I dreamed of this trip for a long time. I prepared myself thoroughly by reading novels. Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, Little Women. I prepared by giving my siblings baths but I neve rreally practised my patience with them. I worte down lists of baby names. All of these were the coins in my piggy bank to purchase my ticket to that perfect, lovely land. Motherhood.
I planned it all well in advance, I would get married at 18 and have my first set of twins at 19. These would be girls, naturally.
This seemed an eternity away while planning it at 13. I wrote down my preferred names for my first set of twins anyway. June Lilly and Autumn Rose.
But by and by, the time to get married came. It still appeared to be a little early, however. My patience had not appeared yet, strangely enough. I wasn’t reallly a grownup yet, either, and to take this trip, one must be and feeel like a grownup. So I figured. 18 might still be a little young.
At the end of 19, it came closer, and just after 20 it seemed within reach when I gained the Girlfriend status. I bought the ticket for my trip a few months later, when I promised Mike I would marry him. Being married was, of course, quite wonderful, but that’s another journey and another story. After the wedding I started the trip, happily excited, looking forward to these glorious 9 months of being on the road.
The road sucked. It was a depressing and sick trip. Still, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, and apparently this is what I had to do to get my baby. So do it I did. Not that I had a choise. I was on a boat in the middle of the ocean and there?was no getting off.
It didn’t go as planned, either. It took a lot longer, and I succumbed to the epidural I always swore I’d never get. However, it got me there eventually. In haven of that long longed for place. Motherhood.
I got a limousine ride to the hotel and it was the place I’d always dreamed of, like a 5 star hotel with fluffy blankets and room service. We waved a la Julie Andrews in Princess Diaries, to the adoring crowds who came to see our little treasure.
It was all I had dreamed it would be. At first.
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I would have laughed out loud at “The road sucked” if it wasn’t nap time. I have the same novels tucked into my subconscious, and also have a firstborn who was late and whose labor resulted in the epidural I didn’t plan for. (After that, my road swerved into a darker valley.) Love how you are framing this journey… looking forward to the next post. 🙂