The little life inside

Pregnancy is one of the biggest miracles of life. 2 people have the ability to create another human being. How amazing is the idea that we can conceive a child and be able to feel that baby grow in our own bodies. 9 months of growth and development of a fetus, that turns into a baby.

Many women love being pregnant, while others don’t enjoy it. Some get nausea, headaches, and heartburn. It feels like the baby is never arriving and all we do is wait...for 40 weeks. We have morning craving, night cravings and Taco Bell cravings..lol. Our husbands do their best to help us out, cater to our desires, and some even gain weight with us..lol.

We are so lucky to be women. Men don’t have to get internal exams, or stretch marks, or hemroids, or stitches, or episiotemies; we do. Men also don’t get to feel the little flutters, the little kicks, and the little turns, like we do. They feel our bellies move with their hands, but they don’t know what it’s like to actually “feel” the bumps.
We go through 9 long months of sacrificing. Stay away from seafood, no herbal teas, no alcohol, no sushi, no sauna’s, no roller coasters. Everything is don’t do this, don’t eat that, don’t drink that. We want to make sure we play by the rules, for the sake of our growing baby.

When a woman gets pregnant we become professional OBGYN’s. We go on websites that provide us with day by day, week by week, and minute by minute changes of this little miracle. We know when the arms grow, the feet grow and when it goes from a “grain of rice”, to a “kidney bean”. We prepare the nursery, the car, and the entire house. A once prestine home set with candles, white couches, and glass tables, now will be replaced with baby swings, exer-saucers, and bassinettes. We throw away the Victoria Secret Magazines for Today’s Parent. We stock up on baby name books, and “What to Expect when you are Expecting”, and of course “Chicken Soup for the Expentant Mother’s Soul.” We keep a pregnancy diary, all our ultrasound photo’s and all our doctor appointment schedules.

Pregnancy is a blessing, a privilege, and a sheer out miracle. When I was in Grade 11 we saw a movie called “The Miracle of Life”. I am almost positive all of you have seen it..lol. It shows us a detail look at pregnancy and child birth. I think it took me 10 years to recover from what I saw..lol. (Especially because waxing obviously was not popular back then..lol) I think that is when I realized that there are no storks involved in the baby making process. I think the boys never knew that babies were born from “there”.

Once you give birth, and become a mother; Whether you have a C-section, vaginal, epidural, or not, it is something you cannot “prepare” for. Pregnancy is unpredictable, and so is birth. We can go to Lamaze, or pre-natal classes, but I do not think anything can prepare you for the job ahead. There is a saying, “Nothing worth having, comes easy.” That is a true understated statement. We grow fat, change our shapes (I don’t care how great you look after you have kids, your body is NEVER the same again..lol), and we open up areas we never thought opened that wide, all for the sake of our children. People that have never had children sometimes ask, “What does child birth feel like?” and any mother will answer the same, “It hurts like hell, but I don’t really remember what the pain felt like.” That is because as soon as we see the little miracles of life plopped right there on our bellies, the pain goes away. The 9 months of sacrifices, cravings, vomiting, and heartburn are a thing of the past. We forget all the pain of labour, and the sting of the epidural, because we got our prize in our arms.

My little sister is now expecting her first child. She is 8 years younger than me, and she seems so “little” to be having a baby..lol. I see her excitement, her glow, and her anxiousness for her baby coming in May. I look at her and see her happiness and her growing belly. She now knows what it is like to be preparing for motherhood, she now knows the joy of pregnancy, and she now knows how great it is to have that little life inside of her. A feeling that cannot be duplicated, explained, or ever replaced..by anything!
That’s my peace today!

Breaded Chicken Cutlets
6 thinly sliced chicken
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1/2 cup or so olive or grape seed oil for frying

Whisk egg in a bowl. In a seperate shallow baking dish put breadcrumbs and chopped parsley. Dip chicken in egg, remove and allow egg to drip off before placing in breadcrumbs. Bread and fry in olive oil 6 minutes each side. (You can bake in oven at 400 degrees for 15 min, turning once. Drizzle oil on top of chicken for added crispy)