 |
 |
|
|
|
|
My wife Jill and I are expecting a baby, and so far I feel fine. My back aches when I bend over to pick up my socks, but I think the pain is caused by my chair at work. My temperature is constant, although sometimes I wake up chilly in the morning if Jill has all the blankets. I have hangnails. My gums are strong. I'm retaining little of anything, including water.
So far this pregnancy seems tougher on Jill. She says she's hungry all the time. Her body feels cold even as she sweats. She dreads the night she won't be able to roll over. Parts of her body ache for the first time since adolescence.
"Oh, yeah," recalls her mother, who remembers almost nothing, when told about the pain.
"Your body's working hard," her cousin tells her. The same cousin, mother of two, says the stuff about this being a wondrous experience for the body is baloney. "I thought it was just weird," she said.
That's an honest comment. Much as I'm looking forward to dancing at my child's weddings, I don't believe I would ever have had a baby on my own. But, as couples are in this together, I'm starting to think of the pregnancy as "ours."
"Oh?" says Jill. "I find that interesting, in that I'm the one who's going to blow up like a watermelon. I'm the one who's going to be constipated. I'm the one who's not going to be able to roll on my side and have to lie there, praying for a few minutes of unconsciousness."
"I'm the one who's going to have to live with you," I say.
The road to pregnancy was twisty. We were blessed just as we quit our jobs and are about to move to a different city. And the city is New York, where prospective landlords prefer that one husband and one wife and one baby have at least one job between the three of them.
Before any of this fell on us, however, Jill pushed for the baby. We did the shots, the check-ups, the consultations, the tests in dark rooms and the other things in dark rooms. Something worked, because one of our last check-ins with the doctor contained the word "positive," now Jill can't stop eating, and I get no sympathy.
"You have no idea what it's like," Jill says to me.
"You won't have to go through pregnancy," says a friend.
"Get off the phone," says my sister.
I feel this is going to get rougher on the father, particularly one that people suspect doesn't have the cigars armed and ready on their launch pads. A co-worker said that his wife also supplied most of the motivation to produce their daughter; he said he didn't tingle until he laid eyes on the little girl. He seems to be tingling now. He calls the little girl "Sugar." I liked the girl, too. Unlike some co-workers, she never cries in the office.
I'd like a girl like her. Or a boy like the kid on "American Gothic." I'd like a kid who will still watch "Seinfeld" until almost the 22nd century. A kid who years from now will stop the car at a pit beef stand on the way to his or her second wedding.
Otherwise what's the point of our being pregnant?
MoonDragon's Pregnancy Information Index
For a full list of available products from Mountain Rose Herbs, click on banner below:
HELPFUL PRODUCTS & FURTHER EDUCATION
Prescription for Nutritional Healing: The A-To-Z Guide To Supplements
-- by Phyllis A. Balch, James F. Balch - 2nd Edition
Prescription for Nutritional Healing: The A-To-Z Guide To Supplements
-- by Phyllis A. Balch, James F. Balch - 4th Edition
Prescription for Herbal Healing: The A-To-Z Reference To Common Disorders
-- by Phyllis A. Balch
The Complete Guide to Natural Healing
If you see a suggested Amazon product "not there" as indicated by an orange box with the Amazon logo, this only means the specific product link has been changed by Amazon.com. Use the "click here" icon on the orange box and it will bring you to Amazon.com and you can do a search for a specific product using keywords and a new list of available products and prices will show. Their product and resource links are constantly changing and being upgraded. Many times there are more than one link to a specific product. Prices will vary between product distributors so it pays to shop around and do price comparisons.
Educational materials and health products are available through Amazon.com. Use the search box provided below to search for a particular item.
HERBS, OILS, & SUPPLIES
Mountain Rose Bulk Herbs
Mountain Rose Aromatherapy Oils
Click Here To Visit Herbal Remedies Product Page
A Source For Medicinal & Ritual Herbs & Supplies
Aphrodisiacs Aromatherapy Bath & Body Care Bulk Herbs By The Pound Capsules, Tablets & Extracts Chinese Herbals Electronics Extracts First Aid Products Food Products, Mixes, Seeds, Snacks & More! Hair Care Products & Supplies Herbs & Oils, Kilo & Ton Hydroponics & Gardening Kava Products Kitchen & Housewares Mushrooms Musical Instruments Oral Care & Dental Products PC & IT - Computer Supplies & Accessories Skin Care, Cosmetics, & Gift Sets Smokes, Seeds, Cacti Spices, Salts, Sweeteners, & Seasonings Sports, Toys & Games Sweets, Candy, Chips & Snacks Stimulants Sedatives Teas & Coffees
Shaman Shop Home Page
