PROLOGUE TO PARENTHOOD

After much encouragement from family and friends, I'm finally starting my own blog. Since I was the first of my girlfriends to get pregnant, I was asked to chronicle the events during my nine months of pregnancy. Unfortunately, I found many other useless things to occupy my time (like watching reality TV or starting our own pharmacy employment agency) and never got around to this. And now that it's mid September, I have already given birth to our precious little girl. So instead of talking about my swollen ankles, my blog will detail the events leading up to the birth of our daughter and events of motherhood thereafter. Besides, being pregnant is nothing compared to challenges of motherhood!
But first, a side note about my pregnancy diet (or lack thereof). I indulged wantonly in many foods that I dared not eat had I not been pregnant. Those of you who saw my voracious appetite could attest to the countless ice cream cones and milk shakes, dessert after almost every meal, pizzas, burgers...the list goes on. Even the Soda Nazi, my friend Elaine, commented frequently on my indulgences (just kidding, Elaine!).
I gained a total of 33 lbs. during my pregnancy, which by medical standards is within the normal range of weight gain. In fact, doctors recommend women gain an average of 25-35 lbs. But to save your sanity after birth, and to spare you the grief of looking in the mirror at your oversized ass, I recommend eating just enough to maintain a healthy pregnancy. Yes, breastfeeding uses an extra 200 or so calories per day, but still, with our advanced age (meaning 30+), our metabolism is not what it used to be. Nothing can describe the defeated look on my face as I stared at my still-protruding stomach (as if I were 6 months pregnant) after birth. And my father's comment about how I still looked pregnant did nothing more than to affirm that indeed, people would soon be looking at me to see if I were one of those lucky mothers that would magically shrink back to pre-pregnancy size without doing an ounce of work. I can assure you, I am not one of those mothers.