Want to know what the essentials are for the 9 (10) months of pregnancy? HollyBaby.com Bloggers Sarah Main and Neil Eggleton fill us in on the items they couldn’t live without!

As we are FINALLY getting to the end of this pregnancy, I thought it would be smart for Neil and I to write down the top things that got us through. Every day I seem to be forgetting more and more what life was like 3 and 4 months ago, so hopefully this will help other HollyBaby Moms before they get baby amnesia as well. I have also polled some of the most fabulous moms and moms-to-be on this one, so know that I wasn’t alone. Here goes!

SHE SAID:

Prenatal Yoga
I was a bit skeptical at first only because at 12 weeks I felt like I could still do regular yoga, so why waste time chanting and sitting on blocks when I could do a one handed down-dog… (that may be an exaggeration). However, prenatal yoga has helped in SO many ways. I got to meet other pregnant moms and it was always exciting to see who was due when. I learned how to take care of my constantly changing body by stretching and preventing problems as opposed to dealing with them once it was too late. Most importantly; it just felt good.

Body/Wedge Pillow
I have to say this is not something I partook in, but every single woman I polled swore by theirs. Each had a different brand or strategy, but it seemed to be the #1 on everyone’s list.

A Pregnant Friend
This was a lifesaver!!! Having someone to talk to about things that were happening, or going to happen with your body, as well as someone who understood the hormonal imbalances you were going through (no matter WHAT he says Neil just did not get it) My freak-outs seemed a little less worrisome when I knew other completely normal rational women had cried over something trivial like closet doors, too.

Ice Cream
This was high in the poll as well. I have to admit, I absolutely indulged in the stuff myself, but I think that’s because I never allowed myself more than 4 oz of Tasti-D-Lite pre-pregnancy

Body Cream/Oil/Stretch Mark Lotion
There were a few brand differentials among people but the front runners were Bio-Oil, Palmers, Mamma Bee (Burt’s Bees) and a new one I’ve just heard of: Boob Tube.

Note Pads for Lists
This didn’t happen to me until the third trimester, but all of a sudden my brain was gone. I would drive all the way to the grocery store and completely forget what I needed. I felt so bad the next week I made a list, then forgot the list on the kitchen counter!!! This also helps when you get to the “Holy S%$t, I have SO much to do before the baby gets here” stage. Making lists and crossing things off makes the projects go by so much faster. I had one friend recommend putting items on the list that I had already completed just so I didn’t feel like NOTHING had been done.

HE SAID:
A Friend Who Has a Pregnant Wife or a Kid
Seek out friends who are going through a pregnancy, or who did so recently. This will help when you A) Think your wife has lost your mind or B) Your wife tells you that YOU have lost your mind.

Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy
Of all the pregnancy books, this was the easiest to read and takes a lot of the terror out of a prospective pregnancy. It also doesn’t sugar coat anything, which helps since Sarah stopped sugar coating around week 14.

Contingency Planning
Get some really good iPhone apps. Do you know where to get a reuben sandwich at one in the morning? You should. Know the location of all ice cream parlors within a 2 mile radius (use the AroundMe app for that) and just in case, put your wife’s doctor’s number in your phone.

The Ability to Count to 10
Sometimes you just have to realize she’s emotional, and rather than countering with a pithy or cutting remark, hold your tongue and think whether you want to carry the baby instead… this is one I’m still working on.

Sleep
According to friends with young children, you may as well get as much sleep now while you still can. And if that sleep has to be while relegated to the couch in order to accommodate a body pillow, white noise machine or anything else she needs to help her sleep, then so be it.

-Sarah Main and Neil Eggleton

More from Sarah & Neil!

1. Would You Raise Your Baby As A Vegetarian, Like Bethenny Frankel or Gwyneth Paltrow?
2. HollyBaby Bloggers Sarah & Neil Need Your Help! What Are Your Essential Baby-Proofing Must-Haves?
   
3. Nurseries ARE NOT For The Baby — They’re For The Husband Whose Pregnant Wife Keeps Him Awake At Night!

It seems as though celebrities like Alicia Silverstone and Bethenny Frankel have both come out announcing they are raising their kids as vegetarians and/or vegans. So will Neil and Sarah be doing the same? Read their opinion on the issue!

SHE SAID:
My first battle to get through is the battle of the boob, especially with the Brooklyn Mommy Mafia. My conversations will soon shift from “Where’s the best place to grab a drink?” to “How many times a day are you feeding?” The Breastfeeding Badge of Honor is probably handed out in Park Slope every quarter.

I highly doubt that once Baby Boy Eggleton moves to food we’ll head directly to BLT steak, however I think the most important thing to us is that the baby is eating enough and eating healthy. I’d also like to begin to expose the baby to as many foods as possible, I have very little tolerance for a picky eater. I don’t think there is any harm in raising your kid a vegetarian, but I’m not sure you’re broadening their horizons exactly either. What are they supposed to do when they head to a birthday Bar-B-Q and their options are hamburgers and hot dogs? Ask for a miso tofu platter?

I’m pretty sure it limits them while eating out as well. I’m not a huge fan of unruly children in restaurants, but there’s nothing cuter than a well-behaved child enjoying a nice meal out. Plus baby Eggleton better be prepared. I’m sure when him and Suri Cruise date she’ll only want to go to Per Se.

HE SAID:
I am told by those in the know, that it is becoming increasingly popular amongst celebrities for them to put their children on vegetarian diets. For the sake of full disclosure, let me first state that I have nothing against vegetarian diets, and in the distant past have enjoyed a looser version of a vegetarian regime, allowing myself fish three times a week, and a cheeseburger after a long night in the college bar.

However, I have never been one to take nutrition advice from actors and reality TV stars, and even the preferred diet of rock stars, Jack Daniels, cigarettes and beer, somewhat passed me by. Though it is my preference that our child enjoy an omnivorous diet, I would not fight Sarah, or the child for that matter, if they decided that vegetarian was the way to go.

There is a lot to be said for vegetarian diets, especially as child obesity threatens to turn into an epidemic, and more information comes to light as to how meat is produced, processed and sold in this country. Nor do I buy the argument that vegetarian diets lack nutrients necessary for healthy development.

On this at least, Sarah and I are agreed, that we want to give our child a full range of food to enjoy, and let him make his own informed decisions as he grows older. Of course, we want our child to eat healthily, and we have switched to organic foods for many of the basics, and we don’t eat a lot of junk ourselves. However, probably my biggest concern is how to fight the marketing machines that are the fast-food giants, and instill in our child, healthy eating practices.

–Sarah Main and Neil Eggleton

Want more? Check back every Tuesday for ‘A Family Grows in Brooklyn!‘
Get More of Sarah & Neil’s HollyBaby Blog!

1. ‘Excuse Me, WHAT!?’ — HollyBaby Bloggers Sarah & Neil Find Out The Sex Of Their Baby!
   
2. HollyBaby Bloggers Sarah & Neil Want YOU To Choose A Name For Their Baby Boy!
3. Nurseries ARE NOT For The Baby — They’re For The Husband Whose Pregnant Wife Keeps Him Awake At Night!
4. Do We REALLY Have To Give Up Dirty Martinis, Cheese & Oysters For A Baby?
5. It’s Not Only The Woman Who Gets Fat During Pregnancy, The Man Packs It On Too!
6. Sarah & Neil Say: Gender Reveal Parties Are NOT For Us — We’ll Pass On The Cake! How About You?
   

With summer ending and fall upon us, HollyBaby bloggers Sarah and Neil begin to build a ‘nest’ for their baby. But it’s proving a bit more challenging than they thought.

It’s one of the toughest things to do before your new addition arrives — baby-proofing your house! And HollyBaby.com‘s Sarah Main & Neil Eggleton are struggling with the basics — like what to do with the cat & kitty litter! Can you help?

SHE SAID:
Most people talk about the fact that once a woman becomes pregnant she begins to “nest.” However, I think it’s once a woman gets married. I had never looked at a china pattern or flatware with quite as much enthusiasm as I did once we registered for our wedding. On top of that, I still look forward to when we entertain so I can pull out all my fine china and crystal glasses. I figured prepping for the baby would be just as exciting. But nesting for a baby is VERY different.

I now have to find a “safe and secure” location for my wine glasses. Before, I had always hoped they would be in the most convenient location to the door when walking in from a particularly hellish day at work. Our liquor cabinet has always been an open storage cupboard, but I’m pretty sure Child Protective Services wouldn’t approve of the Bombay Sapphire themed nursery. So as I look around our Brooklyn apartment it has become a “Sophie’s Choice” of items from our pre-baby life.

One item I am very happy to include in our home is our family crib. It was mine when I was born and has remained in the family for many (no, I’m not going to say HOW many) years. However with time comes wear and tear and a few safety regulations that have been updated. So the next few weekends will be spent power sanding off old paint and turning a drop side crib into a secure “fortress of sleep” I just hope the baby likes it!

So HollyBaby Moms, what are the nesting items you just had to have with your little one? And what are the “adult items” you refused to get rid of with a bambino on the way?

HE SAID:
Labor Day traditionally marks the end of summer, and the holiday weekend has usually been greeted in the Eggleton household as reason to get out the house, enjoy the last of the warm weather, host a barbeque or a picnic in the park.

So come Friday, I was so excited to leave the office and start…sanding down baby furniture. It wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but Sarah’s father had sent the crib that she had used as a baby, and it needed some serious renovation. What followed was a crash course in the difference between various palm-held and random orbit sanders, and how to make a drop-side crib into one with fixed sides. I’m sure that a new crib would have been a lot easier and would have left me at least one day to relax or play golf, but the crib has sentimental value, and I’m now learning that you can never win an argument with a pregnant lady.

Regardless of whether the crib was done or not, there’s a list of other upgrades that need to take place before baby arrives. Probably the first thing is to pack off to storage all the stuff that is going to be superfluous to our new lifestyle; Sarah will be happy that the water skis are going to be pulled out of hibernation from the back of my closet, but that also means her shoe and handbag collections are about to be pared back from Imelda Marcos level of exuberance.

The one thing I am not sure of is how to “baby-proof” an apartment. I know we will need to put catches on the cupboard doors, we should probably move the alcohol into a closed cabinet, and consideration needs to go into what to do with the cat litter (one of my re-occurring nightmares involves the baby crawling into the litter tray), but what else needs to be done? Thanksgiving Day is less than three months away and that’s a four-day holiday! I could use some help HollyDads, what handy safety protectors are a “must”?

–Sarah Main and Neil Eggleton

Want more? Check back every Tuesday for ‘A Family Grows in Brooklyn!‘
Get More of Sarah & Neil’s HollyBaby Blog!

1. ‘Excuse Me, WHAT!?’ — HollyBaby Bloggers Sarah & Neil Find Out The Sex Of Their Baby!
   
2. HollyBaby Bloggers Sarah & Neil Want YOU To Choose A Name For Their Baby Boy!
3. Nurseries ARE NOT For The Baby — They’re For The Husband Whose Pregnant Wife Keeps Him Awake At Night!
4. Do We REALLY Have To Give Up Dirty Martinis, Cheese & Oysters For A Baby?
5. It’s Not Only The Woman Who Gets Fat During Pregnancy, The Man Packs It On Too!
6. Sarah & Neil Say: Gender Reveal Parties Are NOT For Us — We’ll Pass On The Cake! How About You?
   

Sarah and Neil have started the search for the perfect baby boy name. Kingston? Ryder? Zuma? Bentley? Bear? They need your suggestions!

Now that they know the gender of their unborn child, HollyBaby.com bloggers Sarah and Neil are finding themselves stumped on a name. Can you HollyBaby.com readers help?
HE SAID:
Last week, we found out the gender of our baby, so the next step was easy, just deciding on the name for our little boy. We had our secret baby names for a boy and a girl, so I was pretty sure that it would be a simple case of choosing one of a half dozen agreed names for a second name and we would be done. What I’m not sure on is how we got to be sitting in a traffic jam for an hour and half on a Friday night, going through a book of baby names, and only getting from Z to T.

I’m sure I could trace the root of the issue back to the 3-D picture from the ultrasound – in Sarah’s opinion, the baby just didn’t look like the name we had agreed on a long time prior to getting pregnant, although that could be another source of the conflict, the fact that the name had been bouncing around for so long. In my opinion, the name checks the boxes on the baby-naming checklist: it is classic yet not flavor-of-the-month, there is a link to an older relative, it is a shorter name (to go with a longer surname), and as far as we can tell there are no ex-boyfriends in Sarah’s past or playground bullies in my past that share the name. Plus it just sounds like a name that I can visualize calling my son, or so I thought.

Whatever the source of the contention, I was obviously being closed-minded, and rather than argue the rationality of it with a pregnant woman, we pulled out the baby names book as we tried to escape Hurricane Irene through the Holland Tunnel.

As if traffic jams are not bad enough, having every name beginning with the letter Z really makes it feel like death by a thousand cuts. However, the experience was educational and there were a couple of take-aways. First rule of baby-naming, if you cannot pronounce the name, it’s probably not the right name for your child. Second rule of baby naming is that it’s not a cut-and-dry process, it seems that this will be a lively topic of conversation all the way up to when our little boy is born, and probably beyond. And we haven’t even started to canvas opinions from friends and family yet.

The reassuring part of this is that of all the parents that I have spoken to, none have regretted choosing the name that they ended up giving to their child, so is a light at the end of this particular tunnel…. Much like the Holland at 5pm on Friday.

SHE SAID:
I always thought that when the time came I would know exactly what the baby’s name would be. Since we were convinced we were having a girl we really only focused on that, and I’m pretty sure that name was locked and loaded. Once we found out Baby BOY Eggleton was on the way all bets were off.

When Neil and I were still dating, long before joint tax returns and living in Brooklyn, he told me that he had two “secret baby names” that he liked; One boy’s name and one girl’s name. I don’t think I realized at the time that those were the ONLY names he liked.

Once we saw the 3-D sonogram, I became unsure about what the baby’s name should be. We had a few “guidelines” we wanted to stick to, but other than that I was at a total loss. So out came the baby name book, and I have to say…. It really didn’t help. Half the names I couldn’t pronounce or understand. The other half was just one name with a letter changed (Example: James turned into Tames). It probably didn’t help that we decided to go through the book backwards as well. There aren’t a whole lot of X names I like.

So I’m turning to you HollyBaby Readers… We tend to lean towards shorter first names. We like classic, but current is fine. We don’t want to just name our baby a word, the name should be a name people have at least heard once before. (Apple and Pippa will NOT be considered) So….. we’re open to suggestions, tell us your thoughts.

–Neil Eggleton and Sarah Main

–Sarah Main and Neil Eggleton

Want more? Check back every Tuesday for ‘A Family Grows in Brooklyn!‘
Get More of Sarah & Neil’s HollyBaby Blog!

1. ‘Excuse Me, WHAT!?’ — HollyBaby Bloggers Sarah & Neil Find Out The Sex Of Their Baby!
   
2. Sarah & Neil’s Baby Registry Nightmare: Strollers & Onesies & Breast Pumps, Oh My!
3. Nurseries ARE NOT For The Baby — They’re For The Husband Whose Pregnant Wife Keeps Him Awake At Night!
4. Do We REALLY Have To Give Up Dirty Martinis, Cheese & Oysters For A Baby?
5. It’s Not Only The Woman Who Gets Fat During Pregnancy, The Man Packs It On Too!
6. Sarah & Neil Say: Gender Reveal Parties Are NOT For Us — We’ll Pass On The Cake! How About You?
   

So A Family Grows in Brooklyn readers, are YOU ready for the big reveal? Sarah & Neil found out the sex of their baby! Read more to see if Baby Eggleton is a boy or a girl!

HE SAID:
We are now in the twentieth week of the pregnancy, so today Sarah and I went to Lenox Hill Hospital for the Level 2 Ultrasound. Sarah had had this one marked on the calendar for some while, and had even sent me an Outlook invite so that there would be no chance of me double-booking with a meeting.

The Level 2 Ultrasound is primarily to check that the anatomy of the fetus is developing normally, but we were excited, as we knew we would be coming away with confirmation of our long-held belief that we were going to be having a baby girl.

Going in for the scan, neither of us had a great preference for the sex of our baby, just the hope that all was proceeding on track and the baby was healthy, but for reasons mostly related to family history and gut feeling, our selection of wallpaper samples featured flowers, butterflies and fairies in various shades of pink.

The examination began with the ultrasound technician liberally applying jelly to Sarah’s bump, and then started by looking at the baby’s bone structure. It was a little shocking at one point — during one of the views of the baby’s head, I thought we would be having a baby Skeletor. However, that was nothing compared to the surprise when the technician switched the monitor to a 3D view of the baby’s face – seeing the baby’s face as clearly as that really makes your heart jump and I was not expecting to be so emotionally taken.

So the scan moved over the rest of the baby’s body and everything seemed to be going smoothly; heartbeat strong, spine in good order, there are the kidneys, all the toes and leg bones accounted for, and there is the penis… My first thought was — oh my god, our baby girl has a penis! When it dawned on me that our baby girl was actually going to be a baby boy, I was excited, but not nearly as excited as Sarah was. I still stand by my mantra that all I wish for is a healthy baby, and I was most excited when the doctor had examined the scans and confirmed that everything was going smoothly.

I would say that looking back on the day, I feel as though the way we found out was a little anti-climatic — “and there is the penis” — as opposed to something akin to a golden envelope being opened at the Oscars, but our own excitement that we shared more than made up for it.

Next up — wallpaper shopping. Should we go cars and trucks, or dinosaurs?

SHE SAID:
Since the day we found out we were pregnant we both felt pretty confident that we would be having a girl. We focused on girls’ names, looked mostly at girls interior design elements for the nursery and even referred to the baby as “she” on more than one occasion.

With the anatomy scan on the calendar for the last few weeks I began to wonder, “Will I be upset if this doesn’t go how I plan.” (This was in the pregnant Carry Bradshaw voice in my head obviously.)

Because there are only 3,963,296 things to worry about during your pregnancy I decided to add in another factor “What if they tell me one gender and I suddenly realize I wanted the other?” This growing fear crept up on me for a few weeks. I’m the type of person who shakes my Christmas presents… I don’t do well with surprises. (Ask Neil about the “luggage incident of 2009”). I also began to feel like I would be a bad parent for realizing that I really DID have a preference a little too late.

When we walked into the exam room the ultrasound tech asked a series of questions: “How old are you?” “Is this your first child?” “Would you like to know the gender?” I basically yelled, “YES!” After looking at image after image of bones, internal organs, blood, penis…….. WAIT, WHAT!? Yes: penis.

I cried.

Tears of pure pure joy. I suddenly realized that this was exactly what I wanted. I was going to be the proud mother to a son.

I spent the whole rest of the day walking around New York with “pudding face,” you know, the huge grin. This is the first boy in my family for three generations. I cannot wait for him to get here!

Neil Eggleton and Sarah Main

–Sarah Main and Neil Eggleton

Want more? Check back every Tuesday for ‘A Family Grows in Brooklyn!‘
Get More of Sarah & Neil’s HollyBaby Blog!

1. Whoever Says Maternity Jeans Aren’t Trendy Is WRONG!
2. Sarah & Neil’s Baby Registry Nightmare: Strollers & Onesies & Breast Pumps, Oh My!
3. Nurseries ARE NOT For The Baby — They’re For The Husband Whose Pregnant Wife Keeps Him Awake At Night!
4. Do We REALLY Have To Give Up Dirty Martinis, Cheese & Oysters For A Baby?
5. It’s Not Only The Woman Who Gets Fat During Pregnancy, The Man Packs It On Too!
6. Sarah & Neil Say: Gender Reveal Parties Are NOT For Us — We’ll Pass On The Cake! How About You?
   

Gender reveal parties are all the rage nowadays, where the parents-to-be plan a party based around a blue or pink cake that will reveal whether the baby is a boy or a girl. HollyBaby bloggers Sarah & Neil are not interested!

In Sarah & Neil‘s minds, these parties are not only absolutely absurd, but they just add more unnecessary stress in the lives of a pregnant couple! Who wants their baker knowing the sex of their baby before THEY even know? Read on to find out Sarah & Neil’s top 10 reasons why this so-called “party” is anything but a celebration.

HE SAID:
As I was busily slaving away in the kitchen the other day (ahem?), Sarah asked me what my thoughts were on a Gender Reveal Party, as it was apparently a trend. Even though I typically adhere strictly to my policy of “Agree to whatever the pregnant lady is saying and be damned by the consequences later.” I later Googled “gender reveal party” and was stunned by the amount of information available. The name itself is quite self-explanatory; it’s more the concept that baffles me, and why someone thought this was necessary in the first place. My first reaction was that this was some kind of Hallmark holiday, dreamed up by the PR department of the Royal and Fraternal Order of American Bakers, something along the lines of “Take your Cat to Work Day.”

SHE SAID:
I feel bad enough having a baby shower (or 2) and asking my friends for gifts. I’m sure they are receiving invitations thinking, “Didn’t I just buy them a wedding gift!?” But when the topic of a Gender Reveal Party came up Neil and I scratched our heads and wondered not only why people would do this, but also who on earth would want to attend. I know these parties are becoming a growing trend, but I’m not giving birth to the next prince of England, (just a child I plan on marrying into that family) so does anyone else REALLY care what we’re having?

Here are our top 10 reasons why we WONT be having one of these parties:

10. HE SAID: Sarah has two baby showers planned already. I assume that is fairly typical among expectant mothers. Enough already.

9. SHE SAID: Doing this means that I will have to hold an envelope filled with important information in my hand for at least an hour while taking it to the baker. When Indiana Jones finds the holy grail does he just walk around with it for an hour. No!

8. HE SAID: I’m just about OK with our doctor and his nurse knowing the gender of our baby seconds before we do – I cannot say the same of the bloke behind the counter of our local Baskin Robbins.

7. SHE SAID: I would have to take time out of my day (which is already too filled with eating, napping and adding items to the baby registry) to find a bakery that does this and organize the event

6. HE SAID: I honestly would be just as happy with either a girl or a boy, I just hope that the baby is healthy, and I don’t think that’s corny. But what if I had a strong preference for a boy for example – would I be expected to feign joy in front of friends and family on hearing it was a girl, or is it OK to eat my pink cake with a face of disappointment?

5. SHE SAID: I will have to spend time making and meeting new friends as all my current friends will suddenly become “committed to a dinner party” “swamped at work” or “out of office” once they get this invite. NONE OF MY FRIENDS WOULD COME TO THIS!

4. HE SAID: What portions of the food triangle are covered by pink and blue cake?

3. SHE SAID: Although I am “eating for two” one of them is 5’2 and very inactive right now, the other is not a sumo wrestler. This will be a problem when an entire cake is left sitting on my counter that will “need to be eaten”

2. HE SAID: I would love to hear how low the excuses from my mates would go in order to get out of this one. Sometimes it’s difficult enough to get these guys out to Brooklyn with the promise of all the free food and free beer they can handle.

1. SHE SAID: Although my husband has been an incredible support system through all of this… I know that if, god forbid, we ever got divorced his argument for keeping the apartment would be “I even participated in a Gender Reveal party, that alone should entitle me to everything.”

–Sarah Main and Neil Eggleton

Want more? Check back every Tuesday for ‘A Family Grows in Brooklyn!‘
Get More of Sarah & Neil’s HollyBaby Blog!

1. Whoever Says Maternity Jeans Aren’t Trendy Is WRONG!
2. Sarah & Neil’s Baby Registry Nightmare: Strollers & Onesies & Breast Pumps, Oh My!
3. Nurseries ARE NOT For The Baby — They’re For The Husband Whose Pregnant Wife Keeps Him Awake At Night!
4. Do We REALLY Have To Give Up Dirty Martinis, Cheese & Oysters For A Baby?
5. It’s Not Only The Woman Who Gets Fat During Pregnancy, The Man Packs It On Too!
6. Ever Wonder What Kinds Of Conversations A Pregnant Couple Has Before Their Baby Arrives?

So, the time came for HollyBaby blogger Sarah to cave in and buy herself some maternity jeans. Turns out she’s not the one who hates them — her husband Neil is!

No, it’s not the stretchy band that bothers Neil, it’s the price! His wife’s bump may be showing, but that doesn’t mean he’s excited — get ready for the credit card bills to come rollin’ in!

Here’s the solution: ADULT NAP TIME. Better get it while you can!

You hear that once the baby comes you never get a good night sleep again. So, our HollyBaby Bloggers, Sarah & Neil, decided to sleep through their pregnancy. But now they can’t STOP snoozing! Can YOU relate? 
SHE SAID:
There is this amazing thing that overtakes your body once you become pregnant. FATIGUE. It is something I have never experienced before on any level what-so-ever. I used to be able to function on a good six hours a night. Now if I can manage to be awake for six hours straight it’s a miracle.

Beyond the nine hours of sleep I now require nightly I am also hit by a Q Train of fatigue around 3pm daily. Sometimes it comes on slowly building since noon, other times it comes out of nowhere and I swear I’m going to fall asleep mid-sentence.

The worst part is, all of this reduces me to a three year old past nap-time. Sometimes I have complete meltdowns. One day I was in the grocery store just picking up a few items. I had to call Neil, in tears, halfway through. After getting through the produce section it felt like my body had run a marathon. I was worried that I didn’t have enough energy to get through dairy and checkout without having to nap in the cracker aisle. Can you imagine “Um, we have a clean up on aisle 3, pregnant lady sleeping.”

Some women claim that for them this exhaustion only lasts the first trimester, unfortunately I haven’t been one of those women. Other women tell me how lucky I am, “Get your sleep now, there wont be any time for it once the baby comes.” Either way, if you see a pregnant lady sleeping on the subway (or on the floor of the grocery store) don’t be surprised (if it’s me). It happens.

–Sarah Main

HE SAID:
Despite the fact that Sarah has started to sleep longer and take more naps, she is not sleeping anywhere near as deeply as she used to. We live near to the construction of the new Brooklyn basketball stadium, and it used to be that the whole destruction of entire blocks wouldn’t disturb her one iota from her beauty sleep; now, the slightest toss or turn from me in bed is met with a sharp rebuke and sharper elbows.

And this has led to a manifestation of another not previously seen trait; talking in the third person. I can understand if the “I” became a “we”, as in “WE are eating for two” or “We went for a walk today” etc. The new person is “the pregnant woman,” as in, “Who eats a pregnant woman’s sour candy?” or her favorite lately, “Who purposely wakes up a pregnant woman in the middle of the night?”

The fact that I tried to crawl out of bed quieter than a church mouse, or that it is nine in the morning, only serves as fuel to the fire – “Who argues with a pregnant woman at this time in the morning?” I know the correct answer, “Me,” would only set her off even more. So I just apologize profusely instead. I’m told this doesn’t change after the baby comes….. or ever for that matter.

–Neil Eggleton

Want more? Check back every Tuesday for ‘A Family Grows in Brooklyn!‘
Get More HollyBaby Blogs!
Get More HollyBaby Blogs!

1. Sarah & Neil’s Baby Registry Nightmare: Strollers & Onesies & Breast Pumps, Oh My!

Nurseries ARE NOT For The Baby — They’re For The Husband Whose Pregnant Wife Keeps Him Awake At Night!

1. Do We REALLY Have To Give Up Dirty Martinis, Cheese & Oysters For A Baby?

2. It’s Not Only The Woman Who Gets Fat During Pregnancy, The Man Packs It On Too!

Neil & Sarah Say: How We Let The Pregnancy News Slip…To Everyone In NYC!