Not in the world, mind you. I'm talking about my workplace! There are so many pregnant women at my workplace. I just found out about two more today! I was shocked! (And giddy with excitement!)
So, in honor of them and in light of my new information, I decided to post a few things relating to pregnancy and babies.
FACT: You'll never be the kind of parent you imagine you will be. I am not intending to sound mean here, this is just the cold hard truth. Whatever daydreams you had, you'll get into situations you never imagined and have reactions you couldn't have planned for. There will be times when you feel like the worst parent in the world! There will be times when you'll cry because you miss your kid(s), and you don't want to leave them. Then there will be times when you wish for nothing but twenty minutes away from your kids... or even two days. The point is, you can never anticipate how it will be to be a parent. It's as foreign as being in love before you ever were in love. No one can say anything to truly prepare you for it; it just is what it is. Don't worry so much!
MYTH: There is one parenting style that 'works.' There is no way that you HAVE to do things. There is no way that you SHOULD do things. There is only what works for you, your spouse AND your kids. Yes, your kids will partially dictate what you do as a parent, whether you want them to or not. In my opinion, you WANT to tailor your parenting toward the kid that you have... but again, that's just an opinion, and you don't have to do it! Just relax and do what's best for you all at that moment. Don't worry what anyone else thinks (even your own mom), or how it looks, or what your mom would do, or what your preconceived notions would tell you to do. Don't put up those walls! Just relax and do what is best for your family at that time. It'll all come out in the wash.
FACT: You will get dirty.
FACT: You might not be able to shower as often.
MYTH: You can't do the same things that you did before you had kids. The truth? What my mom always says, "You can do anything with kids that you did without kids; it just takes longer." Obviously I'm not saying you should necessarily do things in the COMPANY of your kids, but anything you did in your life before, you'll be able to do when you have kids if you just make the effort.
MYTH: Childbirth is scary and painful. This is going to sound strange. I LOVE giving birth. Okay, strange, but true. One of the crowning (har har) achievements of my life was giving birth to my girls. Both times. I loved it! It was great! And at the end, everyone was happy and I had a great little baby in my arms, looking into my eyes. I would do it again, and again, and again... if I didn't have to be pregnant every time. I seriously think fondly on the actual active labor and birth of both of my daughters, and that is part of why I would like to have more kids: just to give birth again! It's an amazing experience, unlike any other.
FACT: You will get sick more often with kids in the house.
FACT: Kids fill your life with joy. Even on the bad days, you'll never be able to imagine what your life was like before the kid came along. It'll be like a distant dream... HA! Sometimes that's not so good! But really, the joy far exceeds the annoyance or any pain and suffering.
Well, that's all that I'm going to bombard you all with at the moment. I think I'll post some more information soon about health during birth, labor, infant-stage babies, etc, so if you're interested in that, be looking for it!
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
My first post... is going to be a-typical!
Now, normally, and probably later today, I will not be posting mere things related to my life in journalistic style. But I thought this was extremely significant, and somewhat related to this blog.
Since I've known my husband, I've known a guy named "John". I won't divulge too much about "John" that anyone could guess his real identity. However, today, my husband and I were going to get bagels after going to the chiropractor together, and we ran across "John" at his work. Now, this might not seem really inspired or strange, however, we have not had a good phone number or address for John for some time now, probably about 2 years. We've had a few conversations about him, mainly because we wonder and worry about him. We have run into him previously in the strangest places, seems most of the time to be the current place that he works. Most of the time, if you lose contact with someone you don't know especially well, then you don't think much about it, but I have thought about John multiple times each year.
Let me give you some background about John:
John is a recovering drug addict. He had been clean since we had known him, starting about 6 or 7 years ago, but he had some major life drains and just "bad luck." I mean, think of Charlie Brown's luck; John's luck is worse. He's the sweetest, greatest guy. Really, one of the best I've ever met. But his life just kept throwing things at him that were just so much harder to handle, so much different than my own life's experience, that I just can't hardly fathom.
After talking with him today, I found out that he down-spiraled into a need for rehab again after we lost contact with him. He spent a short time in jail, was a GED tutor while there, and got into a rehab program again. But, it must have been significantly different this time, because in the short 20 minutes that we chatted with him, after he asked and we told about our current lives, he divulged to us about why his rehab didn't work in the past, and why it's working much better now. He was using his AA guys and guys in the houses he was living in as his "higher power," and in his words, he was "praying to the guys in the house, which of course, didn't work and let me down." As you may have guessed this time, a true "higher power" was the answer. He mentioned that running into us was a "God thing," which wasn't at all something he would have said previously, but it sounded so right coming from him.
Not to mention: he has gained 60 pounds. He looks AWESOME. This is how thin he was before: his countenance was gray, his bright blue-gray eyes lacked luster, his face was all cheekbones and his clothes draped his body much like a large hanger. Even his hair seemed thin, though I just assumed that was healthy for him. Now, he looks straight and strong. You can see the frame of his body as well as the muscles supporting it. His face is full, and his skin glows. His hair is a thick, curly auburn. His eyes are clear Pacific blue, and sparkle. Realize that when I last saw him, he was completely drug free and had been for years. But he was not healthy. He did not glow. He was not anywhere near the level of happiness he is now. Not that I assume, after just 7 or 8 months of rehab and living in a House, that he is perfectly happy and loves his life. But there is some contentment and some happiness behind his fresh new countenance.
John is a caring, concerned, naturally loyal, great person. I honestly don't know many better people in this life, and I don't know many that deserve the best out of life the way that he does. Which is why I hope, and will pray, that his Charlie-Brown thunder cloud has finally rolled away, and he can begin experiencing life in a whole new way. I was so happy to run into him, and hope that he and my husband and I can keep in contact this time, and that we can do something, anything, to support him in his new life... because... I want to do something! And he deserves it. And he's in the negatives as far as that goes.
So, again, this is not a typical post for this blog. BUT... from it gleam some great things about life, parenting, health... that I can refer back to later.
All for now...
Since I've known my husband, I've known a guy named "John". I won't divulge too much about "John" that anyone could guess his real identity. However, today, my husband and I were going to get bagels after going to the chiropractor together, and we ran across "John" at his work. Now, this might not seem really inspired or strange, however, we have not had a good phone number or address for John for some time now, probably about 2 years. We've had a few conversations about him, mainly because we wonder and worry about him. We have run into him previously in the strangest places, seems most of the time to be the current place that he works. Most of the time, if you lose contact with someone you don't know especially well, then you don't think much about it, but I have thought about John multiple times each year.
Let me give you some background about John:
John is a recovering drug addict. He had been clean since we had known him, starting about 6 or 7 years ago, but he had some major life drains and just "bad luck." I mean, think of Charlie Brown's luck; John's luck is worse. He's the sweetest, greatest guy. Really, one of the best I've ever met. But his life just kept throwing things at him that were just so much harder to handle, so much different than my own life's experience, that I just can't hardly fathom.
After talking with him today, I found out that he down-spiraled into a need for rehab again after we lost contact with him. He spent a short time in jail, was a GED tutor while there, and got into a rehab program again. But, it must have been significantly different this time, because in the short 20 minutes that we chatted with him, after he asked and we told about our current lives, he divulged to us about why his rehab didn't work in the past, and why it's working much better now. He was using his AA guys and guys in the houses he was living in as his "higher power," and in his words, he was "praying to the guys in the house, which of course, didn't work and let me down." As you may have guessed this time, a true "higher power" was the answer. He mentioned that running into us was a "God thing," which wasn't at all something he would have said previously, but it sounded so right coming from him.
Not to mention: he has gained 60 pounds. He looks AWESOME. This is how thin he was before: his countenance was gray, his bright blue-gray eyes lacked luster, his face was all cheekbones and his clothes draped his body much like a large hanger. Even his hair seemed thin, though I just assumed that was healthy for him. Now, he looks straight and strong. You can see the frame of his body as well as the muscles supporting it. His face is full, and his skin glows. His hair is a thick, curly auburn. His eyes are clear Pacific blue, and sparkle. Realize that when I last saw him, he was completely drug free and had been for years. But he was not healthy. He did not glow. He was not anywhere near the level of happiness he is now. Not that I assume, after just 7 or 8 months of rehab and living in a House, that he is perfectly happy and loves his life. But there is some contentment and some happiness behind his fresh new countenance.
John is a caring, concerned, naturally loyal, great person. I honestly don't know many better people in this life, and I don't know many that deserve the best out of life the way that he does. Which is why I hope, and will pray, that his Charlie-Brown thunder cloud has finally rolled away, and he can begin experiencing life in a whole new way. I was so happy to run into him, and hope that he and my husband and I can keep in contact this time, and that we can do something, anything, to support him in his new life... because... I want to do something! And he deserves it. And he's in the negatives as far as that goes.
So, again, this is not a typical post for this blog. BUT... from it gleam some great things about life, parenting, health... that I can refer back to later.
All for now...
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