My Life as a Pregnant Woman

The best way for me to organize my thoughts is to start from the beginning. Our story begins with a relatively easy pregnancy. I did have very terrible morning sickness starting in week seven, and ending with a prescription medication three weeks later. After I lost fifteen pounds, and was given the choice of medication or hospitalization.
My baby started kicking at eleven weeks, and never stopped. Since she was so active, I would become nervous if I didn't feel movement every fifteen minutes.
In my twentieth week I had a strange dream which I remember vividly. In the dream I had given birth to a beautiful baby with big eyes and jet black hair. The baby was also very fat. We brought the baby home from the hospital, and we were settling into our new lives as a family. My mother and mother-in-law were there to help my husband and I adjust to this new life. Someone called, and I was excitedly talking to them and answering all the questions they asked. Suddenly they asked me a question that I didn't know the answer to. I was stricken with panic. The question was such a simple one,"Is it a boy, or a girl?" How could I not know the answer to this question? I was the worlds worst mother. In the dream I called to my husband,"Hey Sug, is the baby a boy or a girl?" My husband had the same look of shock on his face. He had no idea. He said,"They didn't tell you before we left the hospital?" I said no. He was furious and began trying to contact the hospital, while I told the person on the phone that I would have to call them back. We were in the middle of an emergency. I hung up and ran into the baby's room I quickly picked up the baby. My mother asked what was wrong. I explained the situation with tears streaming down my face. It was at this point that my mother-in-law said, "Even if the doctor didn't tell you, you can always check." Of course! I was making this much harder than it had to be. I would just check. It was time to change the baby's diaper anyway. I took the diaper off and the baby was a little girl. I was so happy. I had a beautiful fat baby girl!
When I woke up I knew I had met my daughter. I met Miss Bebe for the first time. I was right about the eyes, and the hair, and the fact that she was a girl, so three out of four isn't too bad right?
When we went in for our appointment, and ultrasound a few days later I was not surprised to find out that we would in fact have a baby girl.
Everything moved along at a relaxed pace. I was very fortunate. As a violin teacher I am able to set my own schedule, I could take naps, and didn't even have to get out of my sweats on the hard days.
I followed all exercise, and eating recommendations. I did my prenatal yoga five times a week. Due to my husbands insane work schedule(he was on call for three years, this is not a joke, he did receive two weeks off each year) I didn't take any birthing classes. I did read lots of books, and I watched some births. I also watched A Baby Story on TLC every day. I had a birthing plan. I felt I was prepared.
As I began to show, I had an unnatural aversion to all maternity clothing. I really didn't want to wear any, and until the thirty-second week it looked like I just might make it. I like to separate my jeans into categories for various weights. I began my pregnancy in my skinny, and sexy skinny jeans. Then moved on to my normal, and sexy normal jeans in the twentieth week. By the twenty-fifth week I was wearing fat, and sexy fat jeans. Around the twenty-eight week I had to resort to my stretchy fat jeans.
Around this time I was called for jury duty. I get called all the time, sometimes under my maiden name, sometimes in states where I no longer reside. Anyway, I was called at this time. So I got dressed up, and headed for the courthouse. I looked very pregnant, and I will admit better than I ever thought possible.
Everyone checked in and we were waiting to hear what to expect. One-hundred-and-fifty people were called. They informed us that there would be two trials, and that the other two had been settled out of court. I was feeling pretty confident that I would not have to be on a jury. Twelve people were needed out of one-hundred-and-fifty. I am admittedly unlucky, but come on I was pregnant! So they split the room in half, and told my half to stay. I was still feeling lucky twelve people out of seventy-five. Then we were split in half again, one half for each trial. So now we are down to about thirty seven people in my group. There was another very pregnant woman there and we both started laughing about how they would never pick us. At least not unless they wanted to stop the trial every ten minutes between bathroom breaks.
I was the first one to be called, and the first one picked to serve on the jury. What happened to the other pregnant woman? She was also chosen. We were no longer laughing.
It was a small case, and it was all over within about four hours. In the middle we stopped for lunch, and my husband drove into town to meet me. It was really interesting to see our legal system at work. After the trial we were given the option of staying longer to talk with the judge, and the attorneys. We were all such nerds that we chose to stay. It was actually not a terrible day.
The next day on was not so great. My husband called to see if I wanted to meet him, and his father for lunch in a half hour. I, sadly, had just risen for the day, and needed to get myself put together in about ten minutes. I darted to my closet, and came to the terrible realization that the only jeans that still fit me were the ones I had worn the previous day, and they were crumpled in the laundry basket. Not only that, overnight I had also out grown all my shirts! Nothing fit! Even my shoes were tight! I fell to the floor in a defeated little ball, and cried for about ten minutes. I then knew what I had to do. I would be forced to wear my sweats outside the house, something I had never done before in my life.
When I arrived fifteen minutes late, and a wreck, my father-in-law asked why I was late. I said,"Because I'm to big for all my clothes." I then burst into tears. After lunch my husband took me to the Motherhood store. I gratefully bought a few things that really were not as bad as I thought they would be.