The Expectant Momsey Editor

The Momsey editor is expecting this spring. The diminutive young lady who walked into our lives, a few years ago, is now, in stark contrast to The Momsey of yore, enjoying this time of 're-birth', renewal and eating! As a first-time mother-to-be, The Momsey was sick, day in and out, while hoping the fetus would survive inside the womb. We mused at the comparisons.

Lucy has been eating, non-stop, every hour-and-forty minutes, throughout her pregnancy. She is now in her third trimester, a period of great weight gain for baby, before life, outside. Lucy has a timer to remind her to eat. She recently passed 30 weeks gestation, a milestone Momsey never reached with her first. My, how times have changed. So much has been learned about birth since then. The words, “I am hungry” were foreign to me. Morning sickness was an all-day event for me yet a foreign concept to Lucy. ... She is enjoying herself in this newest life-altering chapter of her life. She takes being pregnant very seriously as she goes about her job of managing her 'Music in the Home' company. When she wakes in the middle of the night, she eats. During the day, she eats at normal times, with added meals in between. She rarely eats red meat preferring 'high protein' plants to feed her ever-growing precious cargo. Beans are her favourite go-to protein 'bar', in either chickpeas or mixed beans 'flavour'. My. My. Homemade reigns. It is refreshing to know someone who is enjoying this period of her life. Being pregnant with my second child was a painful time knowing I could give birth, perilously, at the 5-month mark. But here, with Lucy, no such threat exists.

Lucy's moments of hunger are expected and planned for. She craves only the best for her baby while she is mindful of the foods that might cause an allergy, later, in her newborn's life. She nixes any food with nuts, just in case. When we first met, her love affair with salads was unusual. Who eats leftover salads, anyway? Now, it is one of many significant food sources for 'Timmy'. How refreshing to see such dedication to a well-executed plan for a developing fetus. My first-born depended upon a limited supply of whole grains that I was able to tolerate, for only a few minutes, before 'havoc' paid a visit, 30 minutes later. “I'm hungry”, she responds when asked how she is doing. This time is easy. This time is fun. She has had enough health challenges in the years before now. Today, it is clear sailing and it is about time!

Lucy holds people she cares about in high regard and is always happy to see them. She is a GPS, in disguise. Nothing stops her, except when it is time to feed 'Timmy'. She is very meticulous about the most important job she has ever undertaken: the creation of a human being growing inside her. 'Timmy' is a priority, each and every moment of the day or night. Snacks are in abundance for instant gratification and nothing is left to chance. All meals are carefully chosen and prepared in accordance to her rigid adherence to nutrient dense foods. She has a mid-wife monitoring her, every two weeks, now. (A hospital is nearby for that 'you never know' moment.) I should know. Decades ago, my family doctor left me 'holding the bag'. In the throes of full blown labour, yet over 3 months before delivery and not knowing this, I drove myself home from my doctor's appointment only to realize the depth of my medical crisis. He was unaware. I had been abandoned. It is amazing how a crisis can suddenly wake you up to a new reality that you are now in charge of the life of another human being, unable to communicate.

Throughout my own pregnancies, decades ago, I craved wholesome foods. But that horrible queasy feeling never left me. Our first born was 'crafted' out of buckwheat kasha, cornmeal, oatmeal, red river cereal and cream of wheat. With Lucy, however, a modified food pyramid is front and center in her journey to motherhood. She loves all foods and all foods love her. Wow, such devotion. The web has acted as her adjunct professor, helping her find the answers she needs. With the birth of their baby, Lucy will have come full circle and finally know unconditional love, a love like no other.

A few weeks ago, Lucy's father died. He was 64 and alone when it happened. He was excited to become a grandfather. It is a sad day knowing that will never happen. Lucy is comforted by the knowledge that a father-daughter relationship had been maintained, however strained, over the past 7 years. He had told her how proud he was of her achievements and those of her partner, my son. She gave the eulogy only a loving daughter could. He will be sorely missed.