Those Are Racing Stripes ~ Embracing Pregnancy and Motherhood at 36!!

Some of you know my story and I'm in no way ashamed...I was pregnant for the first time at 20 and had a lovely baby girl. She was placed for adoption and we have always been very open with our family about her. It's a pretty heavy concept for a 5 and 6 year old to grasp and I admit it took me by surprise when my 5 year old son asked "why did you sell my sister?" and we have since talked about loving someone so much that you do what's best for them even though it breaks your heart. Anyway - I've been pregnant 6 times. Here's the scoop:

My Age             Pregnancy Details
20 - Had a lovely baby girl after being on bed rest for 3 months
22 - Had a devastating miscarriage
30 - Had a lovely baby girl after being on bed rest for 6 months (3 months in the hospital) "Carmen"
31 - Had a handsome baby boy ... totally text book pregnancy ... no bedrest "Andre"
35 - Had a devastating miscarriage and learned about something called a 'missed miscarriage'

Now - here I am 36 years old and pregnant with our little miracle boy "Breccan" who is due in a few weeks.

I'm explaining all this, because being pregnant at 20 and being a pregnant mom at 36 are so incredibly different that the me back then wouldn't even recognize the me now (did that make any sense?).

Belly Pic - by Oh! Photography

For example, at 20 it was some sort of honor badge to fit into my jeans at 30 weeks pregnant. Didn't matter that I couldn't breathe, I was in the damn things...at 20 I slathered on some sort of coconut oil concoction every morning and night to avoid the dreaded stretch marks, now I proudly display each one and explain to the children that these are mommy's "racing stripes"! We've had several maternity photo sessions to show off my belly ...and...here's the biggest one...at 20 I tried to hide my belly under sweatshirts and baggy clothes, now I'm proud to show off my ever growing belly - so much so we are making a belly cast next weekend!

If you don't know what a belly cast is, it's like paper mache' for the belly! I found someone who is coming to my home to help us make the cast and then once it's dry we are going to paint it and then proudly display it on the wall. Breccan can take a look at his "first apartment" and when he is 6 feet tall and weighs in at 200+ pounds we can all laugh at the fact that he once fit into such a cozy comfy little home!

This is something I wanted to do with the other children, but circumstances didn't allow for it, and now...this might be the last baby blessing God bestows on our family, and I want to cherish every moment. Every little wiggle makes me smile and I groan with every middle of the night bathroom break, but in reality they also make my heart happy. I am all too aware of the mothers out there who are waiting patiently to become pregnant, those mothers who have lost children, and those who have given up hope. I know how incredibly blessed I am and I don't remember this awareness all those years ago.

We are photographing the belly casting and I'll be blogging about it - so stay tuned for more details...and if you don't want to see my racing stripes, you can just skip that blog post - I don't mind - really!

May your paths be abundantly filled with lemons, sugar, sunshine, and may you always love right where you are at the very moment you are there!
Hugs,
~Crystal