Because No One Knew They Should Be Keeping Track

I should probably get this out of the way first of all: I’m pregnant. I have been for awhile now. Why haven’t I told all my blogging friends and strangers alike about this joyous event earlier? Well, since this is our third child – and frankly since a pregnancy announcement from us is like another celebrity couple telling the world, via their publicists, that they’ve split up – Alexander and I decided that this time around we’d wait until the ultrasound to tell people. At least that way there’d be a little more surprise. “Guess what? We’re having a baby. And it’s a ______!” See what I mean? Definitely more exciting.

As it turns out though, there was one little flaw in our plan. The baby was uncooperative during the ultrasound and we still don’t know for sure what we’re having. The technician said she had suspicions about the gender, but said she was only 60% sure. That’s right folks! All the wonders of modern technology and we get odds just a few percentage points better than the ones nature gave us in the first place. Therefore, I’m holding out for the second ultrasound in another two months or so before I start decorating the nursery.

Now, on with the post...

The other day, before news of my condition broke in the media, I was feeling a little tired. Not surprising since I’m halfway through a pregnancy (and have two little boys to run after). But it got me thinking: No one knows I’m pregnant. I’m getting no sympathy. And I’ve been working hard!

I’m used to not getting a lot of pity during pregnancies because I tend not to “show” that much. I didn’t even have to buy any new clothes during Elijah’s pregnancy. But there comes a point in every pregnancy (and I’ve noticed that it comes earlier and earlier with each subsequent one) that the mother-to-be wants a little sympathy.

I am no exception. And so, because no one knew they should be keeping track, I’ve compiled a list of things I’ve done during this pregnancy (so far):

• Struggled with my first bouts of morning sickness while visiting my in-laws over Thanksgiving weekend and still managing to help make Thanksgiving dinner.

• Worked on heading up the organization of a family reunion scheduled to take place this May (and yes, I do plan on going and continuing to help everyone stay organized).

• Moved into a new house. For those of you who haven’t done this recently, it involves packing, hauling, loading, cleaning, unloading, more hauling, unpacking, and cleaning some more. And in our case, we also painted most of the rooms in our new house. Don’t worry, I did not paint. But I did help tape off every nook and cranny.

• Headed up the organization of meals for the family Christmas celebration with all of the in-laws, cooked two of the days and prepared a few dishes on Christmas day – all of this while pretending not to need a nap and while Alexander did nap (cause he was sick as a dog).

• Caught what Alexander had over Christmas and spent the next two weeks or so also sick as a dog.

• Got better for a few days, only to catch a wonderful stomach flu that Elijah picked up at church, the catching of which caused me to throw up for the first time in any of my pregnancies. I had a better no-throw up record than Seinfeld, if any of you are familiar with the episode involving the black and white cookie.

• Have managed to gain no weight – and in fact have unintentionally lost five pounds – since getting pregnant (I’m waiting for the doctor to tell me this is bad. Hasn’t happened yet).

• Chase after two boys all day long, every weekday with no hope of getting a nap as Elijah hasn’t taken one since last August.

I suppose that’s good enough for now – mainly because I wasn’t keeping track either and can’t think of anything else.

However, I do feel this list denotes an overall performance good enough to get me noticed by the Academy.

Even if an award isn’t in my future, can I at least get a little blog comment sympathy?