Get in where you fit in.

Now there are many different aspects of being pregnant that affect women. Body, mind and spirit. Oh frig sakes, don't get all worked up now. I'm not going to going into some 5 paragraph rant about how we should be meditating and reciting Buddhist chants for 40 weeks. No no, I'm actually looking further than all of that body, mind and soul junk. Let's just talk about the fact that during those 40 weeks, there are to be ZERO drunken nights, no hot tub adventures, no drug use (not that I'm a frequent flyer anyway), no horseback riding, no downhill skiing, the list goes on. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't have any sudden urges to go downhill skiing, and I am not currently in the possession of a hot tub. I certainly never enjoyed horseback riding a great deal. BUT, I do enjoy the occasional bottle of wine, with or without the company of others. The hard thing about being pregnant is accepting the fact that just because you can't do all of these things, doesn't mean that the people around you should have to stop doing them too. Unfortunately, we live in a world where most social gatherings (in my world) involve alcohol, or drugs of some sort. Now I'm not saying I walk into afternoon tea at a girlfriends and she offers me a line of coke. I'm just saying that the odd joint may be passed around my vicinity from time to time. Anyways, the bottom line is that life is still in session all around me. I'm the pregnant one. However, I will say this, and I know it's been said before.. if you want to find out who your real friends are, have a baby. Just being pregnant alone has showed me who my friends are. Now I don't expect everyone to change their lives drastically for me. But it is nice when your friends show some consideration for the girl who can't drink and prefers to be in bed by 10. Yes, I may have been the girl you could call at 10 or 11 pm and expect to go for a drive, or be picked up from the bar. That girl no longer exists. I am now the girl who is yawning by 8, struggling to keep my eyes open by 9, and snoring by 10. Now don't get me wrong, I do have some very sweet, and thoughtful friends. For example, the friend who invites you out for supper.. and then proceeds to choose a restaurant that serves only unrecognizable things on the menu and everything has a spice level, from moderate to extreme. How are you supposed to handle that? 'Um, hi, waiter? Could you just bring me a head of lettuce and a pitcher of water please?' If they seem puzzled, just awkwardly point to your stomach. They'll either think you have intestinal issues (which I do), or they will get the whole preggo picture and smile sympathetically. They might even put an extra lemon in your water to make you feel special. Now this might seem like a lot of pointless rambling to some of you. You're probably thinking, 'But my friends LOVE babies, and they will totally sit and binge on chips and ice cream with me for 9 months'. Oh no my friend, they will not. I can assure you that none of your friends are going to be willing to pile on the pounds to make you feel better. So expect some lonely nights, at home, watching those 90210 reruns on Netflix, yelling at Kelly for taking Dylan away from Brenda (still not over it). Half of the problem with this friend situation is that some days it may be hard to tell whether your friends really do suck, or if you are just having an extreme preggo mood swing where you think the world is against you. At which time you will look down at your ever expanding stomach, and say, 'at least I have you little one, you're the only friend I need'. WRONG! You friend is going to be a pooping and crying machine for the first year or more of their life. You are going to be needing those other grown-up friends for moral support. So, calm down, realize that half of this crying is just due to your hormones, and the other half is that your friends kind of suck (just a little bit). But we have all sucked in the friend department at some point. So keep them around, and hope that your baby is cute enough to bring them around for lots of visit, post-pregnancy.