This must be what a crock pot feels like. Something is cooking in there, everyone knows it. They keep walking by to check on it because you can tell it is just about done. But, no one knows when exactly it’ll be done because I am the one in charge of cooking and I never set a timer for anything.
37 weeks and a few days and I am just about being done with being pregnant. Not that I haven’t enjoyed aspects of it, but there’s the heartburn, the (first and second trimester) nausea, the rib pain from a little foot being stuck under there, the sleeplessness from not being able to get comfortable, etc. Basically, I wouldn’t choose the pregnant life unless there was a prize at the end AKA our baby girl.
Oh, and did I mention we are under about a foot of snow right now? So, that makes getting around while being pregnant even more of a challenge. I have to hold someone’s hand wherever I go. That’s not stopping me though because when our friends invited us to go sledding down a big hill near our house, I immediately agreed.
These are the same friends who I tried to convince to take a road trip with me to Arlington, TX at 37 weeks pregnant to watch the Razorbacks take on Texas Tech in a baseball game. They planned a watch party in Arkansas instead, even though I assured them I would be fine riding in a car 7 hours both ways because I knew that I would go to or past my due date, which was still three weeks away.
Obviously, I did not sled down the aforementioned big hill in the snow. But, I had a great time watching everyone else and Chris even found some waterproof ski pants that “fit” me so that I could be extra protected from the weather.
We parked the car close to where we were sledding so that I could get in and out to warm up, which was a great idea until we decided to leave. Driving out, we got stuck in the snow. And not just a little stuck. We started sliding like we were going down a hill. I quickly bailed out of the car while calling our friends over to help. Long story short: when in doubt, call a dad.
We called my friend Morgan’s dad to help get us out. In the meantime, while they were working on getting unstuck, Morgan and I went to direct traffic to let other cars know that we had blocked the road.
I had prepared for a little bit of cold that day, but not standing out in negative degree weather for an hour straight. While on traffic duty in this neighborhood, Morgan and I were talking about the houses around. There was one that had obviously been remodeled to a very high standard compared to the others around it.
Morgan went back down to the scene of the incident to check their progress and lo and behold, a man came out of the nice house and asked if I wanted to come inside to stay warm.
Let me first of all say, Bella Vista is a nice place with nice people. And also, this was a nice house. So, of course, I immediately told the nice man yes. After my quick yes, he assured me that his wife and grandchild were also in the house with him. And until then, it hadn’t occurred to me that immediately accepting his offer had any potential of danger. I also realized that Morgan wasn’t with me to see me go into a stranger’s house, so I quickly text her that I was “in the pretty house”.
Just as I suspected, it was beautiful on the inside. He offered me a cup of hot tea, which I also readily accepted. Then I took my shoes off and made myself at home in his living room with his wife. We chatted for awhile, while I enjoyed my tea and prayed that the car situation would be easily resolved. They asked about my due date and probably thought I was a crazy person for getting out in this weather so late in the game. But, you live and you learn.
Morgan came up to the door to get me, as I finished my tea, and led me by the hand to the car where Chris was waiting for me. I have no idea who the angels in the pretty house were, but all I know is, if you see a very pregnant woman standing out in the snow, offer to let her in. Because it could be me.
brittneylorelle 