Thursday, January 6, 2011

What's that squished like a pancake? Oh right, my bladder. And Eucharistic Adoration with children...

I'm really at this wonderful point in my pregnancy. I feel great, and even though sporting a small pregnant bump, am not big and unwieldy yet. The only things that ail me these days are common pregnancy woes related to my poor internal organs. Recently, I saw a drawing of the insides of a pregnant woman. As you can imagine, her intestines are squeezed up like an empty, rolled up tube of toothpaste, and her bladder is flat as a board. The digestion issues persist, which I can live with, although it's not pleasant.

But my poor angelic bladder. Minding its own business, and yet week by week, increased pressure cause it to slowly lose its dignity. Nary a single teaspoon of urine in there yet the weight of uterus and baby contents cause it to spew out distress signals that CL must rush to the bathroom RIGHT AWAY! This happens at least two dozen times in a single 24 hour period. And worst of all: it's lost its will to be strong. Sneeze? Right, my poor beleaguered little bladder gives up the ghost. There's...leakage. Nothing feels like you're aging before your time like incontinence. Lovely. Please bladder, hang in there. I beseech you to bounce back to your former iron will after the baby comes. It's just four and a half months away. We believe in you.

At any rate, I do feel wonderful right now, and am really enjoying this pregnancy. Most of all, I can't wait to meet the baby. My current big boy (but always my baby), Henry, has been super adorable lately. He's been looking at the ultrasound photos a lot, which we keep taped on the refrigerator, and telling me that he's going to help me a lot when the baby comes. His prediction is a baby boy on May 22nd, so we'll see if he's right. :) At least, this is what he wants to happen...

Mike begins teaching again one evening a week coming up in a few weeks, and on that evening, I've been toying with going to adoration as part of my spiritual preparation for birth. Naturally, I would bring Henry with me. So, my question to you is: have any of you taken your young child with you to Eucharistic Adoration? I wouldn't expect to stay an hour, naturally, with a 5 year old in tow. But 15 minutes I think sounds like a reasonable goal. Or, at least it does now. Anybody have any experience with this?

4 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm sorry about your bladder. That was the worst part for me. I swear it hasn't forgotten either. Every once in a sneeze or a hard cough...well...you get the picture.

    I can't help you with the EA. But he's five and mines almost one so I think you can reason with yours a bit more to stay quiet.

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  2. When I was in middle school and high school my home-school group had adoration Friday mornings and we had everything from newborn to highschooler in adoration. The rule was you were quiet and you tried. You could bring your 5 yr old a children's bible or such to read in the presence of the Lord. It's good to start him young that way it's something that he's comfortable with as he gets older.

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  3. MJ,

    Thank you for the words of experience! I think I'm going to go for it. :)

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  4. I go to adoration mid-morning and there are a lot of little ones there. I have seen lots of big wooden rosaries (http://www.aquinasandmore.com/rosaries/Childs-Multi-Colored-22-in.-Wood-Rosary/sku/7097), Catholic picture books (http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-books/Catholic-Book-of-Prayers-for-Children/sku/61136/imageSize/Lg) etc. I have a friend who takes his son to daily mass, and adoration everyday and his only 3. I think a five year old should be able to sit for at least 15 min. They sit longer in kindergarten in desks than that. The rosary is a great way to teach him his prayers. You can even sit in the back and do the rosary together at a non peak time. Try it out, the worst thing that can happen is it flops and then you might want to scale back the time and then slowly increase it as he learns what to do. Be honest with him. Tell him that it's Jesus and that Jesus loves it when people go to visit him. And Jesus really loves it when big boys and their mommies can sit or kneel quietly and pray when they go to visit him.

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