1. Do you work full-time? And, if so, what are your plans for working in the future? – Adaena
I surely do work full-time. I work a basic 9-5 office job that I have been at for 4 and a half years. We have a very tight-knit group of ladies…and I am very blessed to know them. I have two gals that I have been here with the entire time and I feel as though they are my aunt’s or my older sisters. My plans for working in the future are in a different industry…I am going to be a full-time mom and housewife. Thankfully, Jeremy makes enough money (and we live frugally enough) to support us and I am really excited about getting to be at home to raise our family. So my last day at work will be February 12th. I chose that day because I didn’t want to miss out on one last birthday lunch with my co-workers. Hey, I’ll do anything for a free lunch 🙂
2. How long did you wait to tell Jeremy? How did you tell him? – Lindsay
I waited almost 10 days to tell Jeremy about our pregnancy. It was already a really stressful time for him when I found out…and I wanted to keep from adding another stressor to his plate. In our relationship, Jeremy is the grounded, stable, responsible adult and I am the flaky, whimsical, girl who dances around alot. So I knew that it was in his best interest at that time to wait till the moment was right. Plus, I was crappin my pants in fear. And whenever that happens, it is best to change your panties first 🙂 You can read all about how I told him here.
3. Just wondering if you’ll share nursery progress as you go along, or reveal at the end? – Laura C.
Laura, that is an excellent question. What would you prefer? I am open to either one 🙂
4. When did your clothes start becoming too tight? Have you bought anything new? – Lacey
My gut expanded the moment I found out. I have this special skill of being able to look 5 months pregnant…and I have had that skill since teenagehood. It’s really useful for freaking out your mother, by the way. So my clothes were instantly too tight. I still can wear most of them with a belly band…and I still have one pair of jeans that I can button and sit in comfortably. I give that pair two more weeks tops. I have bought a lot of new tops at Goodwill and TJMaxx and Target….especially sweaters and some cheapo t-shirts for the upcoming winter. Surprisingly, some of American Eagle’s sweaters and tops tend to be a little longer so they are definitely becoming a maternity staple. Also, I did go on a bit of shopping spree for out of season dresses at Gap…I scored four of them for under a grand total of $40.
5. How old are you? How old were you when you decided to start having kids? – Heather
I am 28. When I was 21, I decided that the perfect age to get married would be 25 and the perfect age to start having kids would be 28. I didn’t know Jeremy then. We ended up hitched when I was 26…so I am a year behind 🙂
Actually – Jeremy and I had a deal about the whole procreation thing. The deal was that I would keep my mouth shut about having babies for the duration of our marriage. When he was ready, he had to tell me he wanted to ‘start trying’. At that time, I would personally decide whether I was ready…but keep it to myself. If I wanted to take the plunge into scaryville, I would stop taking the pill. Otherwise, I would keep poppin’ em like candy. I guess you know what happened.
6. When did you tell Sherry you were pregnant? Did she figure it out on your Nashville trip? – Mandy
I told Sherry the night before I told Jeremy. I was at the grocery store and she was talking ALOT about babies. Granted this was when both her sister-in-laws were prego and her other BFF Cat had just delivered, so she was in total baby-celebration-mode. So right there in front of the cake mix I blurted it out. She knew that we were ‘not preventing’ so I don’t think it came as a big surprise. But she did scream. Everyone on aisle 4 looked at me. And I didn’t even have it on speakerphone. It was the perfect person to tell first…I would consider her one of my real life best friends (no, we don’t just talk about blogging all the time), she doesn’t know my family or friends here in GA so there would be no slip-ups, she is obsessed with other people’s infants and pregnancies, and Sherry is very excitable and talkative…which actually calmed my tattered nerves and helped me feel better about rockin Jeremy’s world.
On the Nashville trip, Sherry had all sorts of helpful information for me (like carrying a bit of candy in my purse to ward off nausea) and made me feel oh-so-important with a million questions (nursery? names? anterior placenta?). Since I am easily freaked out by random stuff (oh, like a humanoid parasite growing inside of you) I really loved that I had a friend right there with me to remind me of the end result…a brand-new baby 🙂
7. What are you tossing around for baby names? – 2kidsfromjersey
If there was a job that required me to name babies all day, I would be first in line to apply. I love naming babies. I even had a Word document prior to our wedding with approved names on it. And yes, Jeremy received it in an email that said “I reserve the right to name our future children anything I want.” I generally like old fashioned names, or unusual biblical names, or family names.
For boys, I really liked Ty (short for Tyler) Torrin and Jude (Short for Judah) Valiant…but we decided that the final choice is the one that is the best: Will (William) Jackson. Yes, our baby is going to be a civil war hero.
For girls, I really liked Samantha Kayla, Alexandria Renee, or Sarah Katherine. Finally Jeremy & I ended up with Isabella Ann. And yes, we will call her Bella. Bella Bower. And no, it is not because of Twilight 🙂 Although, that doesn’t hurt.
8. H1N1 vaccine: Yay or nay? – Sandra
Jeremy & I decided to just get the regular flu shots and not the H1N1 vaccine shot. It was a personal decision that I think is the right one for us and I feel great peace about. If I die, well, I hope you will take care of my boyfriend. No kissing is allowed.
9. Were you actively “trying” and if so, did it take you long? – Sandra
We were actively “not preventing”. Like I said in question #5 – Jeremy said that he wanted a baby & I decided after that to get off the pill. That was in March after my grandmother’s funeral. So it did take four months to get my egg successfully spermified.
10. Have you two discussed how many you want total? Will this be the only baby Bower? – Sandra
We have. We want at least four biological kids. Four kids kinda runs in my blood. And the option after that to adopt has always tugged at our heartstrings. We will have to wait and see how tired and broke we are 🙂
Whew! Ten more questions answered. Nothing too surprising, I think. Most of the answers are pretty generic but you may wanna weigh in on the reveal-nursery situation or laugh about our boy-name choice. Anyone else out there with a civil war general’s name? Or heck, any Bella’s?
And keep checking back for part 3 of Baby FAQ next week where I tackle the next ten inquiries!