7/2/12

My Support Group

Well, the weekend is over, I'm back at work, and I still haven't had the baby yet. Yes, I'm getting more miserable with every passing day. It's not the July heat, it's not the fact that I'm getting bigger, it's not the never-ending bathroom breaks... it's just that I want to see my stinking baby! Hold them, rock them, sing to them, stare at them for hours on end.

Ugh. Anyway.

You know how doctors, hospitals and classes tell you to find a support group? In my case, they mean a Mommy-and-Me type of group, or a Post-Pardem group. Well, I think I have mine. I call them my Twitter gals. One I know from high school who is due a week after me - Megan Steinmann (previously Houlihan) - and the other two I've never met but Megan is freinds with... I don't know what they prefer to be called, but when I talk about them I call them Aly and Liz.

It's funny to think about the fact that 3 women who talk to me only through Twitter and blogs could be so wonderful to me. I try to think about what my pregnancy would have been like had I not had them to confide in. I think I would be even more miserable. Lol.

Aly had her baby first. A girl. She calls her AR (Autumn is her first name, her middle name escapes me). I read her tweets during her labor and then read her detailed blogs (and tweets of course) that came after she got home as well. Through her I've learned a lot more of what to expect during "regular" childbirth, and then so much about after you get home and breast-feeding as well. Her blogs make me cry almost every time I read one. I think it's the details... the new mom details. When I read her blogs I want my baby even more.

Liz had her baby I want to say two weeks after Aly. A boy. She confirmed that Mercy does in deed have a wait for a L&D room sometimes. I've heard that before and always wondered if it was a rumor, but nope, it's true. Through Liz I learned more about a C-Section, which is more in my head than anything else now. I also read her infant care class blog, seeing as they rescheduled mine, and her blog about what she needed at the hospital which was helpful for packing my bags. Side Note - Her grandfather just passed away. He was like her father figure growing up, and through her blog and tweets I relived parts of what Gene went through when his dad passed away a few months ago.

Megan (who I've known since high school) and I are so close with our due dates that it seems like we go through all of the same stuff at the same times. I hate to admit this, and it may sound bad, but I love it because when I'm miserable, chances are so is she, and when she's miserable, so am I. Lol. Misery loves company. We occasionally bounce stuff off of each other, to see if it's normal. It's helpful, really. Her blogs, while they contain a lot of CrossFit info which is over my head, are more like her diary. They list everything going on with her pregnancy and I like to see how we compare. It seems like we both have had pretty mild pregnancies.

These three girls are exactly what I needed. I would have been lost without them. Even though I don't really know Aly and Liz I still ask them questions, and for advice. I'm sure it will be even more so after Baby Brink is here. Without them all, I don't think I would have held together as well.

So, Megan, thanks so much for introducing us!

I didn't know why I got back onto Twitter, and I had no idea what it had in store for me, but low and behold, it gave me the support and strength I needed to make it through this new, exciting and scary chapter of my life. And look, I also have a blog now to keep track of everything so that one day my child(ren) can see what I was like.

Megan, Aly, Liz... I'm very grateful. :-)

Jenni

2 comments:

  1. Aww...what a sweet post! Now it's your turn to make me CRY! I'm anxiously awaiting for Baby Brink to get here too so that you can join in on the mommy tweets. You're so close lady, hang in there and keep the questions coming!

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  2. I'm so glad we are so close too! It's been wonderful having someone to compare notes with :-) our babies will be here so soon, can't wait to read the tweets/blogs etc about your journey!

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