Sunday, January 11, 2009

A Simple Question

Last night, Dennis came into the house after a quick run to the grocery store. I was sitting on the couch, with a non-so-happy look on my face. As he unloaded the groceries, he asked me a seemingly simple question. "What's wrong?"

And then the tears came. "Nothing. Nothing is wrong, Dennis."

"Krista, you are crying, please tell me what is going on."

"I'm tired. My feet hurt. And I'm stressed."

"About what?"

"About everything. Did you see all of the cribs today? There are so many things that we need to do before the baby arrives. We haven't registered for anything yet. And everything is so expensive. We need to get new jobs because we are going to need lots of money. And I'm tired of getting unsolicited advice. EVERYONE and there brother has advice for me - and for us. I'm sore from the pregnancy workout (DVD) that I did the other day. I'm fat. And my feet hurt." Really? Is that all that was on my mind?

"Krista, everything will be OK. I promise. We have plenty of time to get things together and organized and don't worry about all of the advice. People are just trying to be helpful." He was trying so hard to be sweet and listen to all of my concerns. I admire him for that. I would've told me to get a grip and quit worrying so much.

"But it's not helpful! It's overwhelming! And I'm worried about our country. We need to do some type of campaign educating people before it's too late. I mean, people think that the republicans have been in charge of congress for the last 8 years. I cannot stand it anymore! And my feet hurt." And then more tears came.

Back in the normal world, now, here are a couple of things that you need to know:

(1) We'll be able to get everything completed before the baby arrives. Hell, we still have 20 weeks left. Maybe only 19 if we are lucky. So, we're really going to be OK, no need to worry (especially since I am doing enough worrying for all of us these days).

(2) My job is fun but it is very different because I see different customers every day. Since I've started wearing maternity clothes, it's obvious that I have a little bun-in-the-oven and every single person that sees me offers me unsolicited baby advice. When I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE. Imagine seeing different people all day, every day, for several weeks in a row. Then you go back to the people you saw a few weeks ago and they are so excited because they haven't seen you to give you any advice for several weeks. Little do they realize you've been receiving advice from EVERYONE you've seen every single day since you last spoke with them. Imagine that.

(3) The pregnancy workout video is actually a pretty funny story. I decided that I would try an at-home-workout while Dennis was at the gym. I figured it was safest to see how (un)coordinated I really was when he wasn't here to witness it.

The lady on the cover of the DVD had on a sports bra and shorts so I dressed accordingly. And she looked to be at least 8 months pregnant. The workout attire that I had on made me glad that Dennis wasn't there to see me. I looked slightly ridicilous.

Then, this DVD starts and she is speaking in some very difficult-to-understand-accent. And there is oriental music playing in the background. I knew at that point that I was doomed. Surprisingly, though, it turned out better than expected. For some reason, her accent lightened up and I was able to understand her throughout the video. I had to do the "beginner" moves in most cases but was proud to tell Dennis when he got home that I was able to do a few of the "advanced" moves. Look at me, Mrs. CO-ordination!

(4) I probably do not need to change the world when I'm pregnant. Or ever. But it obviously weighs heavily on my mind.

This little story details my first departure from reality. I heard it would happen. And it did. I completely lost it. Luckily Dennis was there to hug me and tell me that everything was going to work out.

I imagine Dennis' learning from this is that he will always be careful when asking a simple question. Because he may not get an equally simple answer. Especially when talking to his pregnant wife with sore feet.

4 comments:

Katie said...

Oh Krista, this is JUST the beginning. Isn't it exciting???? Women become parents the minute they read that positive pregnancy test. 10 minutes later they start worrying about everying under the sun EXCEPT themselves. Men become parents when they hear their baby cry for the first time. They try SO hard to understand while we are pregnant but it just does not make sense. Dennis will depart reality one day too....just after the little guy is here. Hang in there, parenthood is a wild but amazing ride. I am so glad you two are on it!!!!! HUGS.

Oh and as far as the advice, the next time someone says "ahhhhh, you are pregnant." Look at them with a straight face and say "well, actually I am not!" Then watch them squirm and walk away, advice free! ;)

Krista said...

Awesome. I love that. One lady mentioned to me that she wondered why my face was "filling out" and now that she knew I was pregnant, it all made sense. I wanted to flick her off and ask her if my middle finger was "filling out", too!

Anonymous said...

Krista, you are so cute and I love you, I would love to tell you not to worry about everything, but I do believe that is part of being pregnant - take deep breaths and just take care of the moment - your feet are going to hurt and mine do too, but its because of my age.

zmelissa said...

Oh this post brought it all back - all the unsolicited advice (most of it STUPID) - all the 'aren't you cute chubby' and 'you've got that waddle down pat' comments! I say, EFF them ALL!!! I had to spend my last 10-15 weeks just nodding and smiling, but deep down I was using everyone's face as a punching bag. Enjoy your own visuals inside your head.