This article was just released on Yahoo, and it's pretty darn shocking. In case you don't want to read it, I'll sum it up. The United States:
-Is ranked 28th best country to be a mother
-Is ranked worse than countries like Latvia, Estonia, & Croatia
-Has one of the highest maternal mortality rates ever (1 in 4800)
-An American mother is 5 times more likely to die in labor than a Bosnian woman
-Has one of the highest "under 5" death rates. 1 in 1000 kids under 5 will die in the US.
-A child is more than twice as likely as a child in Finland, Iceland, Sweden or Singapore to die before his or her fifth birthday
-The USA has the worst maternity leave of any other country
Mark came home for lunch today and said, "She needs a princess house!" ..I said "What? Our daughter? Like a play house for the backyard?!" Um yes. Mark is already planning her backyard toys; he insists that she is "our little princess" and that I am now Queen Bee. Yesterday he took off to Target because he "just had to buy something for her!" How adorable that, at 16 weeks gestation, our daughter already has him wrapped around her little finger.
I have no cravings.. ever. But I am often hungry. So hungry that my stomach growls out loud and I get stomach pains. Cereal is my best friend forever. Like, minimal cereal and a big bowl of milk. What could be better than a bowl of milk? Nothing! :)
Yesterday, someone (I really forget who..) posted on my wall that I'll forever have a best friend now. And isn't that the truth?! I can't wait to have a mother-daughter relationship with our little Punkin. I especially can't wait for the moody teenage years :) but I can't wait to have a shopping buddy and a best friend forever. I always thought we would have a girl, and I definitely felt like I was carrying a girl, but now it's real. And we'll always have a daughter. We love her so much, you don't even know.
That is so cute! I wouldn't even know where to begin with a girl because, well we have two boys and a nephew...but there is so much more stuff to buy for a little girl! How exciting! Ps. if you need anything, my best friend has TONS of really pretty girls clothes that are in really good shape. She had an October baby too! Trust me we had a yard sale...she made like $400 and still has totes and totes full left!
ReplyDeleteYou are going to be such an awesome Mom and Mark is going to be an amazing Dad.... Lil' Punkin is one blessed baby!! And while the shopping buddy is awesome ( love shopping with my Emmie!!) You have years and years of more fun, and feeling the depths of love deeper than you ever imagined ahead of you, and I hope you blog the whole way!! You are an amazing person Shannie, and I can't wait to watch you enjoying God's greatest gift... your baby!!
ReplyDeleteLove you!!
It was ME that said the thing about your best friend...and it is so true. I'm starting to live it right now...with an almost 3 year old.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sweet! Mark is going to be a great father, and he's going to spoil her to no ends! I know that you and Mark are going to be wonderful parents to this little princess. God has blessed you to an amazing amount. Be blessed and have a wonderful time carring your daughter, and go ahead spoil her now. :D
ReplyDeleteI totally can't wait to see M be a daddy to a little girl. Seriously. He's going to be a big softie!
ReplyDeletei'm so glad i read your blog thursday night when i was supposed to be working on my 16 page paper about birth, because i found more information to write about! :)
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