Pregnancy Q and A

The pink and white striped shirt I'm wearing in this picture? $4.50 at Target. ***Cue Halleluiah Chorus***

I'm sure most of you don't know this, but being pregnant requires some PR skills. Skillz that I do not possess.

Weird, right? But the questions and attention that come from people when you're pregnant...I AM SO BAD AT THIS KIND OF CONVERSATION. Did this happen to any of you other mom's the first time around?!

These are questions I'm asked daily, and the answers people get...and I'm not annoyed at anyone here! These are very sweet questions and I am just a terrible because I HAVE NO GOOD ANSWERS. What a worthless Journalism Minor I have.


"How are you feeling?!"
"I feel fine!" said with a smile.

And that's it. I don't know if people are expecting me to complain or mention something that is bothering me, but I'm not kidding...I literally feel fine. Just fine, all the time. People asked me this all weekend, at church, at the dentist, even strangers at the baby consignment store. My ribs hurt a little but it's nothing that has prohibited me from sleeping for 8+ hours each night or painting closets or putting shelves together...so it's hardly worth mentioning. So that's it...I feel...fine.


"Are you excited?!"
"Yea." also said with a smile.

This simple answer comes off as the opposite of excited, and I realize that. But I don't know how to 'fix' it. I also feel like it's a loaded question, because in the split second I have to think about something cute and mom-ish to say, I'm thinking about labor and diapers and being a slave to an eating/sleeping schedule for months years. And let's all be real...is anyone really excited for that part? I also don't want to sound stupid and naïve like I don't know those things are coming...allowing a condescending response that usually goes something like this, "You just have no idea what's coming!" Yes, actually I do. So I've simplified my answers.


"Is it a boy or a girl?!"
"It's a boy." + smile.

Again with the simple answers. What do other women say to this? It's kind of just a basic question and answer, but everyone always expects me to elaborate...and...I have nothing to elaborate on because this our first baby and our first boy and...that's it. It's a boy. I'm buying boy clothes. Trallaahalaala. ***awkward silence***


"Is your husband excited?!"
"Yea. He is." + stressed smile.

Josh is working 90 hours a week. The only thing that really 'excites' us these days is when our equipment and employees make it through an entire day without something breaking. We're in BLC-mode and that is certainly not going to change when August 28th  (give or take a few weeks) comes. Everyone keeps telling me, "He'll have to slow down once the baby comes!" and, "He'll want to be at home and work less once the baby comes!" You think the grass will stop growing in August just because Maverick Boersma has entered the world? That's cute...I'll make sure to refer all of our irate customers to you for answers when Josh becomes a father and 'slows down.'

I am getting BLC onesies printed (and paying for them with the business card because...MARKETING EXPENSE!) and those will be just...absolutely adorable. I can't.


"Is he kicking a lot?!?"
"Yea."

People wait for me to say more...but how does someone expound on this? He kicks. It's whatever. Honestly, it's not as exciting as everyone seems to think it is? I keep waiting for this 'moment' where all of this will feel 'real' and I'll get that 'I'm a mom feeling,' and I gotta be honest. I got nothing. He's rolling and flipping and moving pretty much all the time...so. Yea. I'm pretty sure the magical mom moment won't hit me until he's HERE and sleeping in the room I've decorated. And I'm totally fine with that.


"Look at these pictures/video of this baby!"
"Umm. Ok."

I'm probably the worlds-worst-soon-to-be-mother...but I really don't care. I don't even care a whole lot about looking at baby pictures of family and friends on Facebook, to be honest. I think people are expecting some sort of adorable mother-y reaction...but I can never quite summon one. It's terrible. Yes we're having a baby, but I'm not really a 'baby person.' What's weird is I used to be...but sometime in the past five years I became completely indifferent about babies. I don't like them I don't not like them...I'm just indifferent about them.

I know, I know, 'it will be different when the baby in the picture is 'ours.'' But for the next 10 weeks, we're still childless and plan to LIVE IT UP as such.


"Pregnancy looks good on you!"
Awkward shrug and smile, "Oh stop. Thanks."

This is very sweet, but I am terrible at handling these comments gracefully. I've always loved attention, but 'pregnant attention' is...different. Not bad different...just different. A couple weeks ago Baba (a realtor at our office) yelled to me in the parking lot, "Mollie. You look beautiful." It sort of made my day. But it was random. No less than four employees at Van Wall ask me if I need help with something during my trip from the front to the back of the store. The employees at Schaffer's have been like this too! They have always been sweet, but lately when I ask for ridiculous things (ie: "Could you unhook my key from the key ring so I don't ruin my nails?") it's consistently met with laughter and a smile. I'm sort of loving it, but it's also confusing.


So...yea. So summarize, I'm the worst at pregnant conversation. Let's just talk about something else the next time we see each other. LIKE HOW MY FRONT DOOR IS HOT PINK.

I would like to note...after my last blog post I have an almost EXACT 50/50 response to the C-section conversation I posted. I'm thinking about starting to document it because everyone I talk to has a different opinion and it's fascinating. I'm sort of loving it. It's almost like a game to see the different reasons people preferred what they preferred and I have to say...if Maverick keeps his head in the right-side of my ribs for much longer...a scheduled C-section it will be!

MmB