Going into the OBGYN's office was work. And being high risk I had to go for weekly "non-stress" tests. Fancy description for monitoring!
I was not a happy pregnant woman. I did not enjoy being pregnant. At one point I called my mother, (thank GOD for my mother) in tears asking, "When do I get to glow?" I'd always heard that pregnant women have a "glow" about them. I didn't glow, well except maybe when my face was bright red from bawling my eyes out or dry heaving over the toilet.
What I did have was my own experience. I was sick, I was nauseas, I (this is undoubtedly the only time in my life that this will happen) was chastised by my doctor for not gaining enough weight. I cried all the time! I endured 6 weeks of Ensure+ shakes because one of the babies had his head embedded in my stomach and I couldn't get solid food down.
I had a sense of smell that would have put a bloodhound to shame! I could smell things that have no odor. I almost offered my services to an officer working with a K-9 unit in the state park. To this day I still can't stand the smell of Dawn with Oil of Olay dish soap.
In a word I was miserable. I hated being pregnant! But I was pregnant. My whole adult life I have felt "on the outside looking in" of this "mom club." I would sit politely at parties and showers and listen to pregnancy and birth stories but I was never really a part of what was going on. I had no story to tell. I couldn't identify with the other women. And, I was jealous.
I have my own story. I am no longer on the outside looking in. I'm part of the group.
I have two of the most beautiful wonderful babies in the entire world. They are perfect in every way and when they are not puking on me or blowing poop out of their diapers I am a...
Happy Mom
