Last week, I was sending Jacob off to school in a hooded fleece sweatshirt and wondering if he would be warm enough on the playground during recess. It was 40 degrees. The past few days have been in the upper 80's and todays forecast says we might reach 90! It is supposed to stay in the 80's through Thursday when a cool front should usher in some 70 degree weather and I am looking forward to it. I am trying to hold off as long as possible before installing our three window AC units which will bring with them a drastic increase in our monthly electric bill.
One thing I always said I would never do is have a Summer baby. I didn't want to be hot and pregnant during the Summer months and I didn't want my poor kid being the poor child who didn't get to celebrate his birthday during the school year. One of my brothers was born in July and always hated how all the other kids got to wear birthday crowns on their special day and bring in a treat for the class and he never got to partake in that.
Ideally, I wanted to have a baby in April or May so that I was able to enjoy the end of Summer without being stuck indoors recovering from child birth and nursing around the clock. How ironic that all THREE of my children were born, or due, in JULY! I guess you can't really expect that your body will get pregnant when you want it to.
With all three pregnancies, have come the obligatory questions that arise when someone encounters a very obviously pregnant woman. The first? When are you due? Jacob was due July 8th and Grace and Eli (YES! Baby number three officially has a name!) were both due on August 16th ironically and have (or will have) late July birthdays due to repeat c-sections. When I respond with the month I am due I always get sympathetic nods and comments of, "Oh, you are going to be hot and miserable all Summer". I have come up with a list of the reasons why I have realized now, after being pregnant three times, that the Summer is actually the BEST time to be pregnant:
1.) Swelling. Yes, they say swelling can be worse in the heat, but most pregnant women swell anyway regardless of the season. I would rather be wearing flip flops in June and July then trying to find a way to shove my fat cankles into shoes to avoid having to wear flip flops out in two feet of snow in January!
2.) The heat. Yes, it is hot in the Summer, but you know what? All pregnant women seem to run about 10 degrees hotter than most when they are hauling around 20 extra pounds of baby weight. I don't have to fight over the thermostat with my husband in the dead of Winter when the rest of the family is freezing. I can simply take a cool shower, sit with my kids in their kiddie pool or wear maxi dresses, tank tops and, once again, flip flops to cool down!
3.) Cabin Fever! I cannot imagine bringing a baby home in December and being stuck indoors for the next 3 months until the Spring thaw. At least I have the end of Summer and the entire Fall season to go out and take walks around the neighborhood, visit the local park/playground and get out of the house every day for a few hours without having to bundle everyone up for sub zero temps and snow.
I really could go on and on, but these are the top three reasons I believe that being pregnant in the Summer is ten times better than being due in the dead of Winter. Especially if you live in a climate like ours where there is most likely snow on the ground between December and March!
In closing, just because I love to compare what we were doing "last year at this time" I wanted to include a picture of the kids from last year and this weekend. One year ago today, we were wrapping up our visit with friends in Boswell, PA and headed East towards Langhorne, PA to take the kids to Sesame Place for a few days before our trek home. This year, we spent Saturday morning in Brewster Gardens letting the kids burn off some energy and taking pictures. I started reminiscing about how little they were last year this weekend and how far they have come.
Memorial Day 2010: Grace - 10 months and Jacob - 26 months
Memorial Day Weekend 2011: Grace - 22 months and Jacob - 3 yrs 2 months
In one year, Jacob has managed to break his leg (and spent 7 weeks in a hip spica cast, immobile, recovering from said fracture), graduated from his NICU follow-up clinic, graduated from the Early Intervention program, started (and in 6 more school days almost finished) his first year in preschool.
In one year, Grace celebrated her very first birthday, started walking, running, talking and doing pretty much everything else babies do once they become toddlers.
It has been a crazy year, but we are ready to welcome the third addition in two short months and begin a new chapter of our lives!
i hope you guys will survive the summer well :) heard it cooled off a little after the heat wave in new england (that's where my parents-in-law live).
ReplyDeletevery cute photos, by the way!