The birthing tweet

My husband burst out laughing when I told him what I had planned. "I'm going to tweet through my labor," I said. (you can insert more laughter here)

Some of you may wonder why I would want to do this or if I even CAN do it.  As for the latter, I'm wondering the same thing myself.

But as for the why, there are several reasons.  The main one is it will be a distraction.  And any kind of distraction is a good thing when you're trying to ignore the sensation of sparks flying out your backside.

The other reason is it will be something my child can hopefully read when he/she is older.  (barring of course any profanity-laden tweets about bastard nurses who won't give me my pain meds)

I just want to try.  I cannot make any promises on how long I will tweet or that the spelling will always be correct (but that never seems to matter on twitter, does it?)

The only promises I will make are that I will tweet as much as possible and try not to get too graphic.  No one wants too many TMI tweets.  As for the profanity.  Forgive me for that now.

If you'd like to follow along, just follow me on twitter @MamasMic

Patiently impatient (Or impatiently patient?)

Here I am, days away from my due date and you would think that I would be anxious to get this kid out. 
And I am. 
But I'm also not. 
You see, this isn't my first time at the circus.  I fully remember what I call the "rough parts". The labor, the sleepless nights, the seemingly endless diaper changes.
And with my firstborn, it was just her. 
Now I know I will have to deal with all those "rough parts" AND run after a toddler.  Just thinking about it makes me exhausted.
But while I know the level of exhaustion will be exponentially greater, so will the amount of room in my heart.
Why then am I still afraid?
Why does every twinge inside make me nervous that this is the moment my life will (once again) change forever?
Why have I been putting off packing my hospital bag, setting up the baby's bassinet, even getting the car seat in the car?
Do I think that by avoiding these things, I will miraculously be granted more time to become "ready"?  Can any parent, no matter what number child they are on, be truly "ready"?
I don't know.
What I do know is that I can't wait to lay my eyes on my newest child.
But I am also trying to make the most of my final days as a mother of one.

Kick once for yes, twice for no

I truly believe one of the hardest parts of being a parent happens before the child is even born.  What the heck do we name it?

Maybe it would be easier if we knew the sex.  But just as with our first child, my husband and I decided not to find out. It may seem like torture for some women, but for me, I LOVE not knowing.

Except for the fact that this child does not have a name.  So now we need TWO names, I'm weeks away from delivery and we can't seem to agree. 

For my firstborn, it seemed kind of easy.  We looked through a baby name book and chose a boy name we liked.  And then over breakfast, I mentioned a girl name and the baby actually kicked me.  It was a sign.  That would be her name.

This time around, it's a battle. 

These are my husband's "rules". 

~We cannot use the boy name we chose for baby #1 because that was baby #1's name and since "it" was a girl, that boy name is no longer in contention. (whatever)
 
~If it's a boy, it cannot be named after him and it cannot (as I want) be named after the hot guy from the television show Sons of Anarchy. (Jackson or Jax is sooo cute, don't you think?)

~AND (get this) the entire name - first, middle and last - must have an odd number of syllables. (he's serious)

He mentioned Hunter for a boy, but I don't want to name our child after a sport.  Plus it was listed as the #5 most hated name online.  (full disclosure: Jackson was #10)

Our baby book has 1001 names in it.  You'd think we could choose two.  But at this point, I'm looking to my belly for a sign. 

For my kids, big events happen in utero.

It was about a month before I gave birth to my daughter in 2009 when I watched Barack Obama's presidential inauguration.  I remember rubbing my belly and telling my child that it was a momentous day for America.  I even wrote the event in her baby book.

Fast forward to May 1st, 2011.  My first-born is now two and I have another baby on the way in about a month.  I had just sat down to relax, turned on the tv and saw the news scroll "Bin Laden Dead". 

I think I said something along the lines of "oh shit!" (pardon the language)

After telling my husband the news, I immediately began tweeting and updating my facebook status page.

I then sat back down and rubbed my belly.

At first, I really didn't know what to say.  But then I repeated what I had said two years earlier. 

It's a momentous day baby.

With one child in utero and another only two years old, I don't have to explain 9/11 or the place Bin Laden has in American history.  And I'm also thankful that I don't have to explain why some people are cheering his death.

But if I did, I think I would use the moment to teach about forgiveness.  Even Osama's death won't bring back the lives of those killed on 9/11.

And I would also touch on the tragedy of war.  While I understand the need and purpose of our military, I pray for a day when they are not needed....both here and abroad.

Hate only begets hate.  Killing begets killing.  But love...only LOVE can save us all.