Let me tell you the story of a humble, black laundry marker and the many journeys we’ve been on together.
In October 2005, I was still too nervous about my pregnancy to invest in maternity clothes. We were just coming up on the 12-week mark (which happened to land on our 5-year anniversary), and I was still checking our baby’s heartbeat every day with the “doppler heart monitor”:http://storkradio.com/ we had rented. Plus, I was still fitting into most of my pants, especially if I held the buttons together with a rubber band.
At some point that month, I must have told Nicole (Benjamin and Ella’s mom) about my pregnancy. She immediately asked: “Do you want to borrow my maternity clothes?” I was very excited to find some pants that really fit comfortably, especially without the commitment of buying them (can you say “superstitious”:/news/2006/jinx/?). Right around the same time, we visited our friends Rich and Kathrin, who also were delighted to loan me an enormous bag of maternity clothes. Luckily, Jon was happy to carry all the bags and boxes of clothing around to protect me in my delicate condition.
p{color:gray}. Photo: We even borrowed swaddling cloths. This one was especially awesome. (That’s Lucy at about 10 days old. We can hardly believe she was ever really this tiny.)
So, what does any young, pregnant woman need who has been loaned two separate, borrowed wardrobes of maternity clothes? A laundry marker, that’s what! Making a small initial inside each garment would protect me from going nuts trying to remembers whose was whose.
That marker was surprisingly hard to find, believe it or not. I ended up settling for a super-duper permanent Sharpie — not actually labeled “laundry marker,” but I figured it would be indelible enough to withstand many washings.
From that point on, my laundry marker and I have been thick as thieves. For months on end, he might be secreted away in my pen box. But at the right moment, there he is to connect clothes with their owners — whether big, tent-like maternity clothes that were the only ones to fit in the final few weeks of Lucy’s underwater surfing; tiny pink preemie clothes that were the only ones to fit Lucy in her first days; or piles and piles of 3-6 month clothes that fit Lucy for 3-8 months (that slim little thing).
And then something new happened.
How proud I was on the day that I could mark my _own_ “B” on maternity clothes to loan out to Jane, pregnant for the second time after a long-ago miscarriage and a quick-as-lightning adoption. “B”s continued to be required for the mounds of tiny, pink clothes we sent over when Jane’s daughter was eventually born.
This evening, I sorted, stacked, and drew an “H” on a big pile of 6-12 month clothes on loan from Melody and Joel. They brought them over last August, when I could hardly imagine Lucy growing out of anything while being nourished only by my seemingly lean breastmilk. (She sure showed us!)
“And so, Laundry Marker, what is it you’d like to say to us? What meaning lies within you? Why all the big capitals on tiny labels?”
“To remind you of hope,” says Laundry Marker, “hopes for healthy pregnancies, growing babies, expanding families and expanding waistlines. Not only your hope for the families you share with, but your own hope — for another pregnancy, another child, another round of infant insanity. Why do you think you need me to write those initials on the clothes in the first place?”
That is a fun perspective Ann! So is number in the oven? ;-P
number 2 that is. (I know you are probably tired of the question, I get tired of that question and so I usally say….and when would I have time to make and bake that baby?!)
Ann,
What a fun post…well it brought tears to my eyes. But then I am 20 weeks pregnant with another little girl….and all of my W clothes had gone the way of being ancient and the hip clothes my sister gave me were given back to her or to second hand stores because they were not AZ appropriate. I never thought that I would be thinking through those things again. But God has provided some AWESOME maternity clothes for this fifth little blessing….or rather her MAMA.
One of the best things about being pregnant this time is that there are two women at our church who are expecting their first. We are all due around the same time….it is fun to be on this journey with them.
We also have oodles and oodles of girl clothes…I love sharing the blessings our children bring….both material and otherwise.
So I raise a toast to that little laundry marker.
Nicole, congratulations on baby #5! I am so excited for you. I’m glad you are having so much fun with your pregnancy.
To answer Katrina’s question: nope, still only one baby in the house. We’re not sure when we’ll start *really* thinking about a number two, but not for several months yet. We’ve got our hands full with the little anti-napper. :)
Brian likes to say that we will start trying again when Maddy consistantly sleeps through the night, like that will ever happen! We know when we are going to start trying again. But we will let that be a surprize for others…a little more fun that way :-p. But we love to talk about #2 and dream and then it is great to say, boy I am glad we only have 1 right now!
Things get so crazy when you have number 2… I’m not sure if it’s more crazy just because mine are only 16 months apart or if it just goes with the territory (I’m guessing it just goes with the territory based on friends I’ve talked to with more than one). What gets really nuts is that then they can wake each other up. So, Benjamin, who was super good at sleeping through the night, started waking once or twice a night after Ella came home from the hospital. I think in part it was just the transition that was difficult for him, more than that her crying woke him (because sometimes he woke when she wasn’t awake). He’s back to sleeping great now, but it took him a good 6-8 weeks to adjust.
Ella is now at an age (just past 3 months) where she is so interested in everything around her, so if I’m trying to get her to sleep and Benjamin comes in the room and starts talking, she will pop her little eyes right open and start looking for him. I think he is probably the most interesting thing in the house to her – she is constantly watching him, smiling at him, etc, even when he is ignoring her.
All that said, I love having both of them and as they both get older it is finally starting to get easier having two. It’s really fun to see them interact even at this young age.
Things are definitely just crazy with number 2! While discussing my decision to have my tubes tied, a friend at church asked, So 2 is enough? I replied with the utmost certainty: There is no way I could take care of another, and I’m not sure I can take care of the 2 I’ve got most days. Not that I’d trade them for the world.
Very smart with the marker Ann. Hopefully the clothes I sent you have a big B on them and can be used by many many more. Lucy was baby number 3 to use most of those.
I made the mistake of assuming that since one set of borrowed baby clothes was marked, and the other set wasn’t, that I didn’t need to mark anything this go round. Of course now I can’t remember what was actually mine (I’ve not bought anything for Mo but 2 sleepers, but did recieve several outfits as gifts) and what belongs to my cousin. Oh well, I’m not having anymore, so when in doubt it goes into her bin. I have the few “memory” outfits that I wish to keep. Those are the unisex ones that both kids wore.