Baby Fat

A curious thing, pregnancy is. It is good that pregnancy is not a contagious condition- we'd all be in trouble, then. However, I think that I have stumbled on to some very interesting facts that should be shared openly with you, my friends, and possibly on a wider scale to the scientific community. I do, in fact, think that some of the symptoms of pregnancy are communicable.

Let me first illustrate with a funny story: Yesterday Rachel and I decided to use the Burger King gift cards my mom sent us for Christmas (Mom is the wakiest stocking stuffer on the planet). Food in hand, I slid into a booth. Rachel followed. Well, she tried to anyway. I'm not so sure that sliding is the correct word here. Once she sat down, Rach realized that she had quite the situation on her hands. Her belly didn't quite fit, and she found herself stuck - wedged into the seat with her belly pressed up against the table. I'm not sure if you can picture this, but imagine Rachel sitting there helplessly trying to free herself with the table pushing into her belly. Yes, I am a good husband so yes, I helped her up. We were both laughing hysterically.

Rachel is breathtakingly beautiful, and her being pregnant only made her even more beautiful. Now in her ninth month of pregnancy, she looks much the same, only with a basketball tucked under her shirt. I, on the other hand, am not so much the same.

This is where my highly scientific hypothesis comes into play: Could it be that weight gain during pregnancy is somehow caused by a virus that can be passed on? My very first attempt at a proof paper will be a report on my own experience. Being an even six feet tall, I generally weigh in at a healthy 180 - 185. Strangely, since this pregnancy began, that number has rebelliously crept upward. Recently I cringed when arm on the midwife's scale balanced out at 195! That is right - I have joined the ranks of the portly. Why do you think I haven't posted any recent pictures yet?? Even one of Rachel's coworkers pointed out the newly acquired flesh around my neck. Oh yes, it is there. All I have to do is bull my head into my shoulders and it can be seen it all it's glory.

Please, do not worry. There is an additional (and hopeful) twist to my educated guess: Since Rachel will expect to lose at least 20 lbs. instantly upon Aisha's birth, I can expect that virus (which I shall name fatherius fatticus in latin) will also disappear from my system. If it doesn't go away on it's own, I have already signed my own prescription to combat this ill: running. I do love to run, and something tells me that my future may hold many a long jog.

Health Class

Rachel and I get an email each week from a web site that gives us updates on what's going on inside that big belly of hers. This week, week 35, we learned that the baby is nearly completely formed, and is now simply putting on weight and making mommy feel very uncomfortable.

Since she will be considered full term as of this coming Saturday, we are hoping for her arrival any time between now and the last part of February. Rach has been praying fervently that she'll come sooner rather than later.

Along with the email came a link to some very unsettling videos of several couples and their 'baby stories'. While watching, at times I felt sick in a way I hadn't since my 7th grade health class. If Rachel survives all that, she should be elevated to goddess status. There were several moments, however, when the bigness - the absolutely earth shattering nature of that event seemed to be overwhelming. I admit I teared up. I thought of Rach going though all of that, and then trembled when I realized that within weeks I'll be holding a squinting, squirmy, uncoordinated, slimy bundle of joy of my own. We can't wait!

The Fateful Day

This is Rachel helping out during and outreach in Mexico

I had plenty of time last night to think about what I would include in today's post. I was lying in bed with my eyes wide open listening to interesting sounds produced by the air flowing through Rachel's sinus tissues which have been weakened and relaxed by the pregnancy hormones. I guess that was a long way to say that Rachel has been snoring since about the 6th month. Last night was no exception.

In mid June of last year Rachel and I were having the time of our lives working together leading missions teams into Mexico to love on people and show them Jesus. While we knew that things were suspiciously off kilter, I had convinced myself that a pregnancy was surely light years away. The thought of having a baby was still very abstract and incomprehensible to me. One night after a long day in Mexico, Rachel headed home to rest and I stayed back at the church to be part of the evening service with the Missions teams. I work for a very cool pastor here, and when he saw me there without Rachel, he slipped me some money and invited me to get home and take my wife out for a nice dinner. His timing was perfect. Just as I turned the ignition key on my Jeep, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. It was Rachel! I was excited to tell her the good news about the gift from the pastor, and I already had several ideas regarding our evening meal. When I answered there was silence. I spoke again, "Rachel?"

A sweet, teary voice that I will never forget answered, "Jeremy". "Rach, what is going on? Are you OK?" After a few sniffles she replied, "Jeremy, it's positive. It's positive." Something sucked the air out of my lungs and my face went numb. "What are you talking about?" "I stopped by the store on my way home and bought a pregnancy test," sobbing now, "and Jeremy, it's positive. We are going to have a baby." I was driving quickly now, in silence for a while. Rachel was crying.

I think I asked her about a thousand times before we got home if she was completely sure that the results were, in fact, positive. I think I even had her read the instructions from the box out loud to me on the phone. After an eternity of driving and my mind fully immersed in the twilight zone, I arrived at home.

There was no fancy dinner that night. Rachel and I spent a few hours crying and praying together. I will admit that in my maleness (not insensitivity, just maleness) I made Rachel take like two more tests just to be sure. Once we held each other and dried off our faces, we celebrated by announcing the good news to our families..."You are going to be a grandma!!" Everyone received the news ecstatically and offered many kind words of encouragement. The adventure was just beginning!

Welcome to Adventures in Parenthood!

Ah yes, two youngsters madly in love on their honeymoon. I thought this picture was an appropriate way to kick off our new blog. The chronicles of our baby's new life begin with an important day in October of 2005 - our wedding day! It was not too much later (June of 2006) that we came to find out that Rachel was pregnant. Since this is my first, and very much experimental, post - I'll have to save the details of that fateful day for the next installment.

So then, friends and family, welcome to our blog! We hope to bring you along with pictures and text updates as we prepare to welcome the new member of the Williamson family very shortly!