Sure you can! You can be oblivious, naive and me!
So we already established that Mo was a surprise. But the bigger surprise came when we went to the doctor the next week. I had been on the pill. I had been having regular (if a little lighter) periods (which I blamed on the pill). I had only gained about 10 pounds which I attributed from going from running a mile a day to eating a bag of chips a day when I moved in with Beloved. And (please don't hate me Crystal!) I had had NO morning sickness.
Imagine my shock when the doc measured me, took my blood, and told me I was either seven months along or having twins. I had been going out 3 nights a weekend and having my share of adult beverages. I had made a Memorial Day trip to New Orleans (not the most sober of places you know). I had been eating what ever I felt like when ever I felt like it and there had been no exercise (aside from the obvious)! Now the doc was telling me I had two months to get married, get healthy, move into a bigger apartment, set up a nursery, attend birthing classes, get a car that fit a carseat, pack a bag and have a baby.
I didn't go back to work after my appointment. I think I went home and got sick.
The Zookeeper Mommy Lesson #2. Mothers have more strength, determination, focus and stamina than they will ever give themselves credit for or admit they have. We think we can't possibly pull something off. It looks completely impossible, improbable and scary as hell. We don't believe in ourselves enough.
But when the rubber hits the road and it's make it or break it time; when our families, our children, and in essence, our lives are hanging in the balance, we will pull out all the stops, fight like banshees and make it happen. There is a strength that comes with being a mother that no one but a mother will ever understand.
