Tuesday, July 20, 2010

baby growing diaries, entry #1

 

coming soon copy

Excuse me, if my blogs take on a little different focus in the next few months.  I’m working on a new project. Something, I’ve only done once before, so it’s still new and exciting, but full of so many life changing things… some crazy, some hard, but in the end totally worth it.

The best part is that you don’t even have to remind yourself that it is ACTUALLY worth the hard months prior, because in a moment, in that moment, you only remember the good, because you look at the new little bundle, with squirming toes and fingers… and you melt.

During the months that I was growing baby #1, I said to myself over and over again, I should write a book about it.  I never did.  It’s too bad, it would have been a funny book.  It would have been sarcastic and crazy and emotional and fun, because that is what the whole process looks like, to me at least.  Add discomfort and slight frustration, too.  But remember, it’s totally worth it, because, it just is. You know.

As we begin, let me tell you about how the process of baby growing looks on me.   I get sick.  I mean, sick, as in everything makes me sick.  Everything that I once loved and craved… I now cringe and make weird faces.  Now, before you get all, “OHHH, have you tried this magic remedy or the next one,” on me, my answer is yes.  I’ve tried.

Fact:  I don’t want to look at another saltine, ever again.  I’ve had so much candied ginger and ginger tea that I can’t even fathom putting another taste to my mouth. Ginger, itself now makes me nauseous.  If I ever see sprite, ginger-ale, or Gatorade, or whatever again, I’ll cry.  If it works one day, the next it’s my stomach’s biggest foe. So, save your remedies.  I’ve stopped fighting.  If something sounds gross to me, for even one second, I won’t touch it.  Some days are better than others.

Here’s a glimpse at my current diet and food related life:

  1. I haven’t had a latte since May 30th.  If you know me, you know how much I love coffee.  It’s a dear friend and a part of everyday.  Now, you might be thinking, oh that’s great, you gave up caffeine…. NO.  I’m not that noble.  Coffee makes me sick.  It makes me, well, you know… throw up. (Just like everything else).  But, oh, it smells so good.  Like heaven.  Anytime I walk past or inside a coffee shop, I almost cry because it smells so delicious.  For a moment I consider, maybe today??   Alas, I know better.   On the bright side, as soon as I stopped feeling sick with baby #1, I could drink coffee again… so those weeks are ahead and I can’t wait to sit down with my over-sized mug of steaming, earthy goodness, God’s gift to mankind, coffee.
  2. My husband is afraid that I am turning into a vegetarian because, I currently abhor the idea of eating meat.  Again, if you know me, you know I dream about tasty steaks.  Chicken, I could live with out it, but give me some red meat and I’m good to go.  Not these days.  I can do fish and turkey… that’s it.  Needless to say, my dear husband is a bit tired of fish… and I think he’s perpetually hungry.
  3. In normal land, when I’m not baby growing, I am an adventurous food lover, the spicier and more flavorful the better.  Alas, these days, I become the most picky, BORING eater of all.  (Kind of like a few friends of mine).  Here’s a short list of what I actually enjoy: fruits, some veggies, toast, cereal, yogurt, turkey and cheese sandwiches, baked potatoes, and occasionally, ice cream.  That’s it friends.  I mean, snooze fest.  I miss food.
  4. Everything smells.  I mean, everything.  Currently, there is something in the fridge that smells like a nightmare… and I don’t know if I can even open the fridge again, until it’s gone.  But, the worst smell of them all, our dish soap.  I mean, I can smell it from the other room and it’s the worst.  And somehow, it’s  a mystery why we haven’t just bought new soap, a real mystery.

Do you know how hard it is to plan a weekly menu when you don’t even want to think about food?  Practically impossible. Poor family.

I miss food.  I miss coffee.

But, the idea that my little family will grow from three to four is thrilling and delightful.  When I stop to ponder the amazing process of how babies are created and how they develop and grow into scrumptious little life changers… I can’t help but smile.  It reminds me that the nausea, the sickness, the exhaustion, and the super-hero-smelling-abilities are all part of one amazing process that I am blessed to experience.

I hope you enjoy these posts.  Just wait until I get to the part where strangers start having most bizarre and inappropriate conversations and when the unsolicited advice falls like rain.  Oh man, that’s the good stuff.

-Liv

3 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear that for a short time you will be saving the coffee for the rest of us.
    With baby #1, I also experienced a similar situation. There was no remedy that would ever help. My family thought I would starve so when I did find something that I actually could eat and enjoy, I was showered with their generosity. Now I just laugh at the amount of well thought of gifts that came my way.
    The book would have been great. Would love to read it.

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  2. A book by you about the "joys of motherhood" would be so entertaining and fun! That's just terrible you are feeling so sick- hopefully you will only have to endure it for just a little while longer. When I was pregnant with Nathaniel, there was a large window of time where the only thing that did not cause my stomach to bitterly complain was cereal, dry or with milk. So of course I ate it by the truckload. : ) And with coffee, both times I was pregnant it was the smell that made me sick, not the taste, which I thought was weird. Can't wait to read more about your adventures!
    PS- Personally, I would like to see a whole chapter dedicated to strangers (and family members for that matter) thinking that it is ok to violate your personal space, without asking, just to feel your belly. You could title it : Touch My Belly Again, and Die A Horrible Death ; )

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  3. Oh you should definitely write that book. Congratulations on growing a human! I hope the sickness will settle down soon.

    P.S. Your art is amazing. Very love it.

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