The better things

I just sent a preview of the website I'm building to my client. And now I am writing here so I stop thinking about throwing up. One thing though: Phillip was pointing out that 99% of the world uses Internet Explorer and how I should be looking at how my pages render in IE as well as Firefox and I KNOW THAT except I FORGOT and now I see that I have something stupid to fix and can I just say PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE FIREFOX PLEASE.

All right! Not throwing up!

Today was better. Which is good because today tonight I am writing about How Things Are Better.

Thing Number One!
I don't remember when it started and I don't know how long it lasted, but with Jack I had several rather memorable nights of Surely This Is Going To Kill Me Heartburn. Like, heartburn so bad I nearly called my pharmacist friend in the middle of the night because I KNEW she had a giant bottle of Zantac left over from her pregnancy and I'm sorry but Tums were NOT cutting it. There were nights when I had to sleep propped up in bed lest my insides be burned up by my horizontal position. When I would wake up in the middle of the night wondering if this is what it felt like to drink battery acid. When Phillip was calling his lawyer to see if the court would accept "heartburn" as the reason on the divorce papers. Also? Tums? DISGUSTING. Oh man. I could barely choke those things down. But with this baby I've had minimal occasional barely annoying heartburn AND I found a version of Tums I can stand to put in my mouth. Excellent!

Thing Number Two!
My skin? WAY better with New Baby than with Jack. I think I've had exactly one red eruption on my face since January. And did I mention that those gross calluses on my feet totally went away? I know, like you want to hear about my feet (NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT FEET) but you GUYS. Here I was thinking that I was going to have these weird little bumps on the bottom of my foot until the day I died, that I'd end up going to the foot doctor at age eighty-four and saying, "Yes, Doctor, I wore stupid shoes in my youth", AND NOW THEY ARE GONE. And even though this happened with Jack too, I love the thicker hair and the long fingernails. My usual mode is Thin and Stringy and Bitten To The Quick, but pregnancy is like a little hair and nails oasis. (Although, because my hair started falling out at 3 months post-partum and then started growing back about 6 months post-partum, I have all these short chunks of hair that stick out and look totally weird. WHATEVER.)

Thing Number Three!
Guess who has successfully avoided the evil store that rhymes with Botherhood Fraternity? ME. I have spent WAY less money on stupid maternity clothes and the money I DID spend I spent on things I actually liked wearing. GO ME.

Thing Number Four!
No one is bothering me about a Small Baby. Although there is still time for that, I suppose.

Thing Number Five!
I haven't had time to worry about all the things I worried about with Jack. It's not that I am NOT worried about those things. I am well aware of the Horrible Things That May Happen. Of course I am nervous about The Newborn Stage and What Kind Of Baby I Will Get. But I don't have time to think about it! Even when I come across blogs where the Horrible Thing has happened, I don't fall into a pit of terror. Someone is whining for his goldfish crackers and I must snap to attention. You know? So yes, having a toddler while pregnant is exhausting, but it's definitely helped in the Psychological Department. (These crazy anxiety-inducing hormones, though, are an entirely different story. I mean, you should hear the things I've been anxious about. They are not even REAL. But I am not talking about those things! Only the better things!)

Thing Number Six!
Thing Number Six isn't something I've thought much about since I first got pregnant, but it bears repeating. It may be the best better thing. Thing Number Six is: this baby appeared out of the blue. (Well, not ENTIRELY, but you know, as blue as it is possible to be in my obsessive-compulsive world.) The lead up to my first pregnancy, while a tropical BREEZE compared to internet standards, was still a time period in which I managed to Bring The Drama. Like, a lot. For all I knew baby number two would require the same emotional work. But no. Baby Number Two just HAPPENED. And even though I freaked out and was even sort of angry about donating my body to an alien creature so soon after the first go round, it was so nice, so very very wonderful, to not have to do the emotional work.

And there is your yearly dose of positive thinking! Are we all gagging on our coffee? Shuddering at the Sappy Cheer and Irritating Good Humor and Annoying Glass Half Fullness? Then it would be my duty to inform you that while the boy napped today (OR ELSE I WOULD BE DEAD), he also went to bed with a FEVER. OH JOY.

Comments

[Jen]

That is a good list! It is always good when things are better. (I am a glass totally full kind of person. I annoy those around me with my cheerfulness.)

[Sarah in Ottawa]

I am glad to hear that things are better! I am also jealous of your skin, because at 15 weeks mine looks AWFUL! Maybe it will taper off eventually...

[Charlotte]

That's a good list! I'm glad to hear that so many things are better. And I'm always happy to hear when the second baby just happens. I know I have only anecdotal evidence at this point, but I know a bunch of people for whom that was true. And even though we're still working on the first, it makes me more hopeful that things will be easier next time!

[Charlotte]

Better sounds good. Or great rather. Sorry, I'm not used to this entire glass half full thing. This optimism business is disconcerting.

I'm going to dole out my annual dose of schmaltz and say that I am very happy for you (not about the fever bit, but the other six bullet points).