pregnancy

Inspired by Mary at the End of Pregnancy

October 11, 2011 By Sarah Reinhard 1 Comment

I woke up in the middle of the night convinced that Jesus must have been a preemie.

Or that Mary did not carry him for the full forty weeks we define pregnancy.

I know the Bible is big on the number forty, but it is impossible for me to imagine Mary willingly setting off on a four-day cross-country journey to Bethlehem riding on a donkey during the last two weeks of the traditional forty weeks of pregnancy.

How did she do it? Did she have any hesitation preparing for this journey when she was so swollen with child? How much did her hips and lower back ache during the ride?

How did she get any rest sleeping on the ground? What did Joseph do to make her more comfortable? Did he have to help her up from the ground every morning? How large was she? Was she irritable or calm and serene with a holiness bestowed by God for this purpose?

It occurs to me that all my ideas come from the traditionally told version of the Nativity Story, that implies she was “great with child” laboring as they entered the city, and delivering the very night of their arrival. However, we don’t actually know how pregnant Mary really was when she made the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The Gospel of Luke only says, “And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (NAB Luke 2:4-7)

Is it possible that Mary and Joseph traveled and arrived in Bethlehem weeks earlier, when she might have been less uncomfortable? Maybe they were in Bethlehem for the census and delayed their journey home because she was too close to delivering to travel.

My own final weeks of pregnancy are passing slowly, one day at a time, one night at a time. I realize that when I focus too much on my own discomfort and irritability, I’m disconnecting myself from God. Yet this is the time when I should be prayerfully drawing closer to Him. When I don’t, I find myself lying awake in the middle of the night with my head full of thoughts. Often, these thoughts gravitate towards Mary, wondering how she dealt her final weeks, awaiting the delivery of our savior, Jesus.

Hail Mary, full of Grace, grant me the sereneness and inner peace that carried you through your own anticipation of birth. Guide me to fully embrace these last days before bringing forth my own son.

image credit: National Geographic

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Shelly Kelly is one of the blogging sisters at Of Sound Mind and Spirit. She’s VERY pregnant and looking forward to FINALLY meeting her little guy. (Join me in praying for her and her family as her delivery time draws close!)

Filed Under: guest post, Inspired by the Virgin Mary, Motherhood Tagged With: guest post, Motherhood, pregnancy, Shelly Kelly, Virgin Mary

I’m not pregnant, but I’m sure writing about it

September 23, 2011 By Sarah Reinhard 2 Comments

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I’m on deadline.

(Have you taken my survey yet? The one I begged about yesterday?)

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For my latest book project.

(Have you taken my survey yet? The one I begged about yesterday?)

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It’s almost done.

(Have you taken my survey yet? The one I begged about yesterday?)

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I’ve written all the chapters (in a “boy are they UGLY” kind of way), but there’s still some work to be done.

(Have you taken my survey yet? The one I begged about yesterday?)

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I have some small sidebars to compile. It WILL be finished, though, before the weekend. And then I will send it to a handful of trusted critique partners.

(Have you taken my survey yet? The one I begged about yesterday?)

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Against my better judgment, in a fit of weakness, I sent it to the person who agreed to do the foreword. I’m trying not to think about that too much, lest I start screaming–joy that she will be involved in this project, terror that she’s seeing something so unedited and unready for viewing.

(Have you taken my survey yet? The one I begged about yesterday?)

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Now excuse me. I have some surveys to compile and sidebars to write.

The full round-up is hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary!

Filed Under: Quick Takes, writing Tagged With: my book, my pregnancy book, pregnancy, Quick Takes, writing

I need your help for my pregnancy book!

September 22, 2011 By Sarah Reinhard 4 Comments

I’m working on the final touches of my pregnancy book (more on that later) and I need your help!

I’d like to include some information about bedrest, depression during pregnancy, mothering alone (i.e., single parenting), mothering multiples (i.e., twins), pregnancy after abortion, stillbirth, and unexpected (surprise) pregnancies.

If you have experienced any of these situations–or anything else that might be relevant to buyers of a book that’s a Catholic guide or handbook for pregnancy, please help me!

Could you take a few moments and complete the survey I’ve put together?

My thanks, and my promise to share more with you in a few months, once the editorial team has had a chance to make everything pretty and nice and marketable.

Filed Under: writing Tagged With: help needed, my book, my pregnancy book, pregnancy, writing

A Glimpse Inside

November 26, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard 2 Comments

I was at the OB earlier this week and the nurse practitioner, who was seeing me in place of my vacationing doctor, was concerned that I am measuring significantly smaller than I was last week.

“Do you feel any smaller?” she asked me.

What do you say to that? That “lumbering” doesn’t quite describe my movements and “clamber” would be more graceful than the way I feel right now?

“Not exactly,” I sighed.

And so, because this is what they do when you go to a doctor and not a midwife,* they did an ultrasound, to make sure I had not lost a lot of liquid.

I might sound snarky, but look at THIS:

THIS is my little baby’s FACE.

Now, I know this is sort of a hidden pictures exercise, and it doesn’t help that I had to take a picture of the ultrasound since my scanner and my computer aren’t talking right now. So, here’s my attempt at explaining that picture and the amazement I feel every time I look at it:

Isn’t that GREAT?!?!?

* As for my snark about midwife versus doctor…I’ve been debating whether I should write a whole post. I don’t want to be snarky or even critical, but I have noticed a difference. And I don’t like it better. But, that said, all the doctors in this practice are GREAT and since my midwives went out of business, it was the only way to keep my business local. So. There you go: a footnote of more than you probably cared to know…

Filed Under: family Tagged With: Baby #3, family, pictures, pregnancy

Catching Up Edition of Quick Takes

November 5, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard 2 Comments

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Tomorrow, I hit the “official” 36-week mark with this pregnancy. The baby’s due on December 4th, and yes, I have designs on a few Marian feasts within a number of days of that date, but…I’ve reached The Point. You know it, don’t you? It’s the point where the baby can come out, no matter if I’m ready or not.

Though I’m at The Point, the TRUTH is, I want to keep the kid inside as long as I can. I have NO DOUBT things are easier NOW, while baby’s tucked away inside me (however much I may feel little limbs in my ribs and have sudden attacks that send me to the bathroom like a potty-training three-year-old).

All of that is by way of asking you, ever humbly, to keep us in your prayers. There is always worry for me in a pregnancy, though I’ve been very blessed during this pregnancy to be awash in peace and somehow protected from the anxieties that plagued me with both of my other pregnancies. Whether we have a healthy baby or not, whether things go “well” or “as planned” or not, please keep us in your prayers. It can’t hurt.

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I realized the other day that I have been really slacking in the taking-pictures-of-my-kids department. In October, I took pictures twice, once on the 2nd and once on the 30th. Because of that, yesterday while we were waiting for the bus, I took the camera outside and captured some moments of everyday life: kids and dogs running around in the warm sunshine, under the blue sky.

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Speaking of warm sunshine and blue sky, when I saw that it was not raining yesterday, as my husband told me it might, I hung blankets and sheets out on the line. In November. It was just too nice not to. Still felt a little crazy, though.

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I have been really enjoying the Uncommon Sense podcast. I haven’t read much Chesterton (it’s on my to-do, believe me), but I’m learning a lot about him, and man, what’s not to love about Nancy Brown’s style of podcasting? I especially recommend the two episodes on Frances Chesterton here and here.

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Have you read Elizabeth Esther‘s Mary series, “How Mary brought me back to Jesus”? So far, there is only a part 1 and part 2, but they are incredible. I love how candid she is (but that’s something to love about her anyway), and I love how she makes Mary such a person in her writing. It’s totally worth your time to make time to read these.

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This is for anyone who just needs a smile today:

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One of my favorite parts of this week was the chat I shared with Lisa Hendey and Lynn Wehner on this week’s Faith & Family Live Cast (link updated). I was especially touched by our discussion about community, as it’s something I’ve struggled with too in my local area. We also talked about an awesome product (talk about crazy craftiness!) and preparing for Advent. Join us, won’t you? We’d love to have your thoughts and keep the conversation going!

What was the best part of your week?

You’ll find Quick Takes every week at Conversion Diary, where Jen not only keeps everything organized, she also feeds us with meaty and faith-filled, humor-ridden, glorious-to-read posts. You’ll find this week’s round-up here.

Filed Under: Quick Takes Tagged With: Baby #3, blogs, Faith & Family Live, Motherhood, pictures, podcasts, pregnancy, Quick Takes

The Joy of Pregnant Suffering, by Jeanine Spano

September 11, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard Leave a Comment

When I did a recent call for guest posts on Facebook and Twitter, I was delighted — as I usually am — to meet Jeanine Spano. Jeanine tweets and has a passion for writing, but she’s at the beginning of things. I relate with that. I remember that. And I encouraged her to send me her post idea.

What she sent could have been written FOR ME. Though she writes about a babymoon that’s for her first son, I sit here, 28 weeks along in my third pregnancy, possibly forgetting what’s ahead of me. It is with that anticipation in mind that I share this with you, humbly and gratefully. Enjoy!

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Six weeks ago I was still pregnant with our first child. I was at the end of the LONGEST nine months of my life, waking up every day wondering if “this was it.” I had a rough third trimester.

Truth be told, I had a rough pregnancy. I got “morning” sickness the day after conception and it continued in some small form throughout the entire pregnancy. At about six weeks along I developed some horrible itchy pregnancy-related rash. I started swelling at about eight weeks along and the swelling just increased.

By the end of the pregnancy I no longer had ankles; we called my tree trunk legs, thankles. They went straight down from my thighs to my feet with no differentiation.

The worst part? At 32 weeks along I failed, miserably, the one hour glucose test and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. That meant that the corn dog craving I’d been having all day was not going to get filled during the pregnancy. In fact, only one of my cravings could be filled for the remainder of the pregnancy (no carbs in hot wings, hooray!).

Oh, that horrible pregnancy-related rash? It came back. Another couple of weeks of no sleep from massive itchiness! And labor and delivery? Oh, I won’t even get started on those!

I mention all these trials of my pregnancy for one reason: to show that they didn’t matter, that nothing could be so hard as to not make it worth it to have had this wonderful, perfect little boy, this little person who, at almost six weeks old, looks up at me with these big eyes that tell me how much he depends on me. And not just for food and diaper changes either.

He’s looking at me and I realize just how much responsibility we have for him; not just financial, emotional, and educational responsibility, but the responsibility to teach him about our faith and to share with him the love we have for the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Mother. To teach him the prayers that we love to say together, and develop in him a love for the Liturgy of the Hours and the Rosary as his dad and I have. To explain about the different vocations and states of life there are. His options are limitless at this point, but right now we’re still working on getting more than two hours of sleep at a time throughout the night.

Filed Under: guest post Tagged With: guest post, Jeanine Spano, Motherhood, pregnancy

The Sunny Seven

April 30, 2010 By Sarah Reinhard 7 Comments

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I’m back in Ohio this week and enjoying the sun here. It’s not quite the warm we’re used to from our nice long visit to New Orleans, but hanging the laundry on the line, and then taking it down and folding it, and then doing it again…ah, I love spring. I feel reflections brewing inside me.

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So, funny thing…while I was in New Orleans, I had pretty much no problem with my nausea. Was it because my mother-in-law let me sleep in embarrassingly late? Was it because I ate breakfasts that were far different than what I eat at home (pancakes, French toast, eggs)? Was it just the different setting?

Ah, I wish I knew. I’m back to hugging the toilet and trying to think positive thoughts of holding a downy-haired newborn, smelling the little feet, holding the little body against me.

One particular experience last night gave me a lot of food for thought in terms of uniting myself with the Cross. And I decided it’s highly overrated.

Or maybe what I realized is that it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. I realize that every single time I try to offer up my sufferings.

Any advice from ye wiser than me?

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My sister-in-law introduced me to this Crazy Frog video during a late night computer fest. We laughed so hard that there might have been some bladder failure. (For me, not her.)

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You know, I’ve never spent much time on YouTube. That might change, because my kids are asking for it. I ended up sharing my computer with them a bit during our trip (mistake #1), and now I not only have the Ladybug Picnic on a permanent loop in my head, I also have a five-year-old asking for PBS Kids whenever she sees me on the computer.

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My husband is the one who’s always been the YouTube surfer. He’s the one who dug up all the old Sesame Street stuff a few years ago when our oldest was born. Talk about memory lane: how about the Alligator King? Or Number 9 Cutie?

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Recently, a friend emailed me a forward that was an anonymous person’s account of why they felt the thousands of dollars they had spent on horses through the years was worthwhile. I hate that it was an anonymous forward, because I nodded my way through it, and even had tears in my eyes at the end. Among the advantages listed were planning ahead, having compassion, independent learning, increased self-esteem, and understanding the value of money.

When I look at what she has learned and what it will help her become, I can honestly say that I haven’t “wasted” a penny on providing her with horses. I only wish that all children had the same opportunities to learn these lessons from horses before setting out on the road to adulthood.

In the two years we’ve been involved with riding — more this year since our five-year-old started taking actual lessons — I’ve seen all of these and more.