On Denial. And Growth. And Love.

A few weeks ago, Aiden began his first drop-off swimming class and he's been super excited to get to the pool on his swimming days. At his last class, I was able to take this shot of him:

There he is. The child that I didn't plan to have in my early 20's. Happy, healthy, smiling, swimming.

This picture brought me back to a post that I wrote back a few months ago. Man, was I in denial when I first found out that I was preggo! But life, love, and Motherhood has a way of changing things -- for the better.

Take a look back with me, will you? You'll either laugh, cry, or pity me for living in denial lane for so long. Take your pick.

And then, take a look at me now. And my son. The son that I can not imagine my life without. Love. Sweet love. After all, this is what Mommy Delicious is all about -- finding the sweetness in situations and life, even if they happen unexpectedly.

To say that my pregnancy was unplanned is an understatement. A huge one. I totally and completely, with every fiber of my being, didNOT plan to have a baby at my young age.

I mean, I knew it could happen because I was doing the deed and not taking precautions for it not to happen, but... I just didn't expect it to happen. To me.

At the first sign that I was pregnant when little miss flow did not make her special appearance, I was in denial. I just didn't believe it. I mean, it couldn't happen to ME, right?

At the second sign that I was pregnant when I was hovering over the toilet bowl at 5am throwing up what felt like all of my insides, I was still in denial. I chalked it up to the bad Mexican food that I ate the night before.

The third sign came a few days later. As I sat on the toilet and starred down at the positive sign on the pregnancy test, I was like DAMN! But I was still a bit in denial. I mean, it could have been a false positive, right?

So I went to see my GYN. And she tested me to see if I was pregnant. And I was. But of course. As I laid on the examination table for the first sonogram, she said, "There it is. That's your baby."

My most immediate thoughts: mother eff!! OMG!!! Sh#t!! Aww f#$*!!!

Then, with tears in my eyes, I thought, "Is that my baby? Am I going to be a mother?!"

Then the fear sank in. Along with some more less-than-appropriate words. Sh#t!! How am I gonna DO this? How am I gonna tell people? What about my life? What will others say?

I resented my pregnancy A LOT. In fact, I kept it a secret for about 5 1/2 months. Really. The only people who knew about it were my Ob/gyn, the father-to-be, and me. Really. It took me along time to muster up the courage to tell people. And sport my baby bump as proudly as I could.

As I wrote in a previous post, I still loved my unborn child. But maybe if I got to live and experience life a little more, I wouldn't have resented my pregnancy as much... maybe if I wasn't so ashamed that I wasn't yet married... maybe if I didn't pay attention to the stares and looks of pity from people... maybe if I wasn't so concerned with what others would say or think. Maybe, just maybe, I would have actually been able to -- GASP! -- enjoy my pregnancy.

But, at some point during my pregnancy, I decided that this WAS my life. And I decided that I was going to make LOVE be the driving force behind everything that I did for my unborn child. And after he came into this world.

So I decided to do right by him. I went to all my doctors appointments, read all the books and magazines, went to the birthing classes, ate right, exercised, and took a tour of the hospital. 

I was determined to give this baby the best gosh darn life that I possibly could. 

And I have.

And I am.

Smooches,