Bill and I were two weeks into the whole parenting thing when my parents suggested that we get out of the house for a couple of hours. So I finished feeding the baby and we dashed out knowing that we had about 2 1/2 hours before the next round. With those free 2 hours we went where? Babies-R-Us. As if we were not totally consumed enough, but I will say that we needed some supplies and it was meant for a quick dash in and dash out kind of thing. On with the story...
On our way out Bill recognized someone he had hung out with at several work events... pregnant wife in tow. A simple Hi and nice to meet you would have been fine I am sure, but she had that look in her eyes. The one that puts you into tears in the bottle aisle because how the hell are you supposed to know which is BPA free, which nipple size and shape to choose and which brand for that matter. I remember that look. The very same look that walked me out of Babies-R-Us just a few months prior. The look of complete defeat! Open the flood gates of discussion. I am sure that I would have freely given mommy tips that I had learned from my other girlfriends, but let's be honest... I had just come off of 13 weeks bedrest and 2 more sleep deprived weeks with a newborn so I was ready for human interaction. I was full of "I wish someone had told me" moments! In fact, I think that so many moms have selective amnesia after giving birth. They simply choose to forget. Two weeks is the perfect time to get mom information. To manage proper expectations. Although I am not sure that I helped with the look of fear. I am pretty sure I scared Sayler half to death.
They don't tell you that 3 days after you give birth your boobs swell to watermelons, get hot and stand straight up under your chin. Just call me Pamela! They don't tell you that you might have baseballs as ankles so don't walk around so much or that hemorrhoids are just part of the package along with a blown-up donut "Booby prize." They don't tell you to eat or drink before you go to the hospital if you go right before a meal because ice chips just don't cut it or to bring your own pillow with color case so they don't get mixed up with the white hospital ones. They forget to mention buying pampers wipes but one package of huggies for the box because the Huggies box is better as it has teeth to grab the wipes but pampers are much softer. You end up wasting time and money on the wrong damn wipes!
They do tell you about how it is all worth it. How that amazing little life fills you with so much joy and so much love. And really, in the end all the other stuff doesn't matter. It gets forgotten as it should. We ended up spending 2 hours laughing with the Robbins in the Babies-R-Us aisle. The more we talked, the more we laughed. You know how some personalities just mesh? And you can talk to some people like you have known them your entire life? That is how we feel about the Robbins. The fact that Sayler's favorite is cotton candy and that she didn't eat blue m&ms because they turned her mouth blue probably set the friendship over the top, but so our story began and we have been good friends ever since. We could not be more blessed that our paths crossed that day and when they gave birth to their son, Sam we were so thrilled for them.
