Sunday, July 6, 2008

Nine Months with The Incredibles

I’m far more likely to have a supervillain name than a superhero one. It would be something along the lines of "Guilt Complex Queen." I have an overdeveloped guilt complex. You name it, it’s my fault.
  • Baby’s diaper is wet? My bad.
  • Husband comes down with the flu? I haven’t been feeding him enough orange and green veggies.
  • Our Mozambique building project is out of cash? Guilty, your honor. I haven’t reconciled petty cash yet.
  • People feel unloved and alone in the world? Guilty again. I love you all, but I have 400 emails and 89 blog comments I haven’t responded to, and I haven’t sent out Christmas cards in two years.
  • Government’s budget doesn’t balance? Oops! I haven’t filed our 2007 taxes yet.
  • World hunger still exists? I forgot to leave change in my car for beggars. Plus I left the beans out overnight and they spoiled, so I had to throw them away. Think how many people could have been fed.
  • Global warming? I drive with the air conditioner on.
  • People killing people for political reasons in Zimbabwe? I haven’t figured out the connection yet, but I’m sure it’s my fault somehow.
If it weren’t for God’s Magic Eraser, I don’t think I could live with myself.
But every time I look at baby Esmé, I am reminded that I WAS Wonder Woman. For nine months. Two years ago, my body did this amazing thing. A baby was conceived, and my body became its incubator.
It provided the right amount of padding, fluid, and nutrients. Even when all I could eat during the morning sickness phase were frozen macaroni and cheese dinners, baby survived. And even though I didn’t do my Kegels and never once got through the prenatal exercise DVDs I bought, baby thrived. When I ate doughnuts the morning of my glucose tolerance test and got a false positive, baby did a sugar dance and moved on.
And when D-Day arrived, my body performed exactly as designed. Six and a half pain-filled hours after membrane rupture, little miss Esmé worked her way through into the birthing tub and took her first breath. No pills, no drugs, no interventions, just my body and hers working in harmony. She was PERFECT. All 7 lb, 7 oz, 20 inches of her.
Every woman has her own Wonder Woman story. Esmé is mine.
I am Woman; hear me ROAR!
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This post has been entered into Scribbit's Write Away contest.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

every mother i meet says the same thing. maybe someday i will experience that miracle. :)

Crystal said...

I loved this post. Thank you for sharing.

Kimberly said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! You have such interesting things to say, I think I'll be back to visit again!

Anonymous said...

Some of us are lucky to experience that once or more than once in a lifetime. As a childbirth educator, I have heard probably 1000+ birth stories - each as perfect as the next. Go forth and multiply.

Scribbit said...

Well I never knew I could have a ready made excuse for my problems--YOU! :) If global warming is from you then you might as well be responsible for my stuff too :)

And have I said how much I love the name Esme? (sorry I can't my accents to show up). Love that name.

Mary@notbefore7 said...

LOVE LOVE IT! Oh I hope you win :)

Genny said...

I got goose bumps and my eyes filled with tears as I read this.

What a powerful post, and what an awesome reminder of the miracle of life! Beautiful.

Claremont First Ward said...

LOVE it. I was wondering while I was reading it if it was for Scribbit's write away contest.

Anonymous said...

I loved this post. AWESOME!

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality said...

What a sweet baby! And thank you for stopping by my blog. So glad to meet you and I hope you'll come back again.

Rhoda

Anonymous said...

What a great post! I agree that as mothers, we've done our part in bringing miracles to life.

Thank you for stopping by!

Aloha ~ Kailani
An Island Life

KathyLikesPink said...

Awww! Nice post, and great photo! Brings back a lot of good memories.

Sandy said...

How lovely this story is, and I love the relationship between what you worry about and how perfect new life can be.

Your little one is a blessing. Maybe it's time for another?:)

Anonymous said...

Awesome Awesome Post!

Christie O. said...

what a wonderful, wonderful post. yes, you ARE superwoman!! I love that your little baby did the "sugar dance". that's too cute.

i too have that terrible guilty complex. (it runs in my family -- we call it the "hill guilt".) we all carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. it's terrible. but what can you do.

Danielle said...

You are a super woman. Great post! She is such a cutie!

Gilit Frank said...

Congratulations on your honorable mention - I liked how you started off light and funny and then got very serious.

Gilit

Unknown said...

Congrats on your honorable mention and I love this post!!! You are wonder woman for delivering natural...it's a good reason I am wonder woman for other reasons...never ever going to attempt that! :)

Guilt trips need to be forced from the face of the earth..they are so bad for us!

Anonymous said...

What a wonder creation is. Isn't it wonderful that we can participate?

Robin said...

What a great post. Too often we women take everything upon ourselves - except the credit for what we've actually accomplished.

Tassi said...

Congrats on the honorable mention!

Have a great weekend.

nellbe said...

Gorgeous post, well done for the honorable mention.

daysease said...

Very sweet!!! Love your sentiments. And you are so right. Thank you, by the way, for your kind note of congratulations. I enjoyed hearing from you. have a great day. :-) Soon.

Anonymous said...

Great post! Don't worry everything is my fault over here too. Thanks for playing along.

Elisa said...

Oh my goodness! I loved this post! I love the phrase "Gods magic eraser"... isn't that the truth though? Where would be without that?

It brought tears to my eyes when you pointed out how your baby is your wonder woman story. That is pure beauty! Thank you.