Saturday, January 5, 2013

Things To Do Before Becoming Pregnant


It was the summer of 08 and Dru and I, being married for six years, had been throwing around the idea of having a baby for a while.  I’d be ready and he wouldn’t, then he’d be ready and I’d start second guessing my readiness and back and forth for months. Finally, we matched up and decided we were as ready as we’d ever be.  We started “not preventing” and never really thought about it.  When my period would come, it was a mixture of “Welp, not knocked up yet” and “Whoo hoo, I get to go out this weekend!”
Dru and I circa 2008 going on a date.
I had remembered reading an article written by a woman with several young children about what to do before you get pregnant.  One of the things on the list was to just stay up all night with your husband.  Spend the night talking, laughing and whatever else you want.  Watch the sunrise after a night of really getting to know your significant other and then sleep all day together. 

Well, I thought this was a wonderful idea.  We decided to give it a try one night.  We didn’t spend it alone though.  We decided to invite some margaritas to join us.  We had a really fun night, and besides what the margaritas made a little fuzzy, a night I will never forget.  We didn’t quite make it to sunrise but it was memorable anyways.

That night led to a positive pregnancy test a couple of weeks later followed by nine uncomfortable months and then the day that took us from two to three and forever changed our lives.  I think back on that list that I can barely remember and wonder if I could talk to my pre-pregnant self, what I would tell myself to do before becoming pregnant for the first time. 

I definitely would suggest the staying up all night, or as long as you can manage.  It was a lot of fun and very bonding.  One rule, no TV!  Just hang out, talk and laugh.

TRAVEL!!  Please past Brandi, travel more.  You have no excuses, plan fun little weekend trips on a regular basis.

Speaking of traveling, do spur of the moment things more often.  Pack a light suitcase and just drive somewhere with no plans.  On a random night, dress up and head out with no reservations or plans of any sort and just see where it takes you.  Call up a friend and have her meet you for no reason for lunch or coffee or whatever.  These are all things that in the future with children will require so much planning and scheduling, it barely seems worth it.

Spend some time by yourself.  Take yourself shopping and take as much time as you’d like.  Buy yourself something pretty because in the future, you will feel guilty for everything you ever buy yourself that isn’t essential to your survival.  Even if you are lucky enough to get a good amount of time to yourself, you will most likely get multiple phone calls and texts asking questions that only you have the answer to.

Read more.  There will come a day when finishing a chapter without interruption is a wonderful accomplishment.  When you will have over a dozen things on your list of things to do during your 45 minute “downtime” which still requires you to be on call should a passing car make too much noise waking your child ending your alone time twenty minutes early.

I’m sure there are many other things I could add to this list but this will suffice for now because my “downtime” was over a long time ago.  I have been spending the last hour trying to finish this while one child plays in her dollhouse and I nurse the other only to be interrupted because of a hungry child, then a dirty diaper, and by that time I have lost my train of thought and have to reread what I just wrote only to be interrupted again because I’m being asked to read the book I’ve already read three times today. 

I wouldn’t trade it for the world… most days.  Some days I wish I could call up a girlfriend and she could meet me for a fancy lunch and we could talk about anything we wanted only being interrupted by the server asking if we would like another glass of wine.  Yes, yes we would.

What do you have to add? Anything you wish you would have done before your life changed with that positive pregnancy test?

    
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