Children and pregnancy

I enjoy listening to my children's comments about my current pregnancy.

Samuel:

I tend to get a bit emotional when I'm pregnant. One day Samuel bore the brunt of my needless anger. I apologized profusely, then I explained that pregnancy hormones make me a little crazy. I also told him that it would be alright if he told me to go take a nap, which he does sometimes. About a week after that first incident, I started ranting and raving during dinner (Dominic was at work - he is good at helping me calm down). I stopped myself, then apologized to the children (I apologize a lot when I'm pregnant). Samuel looked at me and said, "lt's ok, Mom. It's because of all those hormones."

He says he has sympathetic memory loss.

Samuel was lamenting to Dominic, "I want to eat ramen noodles, but Mom's pregnant, and they make her nauseous."

This morning Samuel asked why boys can't have babies. So I told him it's because boys don't have the right parts, only girls do. He was very sad. Dominic said that the ability to stand up to pee makes up for it.

Benjamin:

Before I made the announcement to the kids, Benjamin, who is fairly observant for a 5-year-old, asked if I was sick. Yes: morning sickness, the 9-month flu.

When Benjamin found out that the baby could hear because the ears had developed, he immediately started growling at my belly. "I want the baby to come out growling," he said. The annoying part is when he growls at my belly in public. He thinks it's hilarious.

I get clumsy and drop things a lot when I'm pregnant. The other day I dropped the pot of spaghetti sauce, and it splashed all over the kitchen. I made the boys help me clean it up. Benjamin was very happy to help. When I commented on his good attitude, he said he didn't mind, because he's a boy. Wait, what? Then he explained that because he is a boy, he won't ever get pregnant and drop things all the time, so he doesn't mind helping me now.

Elisa:

She's happy and excited, though I'm not sure how much she understands. However, if someone asks, then she tells them, "Mommy has a baby in her belly." I guess she understands enough.

Rachel:

Rachel wants to be like her big siblings, and so she growls at me, too. She doesn't fully understand the concept of growling at the baby in my belly, because she growls where she can reach - at my legs.

I get pregnancy-related headaches. One morning Rachel heard me say "Ow," as I held my head. A couple of hours later, she came up to me and said, "ow." "What's wrong, honey? Where does it hurt?" She climbed into my lap and pointed at my head, then she gave me a hug.