First Born Survey

Here you go mommies (and daddies thank you very much!!!) - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born. If you're a parent and you're reading this, consider yourself tagged.

Let's see how much you remember!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? No

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Not really. We were engaged, but I was about to break it off. We scheduled a big talk, and she told me she was pregnant. Good thing I let her go first.

3. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? Honestly? I was kind of turned on. It's happened all three times.

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? No

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 23

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? She was late, and her girlfriend was in town for the pre-wedding festivities and made her take a pregnancy test. Turns out when you stop taking your birth control pills, you're not only no longer protected, but you're also fertile as Napa Valley.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? I guess I was the 3rd to know. The next person I told was a good friend at the time.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes, I was hoping for a boy at the time, but I'm so glad she and the next one were girls.

9. DUE DATE? April 16

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? She did, but I'm pretty sure she milked it.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? She craved butterscotch pudding. She would make huge bowls of it at time. She wouldn't finish one bowl before she made the next. The frig was constantly full of it.

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Our parents who were constantly trying to do the math to see if we'd had sex before we got married.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? A girl.

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Again, at the time yes, but now no way.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? She gained about 75 lbs--which was bad because she's 5'1"

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? I don't think so. We didn't know anyone where we lived.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? See above.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Other than a big case of the first-time-parent-stupids?

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Arlington Memorial Hospital, Arlington TX. I would not recommend it to anyone.

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? She was induced at 9 am, and delivered 12:30 pm the next day, so 27 1/2.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? I did. We made a stupid posterboard sign to put up in the window. "WOMAN IN LABOR" I felt like a really big dork. I even ran a red light just cause I could and she was shrieking in pain. She only had the cervidil in...

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Myself, and my ex mother-in-law. This was before I began hoping she'd be hit by a bus.

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? It was vaginal, but I wouldn't call it a natural birth. Far from it--totally intervention laden.

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? She had many shots of demerol before they finally gave her an epidural.

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 9 lbs 6 oz.

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? March 31, 1999

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HER? "The 9 y/o"

28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? She will be 10 at the end of next month.