Davis is now 3 months old and I can hardly believe it. It doesn’t seem like three months, but on the other hand, I really can’t imagine what life was like before him. It’s like he has always been a part of us. And speaking of three months, I didn’t get the memo beforehand about it taking 9 MONTHS to get back into shape. I didn’t know I was signing up for that! In fact, when I was pregnant, all I heard about was, “Oh the weight will just fall off of you if you breastfeed.” Well guess what- it’s nothing but more breastfeeding propaganda. I’m not trying to dog breastfeeding, but if you are thinking that it will be your ticket back into your old jeans, think again. Only a couple of my new mom friends have attributed weight loss to the breastfeeding, but many more of my friends have said that they couldn’t get back to their original size until they stopped the cow tricks. Apparently I won’t be losing much more weight until I stop- my mom said she held on to at least 5 pounds until she stopped b-feeding and I’ve lost a grand total of two pounds in the past tw
o months.
It’s not that I look so horrible right now, it’s just that there comes a point when you want your body all to yourself again. It has now been a year since I became pregnant, which means that for one year, I’ve been supporting me plus some extra precious baby cargo. It’s been a year since I’ve been able to get new clothes (those prego clothes don’t count as real shopping). And at this rate, I won’t get to go anytime soon. I’m not ready to throw in the towel and buy all new bigger stuff just yet, especially with this new 9 month information (argh). So I am having a hard time feeling like me without my regular fashion features.
I have also noticed that people look at you differently when you are pregnant and after you have the baby, especially in this college town. For example, when I was pregnant I would go to my regular Publix that just happens to be the Publix where a lot of college kids go (Did I just refer to them as college kids? Geez- I am officially old). Anyway, when I was big enough to be noticeably pregnant, those college kids looked at me very differently. The guys would glance in my direction, detect the baby bump and immediately look away- sometimes even turnaround and walk in the opposite direction to avoid me. It was as if they believed they could somehow contract the pregnancy diseas
e and pass it on to their girlfriends. The girls were also hyperaware of my new round state. Unlike the guys, they would acknowledge my presence, but they gave me a look that said, “Oh you poor thing- your life is totally over”. Some of you may think I was imagining these reactions, but my friend Amanda goes to the same Publix and she experienced the same reactions when she was prego at the end of last year.
So then the baby comes and they really start looking at you weird. One of my first trips back into the social world was with Tim and his twin bro and his girlfriend (who rocks- btw- good one, Rob) to Dragonfly Sushi. We were having a great time, but I decided to slip off to the ladies room for a second to call mom and dad who were watching Davis. On my way to the bano, I caught a couple of guys actually checking me out. After 9+ months of
guys trying to completely ignore me, I hardly knew what was going on. It had been a while, but I didn’t remember getting that much attention before I got pregnant. Weird. My first thought was to look down to make sure I didn’t have a piece of sushi on my shirt or something. I didn’t see anything wrong, but I rushed to the bathroom mirror to make sure. As I looked in the mirror it became apparent to me why I was getting all the attention- my boobs are gi-normous. See, I didn’t really have those before and it obviously makes a huge a difference. I called my sister, who has boobs, to confirm. Yep, she said it’s defiantly the boobs, welcome to her world. Well, I’m not so thrilled about entering that world- young or old- those pervs will stare ya’ down. But it was a needed ego boost for the first time out of the house. I returned to the table to report my findings. Tim did not find them as amusing as I did.
With my newly found confidence, I made it a habit to walk to the Publix to get some exercise. I found that it was far easier to just put Davis in the stroller and walk to Publix than to load him into the car with all his gear and haul it a few blocks only to get it right back out again. The reaction of the guys was pretty much exactly how it was when I was pregnant- kind of a “Must stay far, far away from mom and baby”. The girls seem to appreciate the baby, and anyone that is not in college absolutely can’t get enough of Davis. It’s like walking in the store with a celebrity. “How old is he? What’s his name? He’s adorable”- nearly every ad
ult would peek their head around to try to see him. It was really fun to walk around with him. I was thinking that this new mom stuff is a blast.
But on the way home, I had another realization. As I was walking with the stroller packed with Davis and the groceries I saw that some college guys were sitting in lawn chairs in the back of their pick-up truck that was parked in their front lawn. This is a completely normal occurrence around here, so I didn’t really think anything of it. It was the afternoon rush hour and I was walking past a lot of cars stuck in traffic and I heard an occasional horn honking. As I neared the lounging students I saw why the cars were honking. Leaned up against the pick-up was a huge plywood sign with spray paint script that said “You Honk, We drink”. And it was pretty funny- people were honking, they would hold up their beer and chug it down. As I walked on the sidewalk that crossed
their driveway, I overheard one of them who was evidently talking to a friend on his cell phone. He said,
“Oh, yeah, man. Its great. Everybody is honking and we are gettin’ ripped! Its awesome, except that there is some mom walking by with her baby and I think all the honking woke him up.”
Oh- my- gah. Did he just say that?!?! Did he just call me “some mom”? I can’t believe it. Seems like just a few months ago I was a graduate student, or a newly wed, but now, I am some mom. How did this happen? No wonder I drive a station wagon- it's not a joke. I thought when we got the wagon, it would be funny for us to drive it- bc I was so far from any kind of soccer mom. We were a very fashionable young couple that just needed to haul around some stuff every now and then, but hated the hugeness and waste of an SUV. Thus, we bought the MB wagon. But now, I am “some mom” and I’m even “some mom” that drives her baby around in a station wagon! I can’t believe it. But then I looked down at Davis screaming his face off from all the honking. He is so precious and perfect. And I thought, “He is so worth it.” I’ll be “some mom” so long as I can always be his mom.
o use some of the great toys that friends and family gave to us. For those of you that don't have kids, baby cereal is nothing like your morning bowl of Lucky Charms. Its just these rice flakes and he only gets two spoonfuls mixed up with his milk. We fed it to him with a lovely silver spoon (thanks Susan), but it is really thin enough for him to take through a bottle. As you can see int eh photos, he liked the taste, but was perplexed by the spoon delivery. Also, you might be wondering why Tim and I are in our bathing suits. We were over at mom and dads and I pretty much just wear my bathing suit over there all the time.
o use some of the great toys that friends and family gave to us. For those of you that don't have kids, baby cereal is nothing like your morning bowl of Lucky Charms. Its just these rice flakes and he only gets two spoonfuls mixed up with his milk. We fed it to him with a lovely silver spoon (thanks Susan), but it is really thin enough for him to take through a bottle. As you can see int eh photos, he liked the taste, but was perplexed by the spoon delivery. Also, you might be wondering why Tim and I are in our bathing suits. We were over at mom and dads and I pretty much just wear my bathing suit over there all the time.
