20 Week Ultrasound

I FINALLY had my 20 week ultrasound. As all of you pregnant ladies know, the 20 week scan is the most exciting thing about pregnancy, besides the birth of course. You get to find out how the little bean is doing in there and you get to find out the gender. Finding out the gender is much anticipated because that means one thing... you can start shopping!

Anyway, going into my ultrasound I was pretty sure I was baking a girl. This pregnancy was so different than my other two, I wasn't sick very much and the heart rate was much higher than it was with my boys. Of course, I bought into the whole "a higher heart rate means you're having a girl" old wives tale. I mean, why not?

So here we were at the ultrasound appointment. We were chatting with the tech about how much we thought this would be a girl because what are the odds of having 3 kids in a row with the same gender. She puts the probe on my belly and BAM, it was the money shot. Boy all the way. We couldn't debate it if we wanted to. I seen my only hope of some extra estrogen in the house fly right out the window. I have to admit, I was a tad disappointed. I knew this was our last child and I knew I'd never get the mother-daughter bond I longed for.

However, my disappointment didn't last long when I looked over at my husband and seen him grinning like it was our first child. He was so happy. I quickly began to realize, I will be the queen of the house. I will get to watch my 3 sons be best friends. I will get to see them compete, fight and watch out for each other. Once they get teenagers, it may cost me hundreds of dollars to feed them each month, but I wouldn't trade that for the world.

-BC

Opinions

No matter where we go or what we do, we run into people with opinions. The majority of the time, we respectfully listen to their opinion, state our point of view and move on. However, there are always a select few who think their opinions are laws; their opinion is the only right answer. It may just be me, but I seem to run into these types of people more when I'm pregnant. The fact is, I value your opinion but I don't need you to downgrade mine because you think it's wrong. For example, I don't care whether or not you circumcise your child, it's none of my business. I understand that people are passionate about different things but that doesn't mean my opinions are wrong.

It's hard to know how to respond to these types of people because a lot of the time they are a close family member or friend. In such a case, we would have to determine the appropriate way to respond based on the situation. All in all, if people would be respectful of all opinions, no matter if they are different from their own or not, we would all be happy.

-BC

Who is BarbieCrocker?

Time and time again I hear mothers say they don't have time to take care of themselves, don't keep up with their wardrobe, keep their hair in ponytails, etc. I was once of those mothers but I believe every women deserves to be as beautiful as she was before she had kids. When you feel good about yourself, your confidence rises and you are happier overall. Women love to feel beautiful, it's in our nature.

Once I started having kids, I was determined to get my baby weight off and feel pretty again. It took a few months of working out and eating right but I got my weight back on track. I started buying clothes and shoes that were part of my "pre-pregnancy style" and I was off to the salon to get my hair back to looking human again. There I was, armed with a new wardrobe, a new hair style and a plentiful amount of confidence. Now what?

I started off slow. I never felt like waking up early enough to get ready in the mornings because, after all, I was a new mom and needed as much sleep as possible. I felt like I had wasted all the time and energy I spent on "renewing" myself. That was until I seen a talk show segment on new mom make-overs. They were essentially telling everyone what I was already telling myself, I just had to do it. I was halfway there!

That gave me the motivation to start my new journey. I began to wake up a few minutes earlier, and although I was tired at first, I pushed through. I started to fix my hair, put on a little makeup and put together a stylish outfit, and even though I was tired at first, I felt GREAT about myself. I was ME again. That's how my alter ego "BarbieCrocker" came into play. I decided I was going to dress myself up every day, wear heels if i wanted to, but still cook, clean and maintain my household and be a good mom.

When I started my new job as a Paralegal, I had several women ask me how I managed to look so "put together" every morning despite having kids. I shared my story with them and a few of them actually took my advice. Just because we are moms, we don't have to walk around in XXL t-shirts, sweats and flip flops. We can look just as good as a women without kids, maybe even better. All it takes is a little time and motivation and any regular mom can turn herself into a BarbieCrocker.

-BC

Pregnancy Living

Oh, pregnancy. We either love it or we hate it. Some women say they have the best experience while pregnant. Me on the other hand… forget it. The little baby kicks and bonding with the baby before birth is great but what about when you’re puking day in and day out, the weight gain, and the keen sense of smell that allows you to detect someone’s breath from 15 feet away? I don’t like to be a Negative Nancy but geesh I’m ready for the baby to be here already! I read that elephants are pregnant for 2 years! I mean, could you even imagine that? Although, once your little bundle of joy finally makes his or her appearance all the crappy symptoms fly right out the window and we are ready to do it all over again. Now that I’m announcing that this is my last little bundle, it’s bitter sweet. There’s no greater feeling than knowing you birthed a child.

-BC