It’s Safe To Say It Did Not Go Down That Way

 Hubby, Me and J when he was a little guy.

In your life, there are moments you experience that are monumental. Epic. Amazing.

Moments you will look back on and revel in the memory of their marvelousness.

Some of these moments may even be periods of time. Not specifically moments, but hours, days, weeks, months even.

The funny thing is that as time passes it warps our memory. Some moments that may not have been all that fantastic, we recall as being such. We romanticize them. We remember them as more wonderful than they really were.

Take being pregnant for example. 

We look back on that time and think how amazing it was to have a baby living inside of us. How we would cuddle in bed rubbing the belly and watching the baby kick. How we had that “pregnancy glow” that made us look so beautiful. How wondrous the magic of giving birth. How holding that little tiny baby in your arms for the first time suddenly makes your life worth so much more.

Yeah…

It’s safe to say it did not go down that way.

Pregnancy was heartburn from drinking water, rocking some cankles, acne like a pubescent teenager, swollen feet like you ate a block of salt, lower back pain, random strangers touching your belly, nine months of uncomfortable sleep positions, belching all the time like a drunken frat boy, smelling Chinese food from 20 feet away and wanting to hurl, stretch marks that resembled a map of North America.

Or that small percentage of us who lucky enough to have hemorrhoids or sciatic nerve pain or acid reflux.

See.

ROMATICIZE.

We completely forget what it’s like to be pregnant after our kid gets to be about 1 or 2 years old. We start to think that maybe we should have another baby because “pregnancy wasn’t that bad”. We can totally handle being pregnant again. We have amnesia as to what really went down.

I mean why else would we decide to have more kids?!

Well, okay, that part about “holding the tiny baby in your arms for the first time” was pretty awesome. You are remembering that correctly. 

And when those little fingers wrap around your pinky finger. And when they smile at you for the first time. Or their first laugh. Oh! Or when you first hear them say “mama”. Or when they give you a hug for the first time. Oh oh! Or when they take their first steps. Or their first day of preschool.

*Sigh.*

Maybe I’ll get pregnant again.