The paradigm shift began immediately when I got pregnant. The gastrointestinal system of the pregnant body moves at a snail's pace, and constipation results which is incredibly uncomfortable! Luckily, I only struggled with this for a few weeks at the beginning of my pregnancy, but as a result every bowel movement was something to be celebrated. I would come out of the restroom and say, "I pooed good, baby!", and Jim would respond, "Yay! I'm so happy for you!". I'd like to say this stopped after my issues resolved but we still celebrate a good BM:)
Fast forward to post-delivery. I had a c-section which required me to fast prior to having the operation. After delivery, they kept me on a clear liquid diet (juice, ice chips, popsicles) until I passed gas. I think their expectations were a bit high. You deprive me of food before I come in and you deprive me of food after the operation is completed, but somehow my bowels are supposed to be functioning? Every nurse/doctor/family member upon entering the room would ask me if I'd passed gas. I'd never talked about my toots (or lack thereof) so much in my life! I went in on Thursday evening and wasn't able to order real food until Saturday morning! I reached a point where I was ready to start claiming other people's farts so I could eat! Needless to say, when I did finally pass gas I let everyone know! The conversation went something like this: "Baby, I tooted!" to which Jim replied, "Yay! You can eat!". I'd like to say our exuberance at farting ceased after my first meal, but to this day we get excited about a toot. If Jim toots, I say, "Yay! You can eat!" and vice versa. So, if you're in our vicinity and we randomly start talking about eating, walk away:)
As excited as we get about our own bodily function, Jim-Jim's take the cake! Why is that? We know that every toot or burp he releases is one less thing he has to cry about! Jim-Jim will be
lying on one of our tummies when we're sitting on the couch together, and we'll hear him pass gas (either avenue is acceptable). We lock eyes, smile, and then high five all while congratulating the boy. Notice I said we have to lock eyes before celebrating. It takes that split second for us to look into each other's eyes and decide whether it was the boy or our significant other. We either point at the kid or smirk as if to say, "Oh yeah, that was me". In either case, a high five results:)Jim-Jim, enjoy this time of freedom with your bodily functions because before long I will be saying, "Use a tissue", "Cover your mouth when you cough", "Say excuse me", "Spray or light a match". You will have to wait until your wife gets pregnant before you can start publicly celebrating your bodily functions again!
Kara
1 comment:
That whole "passing gas" first before eating is one of my pet peeves in the hospital...patients are kept NPO/Clear liquids forever and ever ....until that wonderful fart. It's so very old school, kinda like the doc who wanted his patient to drink his own bile.
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