My Pregnant Rant...

(Disclaimer: This is just me venting a couple of my pregnancy frustrations relating to things that people say to you when you are pregnant, so if you aren't in the mood to listen to me complain, skip this post!)



Let me start this off by saying that I am VERY lucky to have a great and supportive group of friends/family and friends who are more like family who in general have been nothing but fantastic throughout my pregnancy; answering questions, providing advice, loaning maternity clothes, suggesting books, daycares, you name it. So I totally may seem like an ingrate, but these observations are directed at people in general, not my friends and or family in particular, so don't take it to heart. And you know me, when things are getting on my nerves, I like to get them off my chest. Maybe the hormones are making me a little more sensitive (which is kind of amazing as I'm already a VERY sensitive girl), but at the same time, I hope that when I'm not pregnant, I will remember how much this made me crazy....



1. Pregnant women don't actually enjoy vague statements about how much their lives are going to change.... Pregnancy in general is kind of a stressful time and vague statements paired with knowing looks about how much your life will change are just confusing and frightening. I know my life is going to change and never be the same again. And being the kind of girl I am, I'd like to plan for it, but aside from laying in supplies of diapers, prepping the dogs, setting up the room, taking a class and reading some books, I don't think there is anyway to actually anticipate how exactly my life will change and prepare for it. I have faith that Quinn will bring us great happiness along with sleepless nights and a few freak outs. And I hope that lack of sleep or motherhood in general won't turn me into a negligent wife, friend, family member or dog mom. And seeing how everyone is a little bit different and reacts to things differently, I don't think there is any point in making predictions as to whether or not I'll love or care about everyone the same. I'm pretty sure that adding someone else to my life who I love tremendously won't necessarily take away from the love I have for the people with whom I already have relationships.

Moreover, I'd like to point out that after saying your life is going to change, no one really tells you how. They may say, "when the baby comes" or "you'll see" but I don't think either of those are particularly constructive. If you want to give me a list or some hard and fast facts, bring it on, but otherwise, I'm well aware that motherhood will be a big change to my life. And I'm already worried about being prepared for all of it-emotionally, financially, physically, intellectually-so unless there is just something you think I'm completely unaware of, I probably am already worrying about it.



2. Expectant mothers are probably not the best people to confide in about how terrible children are. I've been amazed at how people will periodically exclaim to me that children are just horrible or awful behaving. I'm not going to say that I always disagree, but at the same time, I'm pretty far down the pike on this one and have no plans to get out of it now, so maybe I'm not the best person to confide in about the horrors of children. Also, I have not actually started making a list of all the things that Quinn is and isn't allowed to do yet, so there's no real point in pointing them out to me. I'm hopeful that he won't smash large objects into peoples legs at stores or throw tantrums in the middle of the mall or run around in public screeching like a banshee making the same high pitched sound over and over, but I'm guessing at some points, he is going to behave in a less than ideal manner. I mean, I know I did, so how can I expect perfection from him? And though I think that Turner and I will be reasonably involved and kind of strict parents, this is our first go at it (see: "your life's are going to change" above) so I'm sure there's going to be a bit of a learning curve. And beyond that, even if Quinn is the almost perfect, never sick, never cranky baby and we are the almost perfect parents (which seems a little unlikely on my part at least), I'm willing to bet at some point he'll act out and maybe annoy people. I apologize in advance, but I can't really address it at this point. Right now, save the occasional jab or kick which only I can feel, he's quite well-behaved. The rest of it we'll have to deal with when he's on the outside.



So, those are just some thoughts I've had about a few things that have frustrated me throughout pregnancy and I now have had enough time to think about that I could put them into words. I certainly cannot speak for all pregnant women, but personally these have been a few of the things I find frustrating and figured I won't have the pregnant perspective that much longer, so I might as well share.



Talk to all soon and thanks for listening to me complain :-)

Love,

J