Such a silly title but I am starting to feel the truth of this statement.
I am a 30 yr. old woman, expecting my first child in November 2009. Being a first time mom at this age seems equally optimal and terrifying. While I feel that I have never been more ready for children, I also feel like I have never been so clueless about anything. Take the maternity pants for example...
I was trying not to buy maternity pants, trying to somehow trick myself into thinking that I would be maybe the first woman ever to not need them. My little plan was working pretty well until about 5 months into my pregnancy when even the fattest jeans that I had hidden away in the back of my closet simply refused to zip. After an especially humiliating day where I tried to rubber band the button on said jeans and go to the grocery store, only to find that my shirt was a bit too small and my unzipped jeans were on display to anyone that cared to notice, I decided right then and there that I was a strong woman and that I could and would summon the strength and courage I would need to do it. I would go shopping for maternity clothes!
The next day I confidently strutted into my nearest department stores maternity section, sure that I was to find the hip, slimming maternity clothes I was seeking. To my disappointment, I was met by aisle after aisle of shapeless dresses (some of them denim) sequined tops, bras with industrial sized straps, bathing suits with industrial sized ruffles, and the occasional, large, "look-at-me", mid-section embellishing bow. Not to be discouraged, I visited store after store, only to be met with the same, sordid fate. By the end of the day, I returned home exhausted, put my sore, swollen feet up on the coffee table and let my mind wonder about what sort of terrible harm a pregnant woman could have inflicted on the inventor of maternity clothes to have caused such obvious retaliation.
After going out to dinner with my husband that night in my too small jeans, I returned home and had to run upstairs to change into some stretchy pants before the button on my jeans literally cut into my stomach. "Pants shouldn't hurt" I thought miserably as I drifted off to sleep that night...
Fast forward to a week later...I enlisted the help of my mother and my aunt for moral support as I took on the maternity clothes search once again. My aunt, having had three children, and my mother, having had 2, proved to be just what I needed and they navigated me passed the horror of stonewashed jean dresses and tent sized blouses into much less shock inducing aisles of cute black capris pants, stretchy but form fitting skirts and empire waist tops in cute, breezy colors. After one day of shopping with these lovely ladies, I had done the impossible, I was able to find cute pants, shirts and skirts that I will be able to wear throughout my pregnancy. And, the best part is, now, when I put on my pants, there is no life or death, asthma inducing struggle involved. I simply pull on clothes and go. Plus, the elastic waists make everything seamless.
I feel that being pregnant has been a constant flow of learning experiences, each that will bring me closer to being the enlightened mother I would like to be (or at least a not-quite-so clueless-one). Each day I am reveling, laughing (or cringing) at helpful hints, horror stories and happy stories that I hear from other mothers, doctors or relatives. If I am learning so much already, I cannot even imagine, all the knowledge, wisdom and humility that will surely come with motherhood. I know that not all of it will be easy, breezy, "loving every minute" but at the same time, I wait with baited breath and my own childlike anticipation for all the experiences that this new future will hold for my family and I.
Wishing all Mommies to be the joy of discovery!
-New Mommy in Town
