Late & Right on Schedule

Do you ever think of something, and shortly thereafter, it manifests? There are many theories about this, some of which I find interesting to try out. For the past several years, I’ve been a curious studier of such theories, specifically the Law of Attraction, although now more than ever in my life am I noticing more and more my desires and my life matching up. This next part of the #MakeMeAMommy adventure is one example.

As mentioned in my last excerpt, Ben had a plan and we were on-track. We had each established residency in Virginia and signed up for health insurance, mine of which would kick in starting February 2020. We did all of this knowing that Ben’s current work in Connecticut would finish in early February, but unsure when he would be starting back on the next season. It could very well be right away or there could be a break of an indefinite length of time. We got word at the end of January, the break would begin in a week and last at least two months. So, I (anxiously) made my arrangements with the open-ended information at hand, put in a full two weeks at my jobs before taking my (hopefully short) leave, and Ben and I moved back to Virginia just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Once in Virginia, I wanted to get to Step 3 as soon as possible, in order to get to Step 4! So, I found an OBGYN and set up the first-available well-woman appointment. Between the time I scheduled the appointment and the actual appointment, things changed.

I was late. 2 days, not unusual. 3 days, suspect. 4 days…Ben put his hands on my midriff with wonder and awe, “There might be our baby inside you!” 5 days? Time for a pregnancy test. That night, we had invited a few friends over for dinner, I was roasting a lamb shoulder, I took the test and…eeee!…called Ben right away! Luckily, I caught him just before he picked up one of our friends on his way home from work. If I hadn’t caught him then, I wasn’t sure when I would have an opportunity to privately tell him. And surely, he would be confused at my refusal of a glass of wine with dinner.

Watercolor and ink by your’s truly over baby’s 1st pic.

Our friends joined for a fun dinner, while all night, Ben and I secretly celebrated. Secrets, I’m no good at…as the evening started to dwindle down, and most everyone except one friend, Jessica, had disappeared, I started to feel hot. “Is it hot in here?” I ask, and start to turn down the thermostat. “No…” Jessica says and exchanges a look with Ben “…are you pregnant?” Needless to say, I changed my appointment from “well-woman” to “first prenatal”. It’s as though our little one knew exactly when to show up!

The Man With a Plan

Long story short, Ben & I navigated our way through a long-distance courtship and relationship for nearly a year from the first time we spoke. He asked me to move to the East Coast to live with him, and after putting into place some important boundaries for myself, I agreed with pleasure.

I enjoy allowing him to lead us, and am also willing to initiate conversations if I find myself questioning our progress. The magic happens best when I voice my feelings along with quantifiable goals and then I shut-up. Like planting a seed in the soil, it may or may not sprout, but it will certainly not sprout if I keep digging it up to check on it.

The topic of starting a family was one of those seeds. One magical day, Ben came to me of his own accord and shared with me his plan for us to get to work on Mission #MakeMeAMommy. It included a few steps and deadlines (which I love!).

Spending Thanksgiving 2019 visiting friends in North Carolina, shortly after applying for our Virginia drivers licenses.

  • Step 1: Establish residency in our new home state of choice, Virginia, before the end of 2019.

  • Step 2: Set up health insurance in Virginia effective starting early 2020, ready for whenever we would next be back in Virginia from Connecticut during a break from Ben’s work.

  • Step 3: I would schedule a well-woman’s exam shortly after coverage began to make sure I was good-to-go on getting pregnant.

  • Step 4: #MakeMeAMommy!!! Responsibly.

I was over the moon excited that my man had a plan. Hot!

Mission Impossible: Find Mr. Right-Best-Near-Future-Daddy-Ever

Anyone who has ever lived and dated in Los Angeles knows how difficult it can be to find a mate. Most of the men run around with Peter Pan syndrome, and there are plenty of distractions for all. I moved to Los Angeles when I was 29 years old from Dallas, TX, while most of my friends were having babies, I was ending an eight year toxic and thankfully childless marriage, on a mission to heal and then find myself in a healthy relationship with a man who would do anything to have a beautiful family with me. Hence, my long-term mission became #MakeMeAMommy.

Moving to LA was probably not the best place to find Mr. Right-Best-Near-Future-Daddy-Ever, but it was a good place for me on a professional and creative level. When I was 34 and newly dumped after a year-long relationship of wasted baby making time, I found myself bitching out a guy on a first date. He was in his late 30’s, and said he maybe wanted kids sometime in the distant future but not anytime soon. Mind you, he was one of the many guys aged 30-45 with whom I found myself on dates, who all said that same exact thing, and I was fed up to my eyeballs sick of it! The number of dates I went on with each of them decreased over time, as I realized to say “Bye!” to them sooner and sooner.

I was mad. I was mad for myself and for my many single girlfriends in their late 30’s who also wanted families. I was mad at all the guys wasting our time. I was mad at all the people wondering and judging why women my age (especially LA women) ended up with guys that are much older. I’ll tell you why…too many Peter Pans in LA disrespecting our ticking clocks. Seriously, to all the Peter Pans out there…date younger women and stop wasting the precious last baby-making years of amazing women 30+!

I believe that if a person is intelligent, healthy, and a good human being, they have a duty to pro-create. The world needs more humans that are raised by good humans. That was old me, who felt very self-righteous and also may have had a slightly flawed perspective…it turns out, if someone does not want to have children right now, they should really not be having children right now! (P.S. I have many beautiful, talented, smart, fun, amazing single girlfriends that are looking for Mr. Right-Best-Near-Future-Daddy-Ever so if you know of any eligible good humans please let me know!)

I digress…somehow, by the grace of God or the Universe, after saying no to a bunch of “not-wanting-to-have-children-right-now” dudes and maybe a few “wanting-to-but-crazy” dudes, I said “Hello Handsome!” to my match, my Mr. Right-Best-Near-Future-Daddy-Ever, Ben, as I was coming upon my 35th birthday. I was instructed by my co-worker, “You need to call Ben.” So I did. He was on the East Coast, and our first conversation was great, and he ended it with “I have to go back on TV now, but I will call you when I’m done.” (More about that later.)

A feast of “First'“s: Our first weekend meeting in person, Ben’s first visit to the magical Venice Canals (even though he lived in Pasadena for 18 years!), and Ben’s first trip back to LA since moving to the East Coast.

And he did…granted I was still at work, but we ended up talking for over a combined hour or so that first night and really hit it off. We shared deal breakers, and then, on that first night, on the phone, West Coast to East Coast, is when I told him that I want to be a mommy immediately, within reason of building a healthy foundation and there being attraction, and that I was not interested in dating or talking to anyone who did not want to have children or was unsure about it. He said we could keep talking. And we did…and so it began!