The Toddler Chronicles: It's a Girl!

By Mel Butler

You're having a baby? Congratulations! You have read the parenting books, attended the classes, bought everything your baby will need, and you've probably heard all the advice you can take from your family and friends. So you think you are ready? Think again! The Toddler Chronicles: It's a Girl! tells you all the things no one will tell you about raising a daughter in those first few years. Filled with true life stories, The Toddler Chronicles will give you insight into the world of raising a da

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781642985078

Book preview

Surprise! We’re Pregnant

Everyone on the planet has their own stories in life in relation to big events. A man often dreams of what his first sexual experience will be like and how he will propose to his girlfriend. A woman, on the other hand, often dreams of her prom, how she will be proposed to, her wedding day, and the birth of her first child. For me, I also dreamed of how I would tell my husband that I was pregnant. I had decided when I was young that when I discovered I was pregnant for the first time, I would tell my husband in a special way. Initially, I had planned to tell my husband I was pregnant by taking him to a special restaurant and when his plate arrived, instead of his meal, there would be simply a letter resting on the plate which would read, Congratulations, Daddy! However, due to circumstances in our lives, I found that I had to tell him in a different way.

When my husband and I decided to start expanding our family, we were only six months into our marriage and celebrating his twenty-eighth birthday. Since it was a weekday and we both had to work the next day, we had an intimate dinner at home. After dinner, he and I went out on the patio, with our second bottle of wine, and played cards for a few hours. Being newly married and living in Southern California, we found that our financial situation did not allow for many nights out. So we found new ways to entertain ourselves. During the course of our card playing, my husband said to me, Why don’t we try to have a baby? Thanks to a great deal of wine and feeling no fear at that time, I quickly agreed. However, we decided to keep it between us, and just a few immediately close family members so as not to get anyone’s hopes up. After all, should we be successful, that would have been the first grandchild on both sides of the family. We both knew that it could take several months, or even years to get pregnant. Well, two weeks later, I tested positive.

It was a Friday evening, and I had just arrived home from work. My husband, having a few items to finish at the office, said he would follow me. When I walked into our apartment, I went immediately to the bathroom and administered the pregnancy test. In three minutes, the testing stick showed not one line, indicating not pregnant, but two lines. I was pregnant!

Shortly after seeing the positive test results, my husband called me to let me know that he was on his way to pick me up and wanted me to meet him in the parking lot. We were scheduled to be at his mother’s house that night for dinner, and we were running late already. Remember when I said that due to circumstances, I had to find a new way of telling my husband that we were having a baby? Well, I knew that I could not go to dinner and drink only water without having to explain why, so I knew that I had to tell him right away about the test. However, I still wanted to do something other than just blurt out the words. So I told my husband that I was working on something inside the house that I needed his help with and he needed to come inside for a few minutes. After he once again reminded me that we were running behind schedule, I was able to convince him to come inside the apartment. Shortly after hanging up the telephone, he arrived.

As he walked in the front door, I told him to sit down on the sofa. Of course, at this time he was thinking that he was in trouble for something, and I could tell that his mind was racing to remember what he could have done, or failed to do, that would upset me. He quietly sat on the sofa. I told him to close his eyes and hold out his hands. As he did so, I placed the positive test in his hands. As he opened his eyes and looked at the test, I took a few steps backward. I was unsure how he was going to take the news, and in the event he was very excited and started jumping up and down, I did not want to be in the vicinity.

For a few moments, he continued to stare at the stick. He then looked up at me with a slight bewildered look, and it was at that moment that I saw he was not fully aware of what I was telling him. I simply said, Two lines means we’re pregnant. He looked down at the pregnancy test and started counting lines. He said, One, then stopped and started again with one. This went on for a few seconds. He then looked up at me and leaped over the coffee table, jumping up and down with excitement. Our basset hound, Buddy, seeing all the excitement, also started jumping up and down, howling as basset hounds often do. My husband ran to me, picked me up, and hugged me as tight as he ever had. Thinking that he should not be squeezing his fragile bride, he put me down and gave me a loving kiss. We suddenly realized that we were still late for dinner and started out the front door. As we were walking down the hallway, my husband noticed a photo on the wall of him and his father. His father was standing next to him with his arm around his son. At this time, my husband, realizing that he was going to get the opportunity to introduce his first child to his own father, who just happens to also be his best friend, started to cry. It was one of the most memorable and happiest moments of my life . . . at least up to that point of my life.

My First Kick

Any woman who has ever had a child knows that a woman’s body will go through numerous changes throughout the course of pregnancy. Some of those changes include the growth of her hips, and in most cases, the sudden appearance of stretch marks on the stomach, legs, and yes, at times, even on the breasts. Along with those changes come many differing feelings. Most women will experience things such as morning sickness, swelling, and cramping. Although I did have those experiences with my second child, I was lucky enough in my first pregnancy that I did not experience any of those most unenjoyable feelings. However, one experience that I did have in common with other women was the joy of feeling my child move and kick while in my belly. In my opinion, the movement of a child while in utero is one the most exciting experiences a woman can have. Many women have said that this feels a bit like gas, but to me it was something completely different. The first real kick that I experienced while pregnant with my daughter was, and still is, the most memorable kick I have ever experienced.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was just entering that stage of pregnancy when you start to feel the movements of your child, although until this day the movements that I had experienced had been extremely faint. I had spent the day doing what I normally did on Saturdays, which was cleaning our home. My husband had left our home early that morning to enjoy a day of golf with his friend. One of my rules was that on the days that I dedicated to cleaning our home, my husband had to leave. I felt that I could accomplish all my cleaning tasks quicker and with more ease if I were the only one in the home. This had been a rule of mine since the day we met. Of course, being kicked out of the house to go enjoy a sunny day of golf with his friends, my husband never complained.

Later that afternoon, after I had completed all my cleaning tasks and my husband had returned home, I decided to retire to the bedroom. One other concept of pregnancy that I did share with other women was exhaustion. I found that during my pregnancy I could not do as much or work as long without having to lie down and rest. Therefore, I went into our bedroom, lay on our bed with our basset hound, Buddy, and turned on the television. Soon afterward, my husband arrived home and, being that he had just exerted himself to the max, he decided to join me. We lay on the bed for a while watching television. After a short period of time, I started to feel very faint movements from within my belly. My daughter was awake.

I told my husband that she was awake and moving around, and he was interested in feeling the movements as well. My husband had always been intrigued about pregnancy, the ways the woman’s body changes internally and externally, and what the baby is going through as well. So he quickly asked where the movements were coming from so that he, too, could feel the movements. After considering where the majority of the movements were coming from so that he could receive the full effect, I placed his hand on my belly. Our daughter suddenly stopped moving. After a few moments with no movements, we thought that she was finished and decided to settle back into her most comfortable place. So my husband took his hand from my belly. Suddenly I felt her start moving again. I quickly placed my husband’s hand back where the movements were originating from, and she once again stopped. Seeing that she was playing a game with us as she often did during the course of my pregnancy, my husband decided to omit the use of his hands, and he decided to lay his head on my belly and talk to our daughter, in hopes that the sound of his voice would encourage her to start moving again. The moment that his head was comfortably resting on my belly, my daughter decided to say hello.

Suddenly I felt a strong bump come from within. My