May 29, 2007

Meme Times Three

I’ve been tagged for about 400 meme’s over the past week or so. They are all below. Feel free to play along if you like. The first two are courtesy of Becky. I thought I’d add the details of my second munchkin behind the details of the first. The last one is from my fellow brown belt, the Blue Chair Karate-Ka.

Mommy Meme

1. WAS YOUR PREGNANCY PLANNED?

Big I: Yes and no. I remember crying in the car and talking to my husband about how badly I wanted to start our family because I wanted my kids to know my grandparents, etc. Turns out I was pregnant. At least it explains the tears. I’m not typically one to cry.

Lil C: Yes and no. After 14 months of no luck, I had given up. That’s when I got pregnant.

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?

Big I: Yes, for a little less than two years.

Lil C: Yes.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?

Big I: I was so excited, but I was sort of in shock too. There were just so many unknowns and not enough formulated action plans yet. Mr. BBM immediately put the date on the calendar and started calling family. I hit the books and freaked out about the possibility of hemorrhoids.

Lil C: I was so relieved that it had finally happened. I couldn’t wait to tell Big I!

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Never.

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?

Big I: 25 when I got pregnant; 26 when I had her.

Lil C: 29 when I got pregnant; 30 when I had her.

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?

Big I: E-P-T and there was no doubt. I remember looking at the two lines only seconds after I started the test and thought, "well, I have to wait until the three minutes are up." I was just so shocked that it was positive.

Lil C: I took a First Response-Early Results test and got a faint pink line. The next day, I took another test and there was no doubt.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?

Big I and Lil C: Mr. BBM

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?

Big I: No, I figured not knowing would be my incentive to push and get through the pain. Little did I know that because of the pain, the only thing I would care about is getting “it out” (Yes, that’s a direct quote.)

Lil C: I wasn’t going to, but then when I had to have an ultrasound I figured why not?

9. DUE DATE?

Big I: My first due date was March 10 (my Dad’s deceased Mom’s birthday). They later moved my due date to March 24th (Mr. BBM’s birthday); but like everyone else from my family, she was late and arrived on March 28^th (but only after hours of double-strength pitocin and lots of Exorcist like action).

Lil C: October 3, 2005

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?

Big I: Hell yeah. I couldn’t even brush my teeth without gagging. Everything made me sick. I was teaching at the time and students would come up to me with brochures to buy different foods for fundraisers. I’d start gagging and heaving and would have to send them away until after lunch. Sometimes the sickness lasted all day long.

Lil C: Not really. I had two weeks where I felt sort of off and had to watch what I ate. Then I was fine.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?

Big I: Auntie Ann’s Jalapeno Soft Pretzels with cheese sauce, Cherry ICEE’s, red meat and cheese (I ate my first Prime Rib dinner while a few months pregnant), and later in the pregnancy, anything with apples (applesauce, cider, juice, cereal).

Lil C: Salad (because it was one of the only things I could eat without having to count carbs and watch sugar), hamburgers (no roll) and an occasional piece of dark chocolate when I had a low blood sugar.

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?

Big I: I had three 10th grade students in one of my classes who were all pregnant. What annoyed me was that they thought we were pregnancy buddies or something. I made it very clear that we were not. I also couldn’t stand what I like to call “belly rubbers”: people who tried to rub mine and people who couldn’t quit rubbing their own.

Lil C: All the appointments. . . having gestational diabetes got to be a real pain in the butt. I couldn’t wait until she was finally born.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD’S SEX?

Both: Girls

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?

Both: No, I just wanted a healthy baby.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?

Big I: 30+ but I lost it all within four weeks of giving birth.

Lil C: 18, and it was gone after two weeks

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?

Big I: Yes, four to be exact.

Lil C: No.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I didn’t see the one coming from the science department (Mr. BBM taught science).

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?

Big I: No.

Lil C: Yes, gestational diabetes.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?

Big I: Christiana Hospital in Delaware

Lil C: A hospital instead of the birth center. Big bummer.

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?

Big I: 14.5

Lil C: 15

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?

Both: Mr. BBM

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?

Big I: The doctor, an annoying nurse, Mr. BBM, my Mom, and although he didn’t actually watch, my Dad was also in the room staring intently out the window at the parking lot.

Lil C: My midwife, a nurse, and Mr. BBM.

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?

Both: Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?

Big I: No epidural, but I did have a shot of stadol to help my muscles relax so she would move down already. That was about the only thing it helped because it didn’t do a damn thing for the pain except make me care less that I was in agony. It also made me swear. . . a lot.

Lil C: No, nothing.

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?

Big I: 8 lbs 0 oz. with a head circumference in the 95^th percentile. This came as a surprise to everyone but me. Man that hurt.

Lil C: 7 lbs. 10 oz. with a head circumference in the 95th percentile. Um, hum. Yeah.

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ?

Big I: March 28, 2001 at 1:29 a.m.

Lil C: October 4, 2005 at 1:05 a.m.

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?

Big I: Big I (Sorry folks that’s all you’re getting.) She has a fabulous first name and shares her middle name with both me and my Mom.

Lil C: Lil C has a great first name and beautiful middle name too.

28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? Six and Lil C is 19 months.

7 Random Facts About Me

1. I’m one of those people who get involved. When I was in college, some poor kid was getting beat to a pulp by a group of gang-banger types in a large dorm lobby. While a crowd of about 40 people stood around doing nothing, I cut through the crowd, grabbed the bloody kid off the ground, and walked him out of the circle of on-lookers to an office where the cleaning people locked the door behind us and called for help. The group of guys beating him stood there just looking at me with these stupid looks on their faces. I think they were just so shocked that some skinny blonde chick would just waltz into their fight fest and stop it. For me, there was no choice. I had to help.

2. The blonder I am, the more positive an outlook I have on life.

3. I took French classes for five years, but I mostly just remember the swear words.

4. I have terrible road rage.

5. I have even worse parental rage. When someone does something to one of my kids or says something about one of them, or hurts their feelings. . . I could just kill.

6. I consider myself to be very interested in politics; but as of right now I have absolutely no idea which candidate I like better. I do know the ones I don’t like.

7. Even though I can’t really sing, I still fantasize about being a big star, selling out stadiums, and making tons of money.

Five Favorite Places to Eat

Max & Erma’s: I have been writing this restaurant chain for years and begging them to open up a restaurant near my house. Right now, I have to drive at least 45 minutes to get to the closest one, but it is well worth it for the Tortilla soup and Santa Fe salad.

Stokesay Castle: I had my wedding reception at this amazing location on top of a mountain in the woods. The castle is a replica of an actual European castle and is amazing. The food was always decent (although not amazing), but you can’t beat the ambience. Sadly, the restaurant is closed and the castle is now for sale.

Panda Heaven: This is our local hibachi restaurant and although I haven’t been there for a long time, I absolutely love the food. The last time I was there, I was pregnant and had green tea ice cream. I was totally stuffed and haven’t gotten rid of that way-too-full feeling yet, so I haven’t been back in a long time.

Bruno’s Pizza: This pizzeria has been around forever. When I was a teenager, it used to be the place where all the hot guys hung out on weekend nights in the summer. Now, it’s just the place I grab a pizza and wings from when I can’t bear to think about cooking.

Emily’s: The last time I was there, I had crab cakes with a green olive tartar sauce that was out of this world. Their crab stuffed mushrooms appetizer was amazing too. I can always count on having a good glass of wine there too.

I am now totally meme’d out. I’m sure you are too! If you need me, I’ll be unpacking from a long weekend at the beach, and cleaning sand out of my ears courtesy of Lil C.