Becoming A Mom Made Me an Organizer:

Becoming a mom not only made me self-aware of the expectations in regards to raising a child. Rather, maintaining a clean environment for Grayson and I’s health and safety purposes.

Organizing drawers for clothes with labels, vacuuming and wiping down counter tops to remove dust. When I was a child, my dad had his baby sister come over every other weekend and clean the house. She would constantly question why I was never a clean person and I ignored her. Cleaning and taking care of myself didn’t mean anything to me. Not until I was in my final trimester and preparing for Grayson’s arrival.

It has become a habit of mine to clean up and wipe everything down, throw away items I no longer need, take the garbage out immediately and vacuum the rugs. Not to mention, throwing away paperwork from 7th grade which meant I held onto something from the past because it was memorable to me but those memories should remain as such and keep such space open and available for more until it is no longer valuable. I finally tossed those school assignments from 7th grade through college away and never looked back.

Now I look back at my aunt’s advice and want to give a big thank you for helping me realize that cleaning is very important for family, health and safety purposes. It motivates us when we are down and it improves our mood significantly.

The Forgotten Details Excluded From “The Pregnancy Pact:”

In June 2008, it was reported from major news networks across the nation that 18 high school girls from a Gloucester, MA high school had intentions of becoming pregnant on purpose.

In January 2010, a TV film called “The Pregnancy Pact” aired on television. The topics issued at hand were bogged down to girls trapping their boyfriends into becoming pregnant and under the assumption that motherhood will be filled with dressing down their babies with no sense of discipline and direction. Meaning, they did not think about the cost of having a child while attending school, daycare costs, getting part-time jobs and earning an income. They were coddled and allowed to go drink/smoke at parties without parental permission and inconsiderate to their unborn babies inside their wombs.

Nonetheless, the forgotten details excluded from “The Pregnancy Pact” were postpartum subjects which could have added a realistic approach to what these girls endured in reality such as: the baby blues, postpartum depression which is what the character Rose exhibited at the end of the film, breastfeeding vs bottle feeding newborns and postpartum weight loss/gain after birth.

The reason for listing such an amount of details has to do with them not taking accountability for their actions for planning early parenthood at a young age with no experience working in the real world while attempting to live vicariously through their children and the struggles they endure after the children are born.

The Birth of Grayson Taylor:

 

On Tuesday, September 8th, my boyfriend and I went inside the hospital around 8 p.m. to begin the induction process in preparation for Grayson’s arrival.

At first, I was adamant to give birth without an epidural because I have a strong disdain of needles. However, at 4 on Wednesday morning, one hour after the doctor broke my water, I felt the strongest pain contractions from the Pitocin and decided right then and there I need the epidural immediately.

Once the anesthesiologist injected the needle inside, I felt no pain and was proud to go that route despite being pessimistic about it before going to the hospital. The only uncomfortable thing I did not like about it was the numbing of the stomach down to your feet which makes it more difficult for you to move around for comfortable sleeping positions.

Twelve hours later at 4:04 p.m., I gave birth to Grayson Taylor weighing in at 7 pounds and 1 ounce. He is a healthy baby boy and we are more than over the moon with him. Babies are blessings from God and they keep us living life to its fullest.

Pregnancy Journey Throughout 2020:

2020 has not only been a rough year due to the new Virus affecting our economy but us pregnant women dealing with enormous stresses with carrying and birthing children into a world full of chaotic violence to hospital rules changing from a limit of visitors with family and friends to no one allowed in the delivery room other than mother and father of the baby.

My pregnancy journey throughout the year had its ups and downs. For example, looking for a daycare nearby with a decent price range and slot in the infant program. Followed by looking for the burst of energy to organize baby clothes, rearrange my room, throw away items I no longer use, wipe down counters and clean more. The burst of energy finally hit in the last few weeks of pregnancy and it made me feel happy to take pride of what has been accomplished after arriving home from work to a clean house.

We are all on a wild journey together, moms and dads! Let’s make the best of what we have and what we can.