I have not laughed that hard in a long time

Last night I met with my book club and we had a great time! We always talk about the book and decide on the next book, but like most girlfriends do, we slip into so many other topics. The book we are reading this month is, Babyville by Jane Green. Of course it was selected by our current mother to be. She is one of my dearest friends and an amazing woman. Getting married wasn't stressful for her at all. In fact she had so much fun that when I was getting married I told her she was welcome to plan my wedding as well. And now, pregnancy has been the same way for her. She looks just like she did before she was pregnant, she just has a little pouch now. And she has felt great- the whole time. She walks her enormous dogs every day and acts as though she is in a constant state of bliss. She is such a good example to me on how things just do not have to be that difficult in life.

Well, since baby is always on the brain now, we must talk about it for hours at a time. And since the rest of our group has not had a baby yet, we ask tons of questions. Last night had to be one the single most entertaining nights we have spent together. We talked about the best position to deliver in, birthing classes and how pregnancy can affect your husband. We were asking our dear mother to be if people were offering as much advice about pregnancy and babies as they did weddings. All you married or engaged women know what I am talking about..... Apparently with babies it is worse. Much worse. The first question seems to be, "Are you going to breast feed?" Which is then followed up with "Are you going to stay home after the baby is born?" These questions seem as personal to me as someone asking you before you are married, "Are you still going to use condoms after you are married?" Or, "Is your husband going to be in control of the check book, or you?" I am amazed I guess. I just could not imagine asking people these questions. First, if you wanted to breast feed and you could not, you really do not want people asking you about it and then reminding you of how awful it is that you can not. And what if you wanted to stay home after you had a baby and you and your husband really could not afford it? I know what people say, you find a way to make it work, but what if you don't? And besides, what if you want to go back to work? Do you really want people telling you that you are a terrible and selfish mother if you do go back to work? No, I do not want to hear any of that. I am not sure how I will handle those questions when the time comes for me, but hopefully I won't have that many people asking. Dream on, I know.

Besides all of the burning questions that were swirling around in my head, I learned a lot about pregnancy last night and I laughed until my stomach hurt. The stories that my girlfriend has been told by other mothers are so funny. She has learned some of the most intimate details about other women's pregnancies and she has handled it with grace. I would have the look of total shock and awe if someone were telling me about their sex life during pregnancy and showing full frontal pictures of birth. I could not imagine it. I think I will just have to wait and go through it on my own. Hopefully I can handle it just as gracefully.