NOTE: I meant to post this on Harmon's six-month birthday. I'm a few weeks late so back off! Anyway ...
Before you blessed us with your presence on Nov. 12, 2005, you spent nine months “cooking” inside my belly. And, although this probably won’t mean much to you for quite some time, your Daddy and I wanted to share with you what it was like for us when you were “on the inside.”
February 2005
During February 2005, our hopes and dreams of having a baby became a reality, even though we didn’t know right away. For some reason, Daddy knew I was pregnant even though I thought there was no way. He had some kind of sixth sense about it and he was right!
March 2005
During March, I started feeling sick to my stomach in the mornings. Daddy and I, however, were nervous to take a pregnancy test because of the miscarriage we suffered it December. We figured there was no way we would get pregnant again so quickly. On Thursday, March 10, on the way home from work, we stopped at the CVS Pharmacy in Brighton and bought a pregnancy test. When we were checking out, the clerk told us “good luck, whatever way you want it to go” and that kind of freaked us out. So, we took the test – which was a very strong positive – and then, just to be sure, we took another one the next morning, which, again, was positive. We were so happy, excited, nervous, scared, etc., but we also were cautious and hoping, this time, everything would work out right.
Although we typically spend Easter with Daddy’s family in Illinois, 2005 was different as many people in Daddy’s family were foregoing Easter in lieu of a family wedding in April. So, we spent Easter with my family, and Daddy and I chose this time to tell them about you – it was quite an Easter present for them!
April 2005
My memories of April were dominated by constant morning sickness of which the only cure seemed to be McDonald’s hash browns and orange juice! There were countless days when I would be sick in my office for hours, puking in my wastebasket. All in all, the first 12-14 weeks of my pregnancy were marred with some pretty bad morning sickness.
On April 4, Daddy and I took you to your first major league baseball game – Detroit Tigers Opening Day. My beloved Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals that day and, unlike most opening days in Detroit, it was hot that day! Daddy got us great seats and we had an awesome time.
We spent the weekend of April 8-10 in Omaha, Neb. for Daddy’s cousin Paul’s wedding. After checking into the hotel, we drove to Lincoln for the day to visit the campus of the University of Nebraska, which, much to our surprise, was very pretty. Upon arriving back in Omaha, we met up with Daddy’s family and told them you were on the way. Of course, they were elated!
On April 21, we had our first doctor’s appointment and heard your strong little heart beat for the first time. I was so excited and amazed to know you were doing so well in there!
May 2005
During May, we started to tell more people about the pregnancy now that we were out of the first trimester danger zone. We shared the news with many members of my family at our Memorial Day celebration. All our family members and friends were so excited about you! During May, we also took you to your first minor league baseball game as we drove down to Toledo to see the Mud Hens defeat the Columbus Clippers. Most importantly, on May 23, we visited what would become our new home. After a search that started in November and spanned over 30 house visits, we finally found a house we loved.
June 2005
On June 16, Daddy and I had our first and only ultrasound. We were so excited to see you and you did not disappoint! You were moving all around and were very cooperative for the technician. On this day, we got our first pictures of you! We did not, however, want to find out what you were. We wanted the big surprise, which we got, in the end!
On June 30, Daddy and I closed on our new house, which wasn’t as stressful as we thought it would be. Our hands were numb, however, as we signed a million documents that day.
July 2005
During the month of July, I finally grew out of all my regular clothes and had to make the transition into my maternity clothes, which was quite traumatic in the beginning. After a while, though, I just realized that being comfortable was the most important thing – for you and me!
On July 1, my friend Nayla and her husband, Mike, stopped in Ann Arbor on their way to Minneapolis from Tampa. Because of this rare visit, many of us (including Helen and Tina Johnson) got together for dinner at our favorite restaurant, Pizza House. This was the first time any of my close friends had seen me since you started growing and they all thought we looked great!
On July 7, Daddy got the keys to our new house. Over the next month, we slowly moved from our apartment in New Hudson into our new house in Ann Arbor. During this time, Daddy used a lot of vacation time to paint and get the house ready for us. Many members of my family, especially Grandma Laura and your great Uncle David, were at the house with Daddy every day getting it ready.
On July 12, after much stress and aggravation, Daddy and I managed to swing some standing-room-only tickets to the MLB All-Star Game, which was played at Comerica Park. It was the first time the All-Star game was held in Detroit since 1971 (before I was even born) and I really wanted to go so these tickets ended up being my birthday present. We had an awesome time but this night proved to be the start of an unpleasant trend – an awful lot of swelling, especially in my feet. Yikes!
July also offered up the Ann Arbor Art Fair, which I had gone to every year since I was a little girl. My Mom and sisters came in from Waterford on July 22 and we spent most of the day at the fair. As is the norm at art fair, it was extremely hot but you and I did OK. I think I must have consumed two gallons of water that day to keep you hydrated! On July 23, that last day of the fair, Daddy and I went back and got a couple of things – a new photo for our house and a cute necklace for me.
On July 26, we spent our first night in our new house and it was amazing! After living in a one bedroom apartment for four years, we finally had a place of our own AND a place for you! On July 29, we made one last visit to our old apartment to clean and Daddy turned in our keys on July 30.
August 2005
The weekend of Aug. 4-7 brought our first plane trip in years, as I was a bridesmaid in my best friend Betsie’s wedding in upstate New York. I was nervous about the flight, as I was getting bigger and more swollen by the moment. But, we were only in the air about an hour so and it was fine. Although I was nervous about being a pregnant bridesmaid at first, Betsie informed me that her sister, Sarah, also was pregnant and her baby boy was due the day after you. So, we both would be around the same size and would have each other for comfort and commiseration the entire weekend.
On Aug. 5, Daddy and I got up early and drove to Cooperstown to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Again, being such a big baseball fan, this was a dream destination for me. We had an awesome time visiting the hall as well as the town. We had some lunch, bought souvenirs and even watched a couple of innings of a youth game at Doubleday Field. And, the weekend prior to our visit was Hall of Fame Induction Weekend so we got to see exhibits on the latest baseball greats added to the hall.
The wedding took place on Aug. 6, which was a particularly bad day for me as far as the swelling. Thank God the ceremony was short as the cute sandals I bought in January barely housed my now gigantic feet. Betsie was beautiful and looked so happy and the wedding was gorgeous – everything took place on this awesome lake, which was right up Daddy’s alley! In addition to seeing Betsie and her family, we also got to visit with many old friends from college.
On Aug. 7, Daddy and I made a quick trip to the campus of Syracuse University before our flight back home. Although campus was very quiet, it was quite pretty. We walked around for a while (of course weaseling our way into the Carrier Dome), had lunch at Jimmy John’s, bought some Syracuse gear and then hit the road back to the airport. It was a fun weekend and our last weekend away before you arrived.
On Aug. 20, Daddy and I took a course called M-Fit Baby Care Basics. It was a class for rookie parents to learn the basics of taking care of a baby. We learned about feeding, diapering, etc. and, although the instructor was a breastfeeding Nazi, it was a good class. It was great to see that so many other people were as clueless about this whole parenting thing as we were!
On Aug. 29, Daddy and I attended our first Lamaze class. Everyone in the class had similar due dates so we all were experiencing many of the same things at this point in our pregnancies. Of course, Daddy and I rarely made it through one of these classes without doubling over in laughter. Everyone else was SO serious but we were always screwing around. It’s fitting that I never had to use any of the Lamaze techniques since you were born via c-section.
September 2005
Fully into the third trimester, we were in the home stretch. The hard thing would be to tackle those early season U-M football games, the ones that were long and hot, like an August day instead of a September day. The first game was Sept. 3 against Northern Illinois and it was indeed hot. Because you were on the way, we switched our tickets for one season to be on the end of the aisle near an exit just in case I needed to escape quickly. On this day, Daddy and I were happy to be in these seats as it was extremely uncomfortable – I think we ended up leaving at halftime!
On Labor Day, we went to your great Aunt Monica’s house to celebrate. This was the first time since Memorial Day that many members of my family had seen us and would be the last time they would see us before you made your arrival.
The following weekend (Sept. 9-11), the dreaded Notre Dame Fighting Irish came to town, along with our first visitors. We hosted my friend, Betsie, and her new husband, Paul, and Daddy’s friend, Chris. Everyone arrived late Friday night and stayed until Sunday. We had an awesome tailgate before the game and, because we had four tickets, Aunt Stacey sat with you and me and Daddy sat with his friend. The game was horrendous – of course we lost – but the weekend, as a whole, was fun! It was during this weekend that I really started to notice how tired I was getting.
Our long-awaited hospital tour came on Sept. 13. We were excited yet scared to see what the birthing rooms looked like. We had a great tour guide (who actually ended up being one of the nurses that took care of you in the hospital) and we felt a lot better after the tour.
On Sept. 17, we had ANOTHER home game against Eastern Michigan. Again, I was very uncomfortable and, again, I think we left at halftime.
The weekend of Sept. 23-25, we had another visitor in the form of our friend, Rob Toonkel. He was in town on business and wanted to get together to watch the U-M at Wisconsin football game. He was staying in Southfield so we made the trip on Saturday to pick him up. On the way, we stopped at the jeweler and got my ring cleaned. Because of the swelling, it had been getting tighter and Saturday, Sept. 24 would be the last day I would wear it until December. We got yummy take-out from Pizza House and promptly watched our football team choke yet again in a Big Ten road opener. What a crappy day! The next day, I was not feeling well at all so Daddy and Rob went to explore campus without me.
October 2005
All throughout the pregnancy, we thought for sure you would come early so we were excited for the month of October to arrive. On Oct. 2, Grandma Laura hosted a baby shower for us at her house and Grandpa and Grandma Bergquist came to town to attend it. We had great food and got so many nice things for you. Everyone was so thoughtful, generous and loving that, on the way home that night, I cried and cried. The whole experience, topped off by the thought that you were almost here, was so emotional for me!
On Oct. 8, we attended yet another crappy football game with U-M losing to Minnesota at the last second. It was awful!
Oct. 10 was our last Lamaze class – thank God!
Although we received a ton of stuff at our family shower, my co-workers decided to throw a shower for us at work on Oct. 11. Daddy took an extra long lunch hour and joined us for a pizza party topped off with cake from Cold Stone Creamery. Once again, we got so many nice things. It’s just amazing how excited people get for a new baby on the way!
On Oct. 15, U-M finally won a game and a thriller at that. We beat an otherwise undefeated Penn State team on an unbelievable last play. It was so exciting and the stadium was rocking and I was screaming and yelling and jumping up and down the whole time and I thought, for sure, you were going to make an early appearance at that game.
On Oct. 22, another thriller of a game happened with us beating Iowa on the road in overtime. Again, I thought all this nerve-wracking football excitement would lure you out but you were standing strong.
Halloween came … and went! We thought it would be so cool to have you on Halloween but you had other ideas. We even skipped your great Uncle Max’s legendary Halloween party because we were so nervous you might arrive when we were 50 miles from the hospital! It was, however, our first Halloween in our house and it was so fun! We bought so much candy and had the cutest kids trick or treat! I remember being so uncomfortable that night – one of the most uncomfortable nights of my pregnancy.
November 2005
Ahh, sweet November! Almost there! At this point, we were seeing the doctor weekly so I visited on Nov. 2 and Nov. 9 and, each time, there was no progress. Those last few weeks were so uncomfortable! You were out of room and I was just plain tired of being pregnant. It felt like it would never end. Daddy was great at keeping my spirits up and encouraging me and telling me that, yes, it would end soon and, in the end, we would have a beautiful baby. I just kept saying that I wanted you to be on the outside. I finally got that wish Nov. 12, two days past my due date!
Other random pregnancy memories:
Although I don’t remember the DAY when I first felt you kick, I remember everything else about that moment. We still were in our apartment and it was a gorgeous spring night. We already took our nightly walk and were settling in for the night. We had all the windows open and it was perfect. I had called my Mom, as I did most nights, and was lying across the bed chatting with her when I starting noticing little movements – kind of like butterfly flutters. It was the weirdest sensation but it was amazing to feel you moving around in there.
Shortly after we moved into the house, Daddy was outside mowing the front lawn and I was playing on the computer. I was sitting there all spread out as that was the ONLY way I felt comfortable. While I was sitting there, you completely shifted and got in the head down position. Although I knew what was happening, it was so odd to feel this. From that point on, you were in position but all for naught!
One of the most fun things for Daddy and I was your post-dinner gymnastics routine. From about August on, after every dinner, we would sit on the couch and watch you roll your butt back and forth across my belly. It was like clockwork and we had a great time watching the show every night. I guess the food got you all fired up in there! And, it wasn’t just dinner. Every day at work, after eating my lunch, you would kick and punch and roll like crazy. I rarely worried about you because you were so active! In addition to this movement, you must have had the hiccups 850,000 times when you were in my belly. And, when you came out, you continued that trend!
