The Mother Blessing

It is really a miracle that I have managed to successfully avoid baby showers for the past 2 years - but I have. I actually haven't been invited to all that many, and I've always had good excuses not to go. Until last night. And honestly I would've skipped this one too had it been the typical baby shower. But it wasn't, and so I went.

The pregnant woman of honor is someone I met thru Moms Club. We were on the board last year together and she's really a wonderful person. Her son is 6 months older than Jenna. She had a bout with cervical cancer about 2 years ago, so was unable to TTC until that got resolved. We were practically the only 2 women in Moms Club who had toddlers and no other kids. So her son had just turned 3 when she got pg with #2. As is typical for me and most people struggling with infertility, at first I was devastated when I found out she was expecting. It was so hard to see her growing belly at every single playgroup. In fact, I ended up dropping out of Moms Club because it just got too damn hard to hang out with pregnant women and babies all the time. But, we do still see each other as we live in the same neighborhood. And I do really like her. And I *am* really happy for her that's she's having another one. So I sucked it up and went to the shower.

It was called a Mother Blessing, and it was really a beautiful ceremony. We all made and wore string bracelets (kaballah style) in support of A, which we will wear until she has the baby (a week from Monday), and we all had to come with some sort of blessing to share with her (poem, bible verse, etc). Plus instead of baby gifts, we all brought gifts for the mother instead. I gave her a subscription to Mothering magazine. Then we painted her belly cast. And afterwards we all went out and got a drink - including A! I was so proud of her sitting there in the booth 9 months pregnant calmly sipping her wine! (I know some will scoff, but I am of the opinion that red wine is good for ALL people to drink - at any stage of life).

So, I'm glad that hurdle is crossed. There was really only about 10 minutes of discussion about my fertility problems - which was a relief - and everyone had really positive and helpful things to say. None of the "just relax" or "you had Jenna, what can possibly be wrong with you" bullshizza that I sometimes hear. And I only had to withstand one pregnancy announcement. Got home at 11:30 and got some nookie from my great hubby! All in all - a surprisingly good night.