PheMOMena

Exactly two years ago today hubs and I made my pregnancy "Facebook official" with this picture. The caption read: ' Well now, it looks like 2016 is shaping up to be a new kind of adventure at our house... #NewParents #Preggo #MomToBe #DadToBe #Pregnant #AprilBaby #PregnancyAnnouncement.' Amazingly, it took more than a few of our friends a little while to realize what we were doing in this picture. Maybe they were already tired of autumn scenery on their Facebook timelines? They did get it though and this is one of our most liked pictures on Facebook.  How did you announce your pregnancy? If you are having another child, how will you announce it?

Ah, the joys of pregnancy. Amirite, ladies? What you will discover VERY early on is that pregnancy is about growing a healthy baby AND getting examined. Exams, exams, exams... and a few blood tests. Trust me, readers, I am certainly no prude, however, there is nothing that prepares you for the number of times your doctor (and whoever is assisting him) will see your nether regions during this 10 month time period. I mean, it is like a party where you don't wear pants. Pantless party - population you and one sturdy pair of stirrups. Mercy!  It starts rather early too. It isn't like they give you a chance to get comfortable with the idea of going from a pap smear once every two years to throwing your feet above your head every other office visit. They don't really ease a girl into this. As I recall, you are safe for the first visit because they don't REALLY know if you are carrying an energy zapping parasite , er, baby. You go in and say "hey, I think I might be...

I am awake in the wee hours of the morning, staring at my daughter who finally decided that sleep was something that she would grant the large peasants that fulfill her every need. Once she GOES to sleep, she generally sleeps for 7 hours or so, but GETTING her to concede the day is where the problems lies. We are working on it. So much has been going on this last month. Some very happy family times and some very disappointing times. A crazy election season, what folks are saying is the beginning of the end for the US and world relations. Loss of rights, loss of life, a pipeline, violence and political gain. It is like Dynasty is happening, in real life. (Y'all remember Dynasty, don't you?) This is NOT a political post... because I have a whole other blog for that... but I will say that in the last month and a half, hubs and I have shared our fears of raising a biracial daughter in this world. Some people won't get it, because they won't ever have to raise a biracia...

One year ago I found out I was pregnant. I know that I have an infant and life seems to go by MONTHS at a time now, instead of days, but it really doesn't seem like a year ago. It seems like 15 years ago. Let me explain. Hubs and I talked about planning a pregnancy. Since we are (a bit) outside the prime baby making years we definitely had a talk about the possibility of not ever being parents. We were firm on the details... if we were to "get pregnant" that would be cool; if we didn't, that would be fine too... and we were not going to have any medical intervention. So IVF was off the table for us. We were just going to try and see what would happen. And guess what? We tried for a year and nothing happened. Not a thing. Month after month it seemed like our want for a baby increased and we were shot down time after time. It was sad. By July 2015, after 13 months of trying, I set up an appointment with my gynecologist to make sure that we should keep trying. Appointm...