When I Was Pregnant with You

Dear Turtle,

I want to tell you about some of the things that happened while I was pregnant with you.

I told most of my girlfriends early on. My theory was that if something happened and I lost the pregnancy, I would need them for support. They were very excited. You were going to be the first baby in our group.  When I was 10 weeks pregnant, my friend Silvia told me that she was pregnant as well. Little did we know that Eric would be born exactly 1 month after you and would be your future best friend. As Eric said today at his fourth birthday party, "Rachel has always been my friend..."  That's true. The first time I ever left the house without you was when I went to the hospital to meet him hours after he was born. But I'll tell you about that later!

I was in the last semester of my MA from UNR when I got pregnant. I had the option of finishing my thesis in December 2005, or fast tracking and getting it done in August. I chose to fast track, because you just never know what the future has for you. It ended up being a good, but difficult decision. I finished writing my MA thesis just as morning sickness hit. I have vivid memories of sitting at my desk chair forcing myself to type and thinking about what I could possibly eat that would make this horrid feeling go away. Nothing worked, but my thesis did get finished and on the first week of August, I submitted the final draft. I graduated that fall and our ceremony was in February 2006, when I was 33 weeks pregnant. I look hideous in the few pictures we have, in the shiny black gown that looked like a tent. 

Lots of things changed that summer that I was pregnant with you. Daddy's best friend Mitch moved away. They had been best friends since they were 9 and did everything together. He had spent some time in Quebec and in Europe before this, but nothing permanent. This time, he moved to Vancouver and hasn't moved back since.  He's currently living in India and California.  Aunt Kristi and Uncle Kevin also moved to Vancouver that summer. I was very sad that they were leaving and wouldn't be here with us when you were born.  They left us a lot of furniture when they left, which finally filled up our little home (I'm sitting on a big blue couch they gave us as I type this).

That summer there was also a big global event. There was a hurricane (Katerina) in the southern United States that hit New Orleans, followed by another one (Hurricane Rita). It made gas prices here skyrocket. It wasn't a great summer to be commuting to Brantford to work.  Now, gas prices around the $1/L mark are not a big deal, but back then none of the gas station signs were even able to advertise the prices accurately because there wasn't a space for that many numbers.

Daddy had to say goodbye to a friend of his that fall. He had known Andrew since he was 14 years old and his passing was a shock.  Andrew's funeral was the first time I had seen your Daddy cry.

One of my favourite things that happened when I was pregnant with you was the release of the fourth Harry Potter movie. I love the Harry Potter books and although the movies rarely live up to the books, I still get very excited about them.  I went to the midnight showing and loved every minute of it.

In the winter of 2006, Canada had a federal election and Stephen Harper was elected as the lastest Prime Minister. Daddy and I were not pleased with this. Election hype dominated the media for quite some time. Also that winter were the Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. Compared to how wrapped up we got this past winter in the Olympic Games in Vancouver, those games barely registered.

Finally, exactly two weeks before you were born, my Grandma (your Grandpa's mom) passed away. She was just a few weeks shy of her 94th birthday and her health had been slowly fading. I was very sad that she would never get to meet you.  I spent a lot of time with my Grandma in the last few years of her life and was greatful that I had had that time with her. Her funeral brought back so much of our family to London/St. Thomas for the first time since my and Daddy's wedding, and for some longer than that! It was so wonderful to see everyone, despite the occassion. My grandma was buried on my 28th birthday and afterward we all gathered at Nana and Grandpa's house to watch home movies, eat pizza, and celebrate my first big family birthday party in over two decades. My feet were almost too swollen for shoes, I had barely a thing to wear, but we all laughed and had a great time that night. Grandma's passing also meant that my Godmother, my Aunt Carolyn, was in town when you were born and she got to meet you before she left. That meant a lot to me.

It was a very busy 9 months!

Love Mommy