No, I haven’t been slacking off on the eccentric, nor have I been ignoring the chai (although I have been turning it down at the cafe recently). I’ve been dealing with the earliest joys of parenthood—morning sickness.

In January, before starting Eccentric Chai, Chris and I decided it was time to add that missing link to our flock. But, as always, there were things that needed to get done first: medication decreases, the removal of those wise teeth in the back of my nog’, and a good ol’ fashioned checkup to make sure I was still alive.The wait was long, especially with several facebook friends announcing their own pregnancies and my dad exclaiming to me on a breakfast run that he and my stepmother were expecting again as well. Chris and I were beginning to wonder if we’d ever reach our own goal.

Soon, we’d say, and soon soon came and now we are expecting our first little chickadee.I never knew how much went into being pregnant. Sure, I knew I’d be sick sometimes, and occasionally I’d want a good nap, but I wasn’t aware that “sick” means living in bed for a week with a ziploc bag of dry cheerios, and I was blind to the fact that “nap” means an all day hiatus on the couch. They tell you to be happy, because bowing down to the porcelain god means your baby is growing healthy, but it was hard to “keep my eyes on the prize” (as Chris told me one night after a bad run of nausea), when the only prize I’d seen was a pee stick with two lines.

Then we got to see our little nugget…I learned several things when the nurse placed that cold gel on my belly:

• Motherly instinct kicks quick and doesn’t miss.
• A Macchiato with a shot of almond is not the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
• A baby is a baby no matter how small.
• I’m in love.

I won’t lie, I bawled, and when I saw that little heart flutter on the screen, I bawled some more, and when she let us hearthe heartbeat, I laughed…and then bawled even harder.Ever since then, I’ve been more of a “bring it on” kind of momma. When the nausea gets so rough I can barely eat, I coo at the baby and make sure it knows it’s doing a great job at growing. When I’m so worn out I can barely stand because I walked out to get the mail, I use Chris as a pillow and we cuddle up for some Judge Judy.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our very first, first trimester, it’s that anything worth having is worth fighting for.

Due on CHRISTMAS EVE!!!