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February 22, 2003
Purpose
The purpose of this diary is to give you a close up view into my life as a young mom. I enjoy sharing the nitty-gritty details of my life with anyone really just because I am such an open person when it comes to feelings and emotions. I don’t really feel like I have anything to hide in life. I hope that you enjoy reading this diary.
How Would I Describe Myself?
Quirky, spirited, opinionated, LOUD, fun, in most cases NOT shy, and energetic.
I never really saw myself as your typical “mom,” whatever that might be. Every mother is different and each one has her own personal parenting style based on what she has experienced, what she knows, and what she hopes to achieve. I don’t think there is any such thing as a “typical” mom now that I think about it, but the media wants us to believe that we don’t live up to certain standards in order to cause feelings of inadequacy. I actually fell for this some time ago. I was irritated by certain commercials and I just started feeling like I just wasn’t cutting it. Wasn’t “mom” supposed to keep the whites white? And I couldn’t even do that!!! I finally realized that I had to throw it all out the window and be myself, to parent the way I knew I wanted to, and raise my kids according to the way I felt was right. I have been so much happier with this attitude.
How Did Our Journey to Parenthood Begin?
My husband, Andrew, and I met when we were 18 (1995.) We were married two months later. We were so in love and felt that it was right for us. We have been married for nearly 8 years now. Yes, we’ve had our problems (major ones even) and we have been through a LOT in the years past. We are still going strong, though.
We found out I was pregnant with Ben about three months after we got married. I was not very far along. An ultrasound was performed at 17 weeks and the tech noticed that the “bean” had certain parts depicting it to be a boy!!! I couldn’t believe it. Andrew was not present because he had to work that day, so I took the print out of the ultrasound showing the boy parts and met him at work. I said, “Honey, look! We are having a little boy!” I gave the picture to him to keep while he was at work. He later told me that he had showed it to everyone he came into contact with that day.
Ben was born on May 30, 1996, 2 days after my initial due date making us parents for the very first time, at the tender age of 19. It was a rough road ahead, but we made it through with lots of help from our family and friends.
When Ben was 4 months old, I found out that I was pregnant again, much to my surprise. We wanted more children, but so soon after Ben was quite a shock to us. I was working at the time, and the pregnancy was taking its toll on me. I had two ultrasounds during the course of my pregnancy, which were done by the doctor. He could not tell the sex of the baby, even at 20 weeks. (Hmmm….) When, I went into labor, I was two weeks away from my due date. Thank God, because Chris came out a whopping 8 pounds 11 ounces!!! He was born on May 26, 1997 and I was the first to see what he was. I shouted, “It’s a boy!” We wanted Ben to have a brother, but we also didn’t mind having a girl. We were pretty strapped financially at the time so it worked well for us because we still had all the baby accessories that were needed, as well as plenty of boy clothes that were still fairly new. (If you want to read more about Ben and Chris, you can find my diary on them at Children Today.)
Working vs. Staying At Home
Ok, so this is the deal: I tried the stay at home thing and I nearly lost my mind. Sure it was better for us while they were young, but when they started school, it was pointless for me to be at home. So, I’m working now while they are in school. I would like to go back to school to become a RN. This plan is still in its early stages. I’ll let you know how that develops.
I can’t predict what I will talk about in my coming entries. My life changes daily! I just hope that you enjoyed it enough to tune in next time.
Until then,
Heather (mom to two lively boys)
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