Friday, January 22, 2010

Telling the world

***This was the last column I wrote for the Sentinel-Review before taking my leave of absence.

Published Friday, March 20, 2009

I have been jolted with a Taser, tackled by a police dog, and survived a week of OPP boot camp.

I've experienced weightlessness on Xtreme Skyflyer at Canada's Wonderland and escaped suffocation after locking myself in a trunk (not the smartest thing I've ever done).

I have managed to keep two cats alive (with my husband's help) and an aloe plant that just won't die no matter how much or little I water it.

I have loved and been heartbroken.

None of that will compare -- so I am told -- to what I will experience three months from now.

I am about to become a mother of twins.

There's nothing I fear more than this, while at the same time there's nothing that excites me more.

In a short time I will have two bundles of joy, a boy and a girl, to shower with love. It's funny how already they mean so much to me and I haven't even met them yet.

March 5 was my last day at the Sentinel-Review before leaping into this unfamiliar realm called parenthood.

Leaving one life behind and picking up another in a moment's time -- two moments in my case -- is overwhelming to think about.

Or maybe it's just the hormones: my husband's explanation for all my moods these days. I am never "really" mad at him because he actually did something wrong; it's just my raging hormones talking.

Aside from the normal aches and pains, fatigue and nausea, my pregnancy has been a positive experience.

However, I am sometimes jealous that my baby bump gets more attention than me these days.

I am no longer Carla Garrett; I have become the "pregnant girl."

But I am adjusting to this new me.

What was once the screech of a siren that would have me jumping out of my seat will soon be the scream of two hungry babies.

To my surprise as I packed up my belongings from my desk -- a stuffed moose and target from the OCPS citizens' police academy, a John Deere model tractor from Leaping Deere Legends and a mini blue stress ball from Oxford EMS, along with countless photos of random people and things I came across in my work that made me smile -- I didn't feel as sad as I thought I might.

Instead, I also came across items that reminded me of the adventure ahead -- a sticky note with my due date (in case I ever forgot), a pen from my pre-natal classes and the pile of snacks I had stored in my desk for those ravenous cravings.

While I don't think I will ever be prepared for what's to come, I am definitely ready to take this next step in my life.

Wish me luck.

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