We were thrilled to find out that everything is looking great and that our little one is a little girl!
That little foot makes my heart melt.I haven’t posted for so long due to having to keep a BIG secret. Now that it’s public knowledge that we have a baby on the way, I can finally share all of the funny things that have taken place over the last few months! I kept writing down the funny things that happened and the conversations that Matt and I would have, but I couldn’t post without our news being obvious. So now I can share!
-More than once in the earliest month or two of pregnancy, I found myself hungry all the time (actually, that’s still generally true). I needed absolutely no prodding to be the first in line at church lunches, and I found myself glaring at those in line ahead of me, especially if I felt they were taking too long. I apologize to anyone who may have noticed my dirty looks.
-An example of my eating habits:
Breakfast: oatmeal, milk, coffee.
Lunch: cous cous with fresh sautéed veggies (zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes)
Dinner: whole grain pasta, turkey meatballs
Evening snack: large fry from McDonald’s
-(At first prenatal class)
MATT (laughing): I look to my left and this lady [who is obviously farther along than I am] is quickly flipping through the hospital handouts. I look to my right and you’re reading about the Third Reich.
-LAURRYN: I had a terrifying thought this morning, like, what if we screw this kid up?
MATT: Oh, we will.
-I can go from zero to starving in 60 seconds.
-I want fried stuff. All the time. (This isn’t so much true now, but it really was in the first trimester.)
-Matt and I took a series of prenatal classes at a local hospital during the first trimester, and my favorite class was the hands-on one. We were issued a doll, a diaper, a small shirt, and a small container to serve as a “bath.” Matt suggested we practice bathing, changing, and dressing our “baby” together, but I got to say, “I’m a pro at this, and I do most of this for a living now, so this is all you!” Considering he’s never changed a diaper, he did quite well.
-One day, I opened up a can of diced tomatoes for a salsa mix and I wanted to sit and eat the entire thing.
-What I say: “certified nurse midwife.” What people hear: “I’m having my baby in my bedroom and/or a tub and I will go nowhere near a hospital and a doctor is not allowed anywhere near me.”
-The very best part of one of my Saturdays was when one of my best friends, Caitlin, was in town and we went to Babies R Us. We sat rocking in the gliders for a few minutes and I thought I would never, ever get up if I could help it.
-I swore that I would never be a waddler, and then I swore that I was already waddling at 12 weeks.
-I am the stereotype: pickles and ice cream.
LAURRYN: Hm, I want ice cream. Why don’t we have any? Oh, right, because I’d eat half the container in one sitting.
(Then I saw an ad for pickles a few minutes later.)
LAURRYN: Do we have any pickles?
MATT: I’m not sure…Yeah, we probably have some spears.
(I searched in vain. To no avail.)
LAURRYN: You’re a liar.
MATT: Did you check the pantry?
LAURRYN: Yep. So I’ll add it to the grocery list, but I won’t be going shopping for TWO WEEKS!
(Seriously, it felt like the end of the world. And when I finally got pickles, I ate a lot of them. An embarrassing amount.)
-I was already getting belly pats at 13 weeks – this is really happening?!
-Matt watched the movie “Insidious” and the “ghost” in the house was talking through the baby monitor.
MATT: Are you sure you want to have a baby? We’ll have to have the monitor on all the time, thus increasing the likelihood that we’ll discover that the house is haunted. Are you sure that’s a road you want to travel down?!”
To answer a few of the more popular questions we get…
How far along are you? I am 18 ½ weeks along.
What’s your due date? Baby’s due date is May 20th.
Will you find out what you are having? Assuming all goes well, we find out if baby is a boy or girl on January 4th (but we’ll be keeping it a secret for a few days).
Do you have names figured out? We haven’t talked about names, but I doubt we’ll make anything public prior to our little one’s arrival.
Will you still watch Gwen? I will still watch my favorite Gwen on weekdays, but I will take a little time off.
How have you been feeling? I have not been sick at all, but I have been hungry. I spend much of the first trimester being exhausted, but I have energy now. Still constantly hungry, though!
We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A decade. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a decade.
Like everyone, I remember where I was on 9/11. It’s the tie that binds so many of us together, the shared confusion and heartache of that day.
On 9/11/2011, I was a sophomore in high school. I was walking into 2nd period, Mr. Malinsky’s geometry class, when I noticed that the television was on and the class was watching the news.
“What happened?” I asked a classmate.
“A plane flew into the World Trade Center,” he replied.
Even at fifteen, I simply didn’t know what or where the World Trade Center was. My classmate told me that the buildings were in New York City, where I had visited less than a year before. I’m sure that at that point, I had no idea the seriousness of what had happened.
As more planes crashed, rumors flew. One rumor was that a plane was headed to Chicago. My mom had worked in downtown Chicago for years, and that day was no exception. I was anxious to call my mom during my lunch period, which was around 11:00. I used the pay phone in the cafeteria and called my mom’s work number. When she didn’t pick up, I tried to keep it together. I dialed my house number and my mom picked up. I breathed a sigh of relief as she said, “My building was evacuated right away, honey.”
I remember spending much of the afternoon sitting on our living room couch, watching news footage with my parents, who were not yet divorced at the time. I remember hugging my three younger brothers tightly that night.
Tuesday night was youth group night, and that particular Tuesday was no exception. My mom dropped me off and was invited to stay by our youth pastor, who said that many of the church members had gathered to pray together. My mom stated that she wanted to continue watching the news coverage but thanked him for the invitation. I remember that my eyes searched the parking lot for my boyfriend at the time; I was desperate for him to embrace me. As if that would stop the confusion or ease my aching heart.
I don’t remember what I prayed for that night at church. The families who had lost loved ones? The families who didn’t even know that they’d lost loved ones, and wouldn’t for days, some even weeks? Wisdom for our government? Safety for the workers? Shelter and food for those displaced?
As a fifteen-year-old girl, I probably didn’t think about a lot of those things. I was probably more worried about whether the high school would cancel the upcoming homecoming dance or whether the news would delay my favorite shows. This is embarrassing to admit, because it speaks volumes about my character and focus at the time.
But if the attacks happened today, instead of a decade ago, what would I, as a 25-year-old, pray?
I’d pray for hope. Hope for the hurting, hope for the helpless. I’d pray that every need was met and every displaced person would be sheltered and fed. I’d pray for my enemies, I’d pray for the lost, I’d pray for a brighter tomorrow for everyone. I’d pray for strength and peace for the devastated. I’d pray for God to relieve the ache from every burdened soul.
It’s what I should have been praying all along.
And every day.
