Great Expectations

My husband is disappointed in my pregnancy. Okay, not really … he is actually very supportive, but he did have some expectations about my pregnancy that didn’t quite pan out.

1. Ice cream cravings. He was CERTAIN that after I got pregnant, I would demand ice cream. I certainly don’t hate it – but let’s just say that the gallon of ice cream in our freezer hasn’t been touched by me.

I HAVE eaten a lot of Z-Man sandwiches. When he asked where I wanted to go for lunch on Valentine’s Day, Oklahoma Joe’s was the clear choice. It’s my guilty pleasure, along with 99% of Kansas City.

Allison Brown Z Man

2. My belly button popping out. It seems like every day, he checks again. “Have you popped yet?” So far, I’m just stretched.

I DO have a fun belly trick, though – I can now hide a bowling ball behind my bump!

Allison Brown bowling ball1

 

Allison Brown bowling ball2

(In less fun body-changing tricks, I have also developed cankles. I’m sure it came on slowly, but since I can’t see them over my belly, I just found out.)

Allison Brown cankles

3. Nesting. I am not a cleaner. I keep the house tidy, but I never really “clean” until I get a phone call telling me that someone is visiting.

When my husband heard about nesting, he was almost giddy. Unfortunately, my “nesting” tends to make the house more messy, rather than less. Even with an entire week of snow days off of work, I still managed to end the week with a messier house than I started with; I did, however, get to start some projects for our baby boy. First, I made him some snap-on bow ties with matching birds for his mobile:

Allison Brown bow tie1

Then, I got a little excited and decided to make even more for all of my friends who have new baby boys:

Allison Brown bow tie2

I’ve had a hard time with the lack of cute things available for little boys. I won’t lie, I’ve actually cried while walking through the baby sections at some of our local retailers. There are so many cute baby girl clothes and accessories, while the little boy clothes all seem to have dogs, machinery, and borderline-inappropriate phrases on them.

Then, I got even MORE inspired and made a matching bow tie for our dog:

Allison Brown bow tie3

It seemed fitting that the dog should have something to match our little Eli since they already seem to be buddies. Max loves to follow me and lay near me (but not on me) – that is, until I got pregnant. Now, he seems to be drawn to my belly.

Pregnancy may not be living up to my husband’s expectations, but it hasn’t been everything expected, either.

1. I didn’t expect a baby kicking me from the inside to feel so natural. I always imagined that it would be a surreal feeling; I even thought that it might freak me out. Instead, it just feels right.

2. I didn’t expect that I would forget I was pregnant. I’ve actually found myself walking past a mirror twice because I didn’t believe that silhouette could possibly be mine. Huh – I guess I really DO look pregnant.

Allison Brown mirror

3. I didn’t expect to have to pee so often. Yes, even after reading it in every book and teaching it to all my classes for the past five years, I still managed to underestimate the number of times I would need to go to the bathroom in a given day. Thank goodness for passing periods between my classes!

4. I didn’t expect it would be so much work. I knew I wanted to be educated about pregnancy, that I wanted to take classes to learn as much as I could; I knew that to have the kind of labor and delivery I had dreamed of, I would need to go beyond preparing my mind to prepare my body well before my delivery date. What I didn’t take into account was that I would also still need to go to work.

Allison Brown exercises

I make time for daily Kegals, pelvic rocking, tailor sitting, and squatting exercises – all of which I’ve managed with just a few adaptations to my morning and nighttime routines. I work in walking, which I can only do in the dead of winter by slipping into tennis shoes after work and power-walking the hallways after school.

I’ve signed up for three classes at my birth center – ON TOP of a twelve-week natural birthing class. I knew that I would love these classes and I haven’t been disappointed so far. We even use a workbook and have homework every week! We end each session with a labor rehearsal or a relaxation technique. I certainly enjoy those fifteen minutes of massage and quiet! This week, however, we added a little distraction to the mix by holding bags of ice to simulate the distractions that come with contractions.

Allison Brown contractions

I spend more time thinking about, preparing, packaging, transporting, and eating food than I ever have before. Have I had enough protein? What about Vitamin C? Fiber? Calcium? Water?

I take some interesting vitamins and supplements, some of which are pricier than I would like. Do you know how many stores you have to visit to find red raspberry leaf capsules? Nine. The answer is nine. Meanwhile, alfalfa capsules are easy to find – but try keeping them down and you have another story. They start to dissolve the instant I put them in my mouth and they taste like eating a tea bag. This is not ideal for someone who doesn’t enjoy tea … but I still take them three times a day.

5. I didn’t expect to love it so much. I had a hunch that I would enjoy being pregnant – but I never would have expected to love it. I think about my little baby all … the … time. I still get a kick out of figuring out where he is inside of me as he rolls, kicks, and squirms. I love talking about him – even to strangers. I love getting ready for him. I love tracking his developments. I love it all!

Soon enough, he’ll be here with us and I can love HIM so much. See you soon, baby!

Allison Brown puppy

Allison Brown bio picAbout the author: I’m Alli Brown, a twenty-seven year old high school family and consumer sciences teacher. I’m married to the man I was lucky enough to fall for before we could even drive. After graduating from Kansas State, we got married and moved to Kansas City. Five years later, we are now expecting our first child. That’s right – this parenting teacher is finally going to be a parent! You can follow along with more of our journey on my personal blog.

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