Yoga, Pregnancy, Adoption and Shopping
Yes, it can all fit into a Wednesday. I slept in until – never mind it was really late because I was up until 7 am –
my yoga class. I decided on a Hip Opener class based on the students who were in class today. We started with our centering and warm up. Moved through Janu Sirsasana, Akarna Danurasana, Ananda Balasana, Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, Supta Hasta Padangustasana, Bharadvajasana, Parsvottanasana , Utthita Hasta Padangustasana and a majority of seated/supine poses to help loosen the hamstrings and groins and open the hips. We finished with 15 minutes of Yoga Nidra and Savasana.
During the standing postures I got sucker punched from the inside a couple of times, but because we keep the lights lower, no-one noticed. I usually bring a huge bottle of water, but for some reason the lip/straw area on this one made a terrible squeaky sucking sound every time I tried a swig – so I didn’t get to drink much – didn’t help with the swollen leg.
Then I popped in the car to pick my mom up. She was determined to go today to Kohl’s to pick up items for the Layette. We missed the 50% off sale last week, but they are always running a sale. They had Carter’s Baby items 50% off and then my mom got a Senior Discount of 15%. Oddly, Wednesday night they were open until midnight, 10 pm every other night, then Friday midnight – odd days to pick I thought. There weren’t many shoppers in the store – better for me I can’t stand crowds. Mom wanted to get me a bunch of things (really cute girl outfits) but I know I would be disappointed if I had to return them later so we went with neutrals. It never ceases to amaze me how much they change baby items each year. This time it was a hard search to find those little sleeping bags that snap at the bottom and fold over at the wrists – basically the Baby Bag. We get some great 5 piece sets for $9.99 – hat, booties, shirt with fold over cuffs (to protect from tiny fingernails), bib (not sure why a newborn needs this but I guess not everyone breastfeeds?) and pants – Carter’s has some good deals.
Then she asked if I had a diaper bag. I explained my dilemma – I hate Winnie the Pooh and all the diaper bags are lame so I was just going to get a huge purse. I managed to find a Relic Bag that has an insert in the middle to carry your laptop, and side pockets inside for phones, etc. It makes the perfect, stylish diaper bag – not too big and just the right amount of nooks for stuff.
On my way to pick up a nightgown for sleeping and birth I started having false labor (Braxton Hicks) contractions again. The squeezing sometimes pushes the little one up into my ribs and it becomes hard to breathe. My mom got very nervous. This happened with my son too when I was having round ligament pain. Since I am adopted my mom never went through pregnancy and doesn’t know what normal is for a pregnancy. During my son’s pregnancy she and I got freaked out by all the pain I was in during the first month and she rushed me to the hospital saying "I’m not sure what normal is, we should get this checked out". Well, I am versed now and don’t get excited easily, but last time I didn’t have Braxton Hicks at all, or didn’t notice. You should have seen my mother’s face – she was panicked and started thinking the baby was coming – I think this stems more from the fact that she hasn’t driven a car in almost 15 years (due to prior medical problems which resolved but left her with the psychological block to driving). I let her know that everything would be fine and we found a wonderfully soft and XL Vera Wang cap sleeve house dress looking thing with pockets on the sides – it is perfect.
It’s funny to me, I never think about being adopted – my brother and I have known since we could speak that we were. I always applaud my parents for telling us. I have known a bunch of school acquaintances who were told when they were 16 or 18 and freaked out, questioning their whole lives, going on a quest to find their biological parents. Neither myself nor my brother ever felt like that. My parents have pretty complete records on us and always told us if we ever wanted information, not to waste our money paying – just ask. I never felt inclined to. But every time I have been pregnant I do get a little freaked out for some reason – I guess it is a medical history thing rolled into anxiety maybe – but otherwise I’ve never given it much thought – just during pregnancy. I start to worry about things like birth defects – odd hair color coming out (though my husband knows I am faithful -hey his family has a Ginger Gene on their side so one never knows) and other things that I would probably relax about if I had a complete seven generation knowledge of medical history – but I can get a little paranoid so maybe even that wouldn’t help. I’ve traced its start to all of the questioning from the healthcare providers about family history.
In the end though, as much as my mother fights with me at times – expressing her obvious dissatisfaction with things such as Homeschooling my children, Homebirth of this baby and even the time she disowned me for a year after I married my husband – she really does love me.
I dropped her off at 9 pm and she had me wait to make sure my dad left the door open for her, she assumed he was sleeping and wouldn’t answer if it wasn’t open. At 10 pm my cell phone rings – it is a groggy dad "Are you and mom still having fun?", "Huh?", "At Kohl’s – are you and mom still having fun?" "Dad, I dropped mom off over an hour ago." "OH, I just woke up and saw the credit card here and was wondering how mom was going to pay for this. Ok, she must be in the house somewhere."
Yeah, my parents do live in a huge house – but it doesn’t have separate wings or anything – there are about three rooms out of the house she may be in at any time and he was in one of them – he ended the conversation with "So the baby’s still baking?". Not an odd statement coming from a man who tried to convince his grandson he was pregnant – this was after my son asked why my dad has such a big belly.
