Babies, babies, babies.

Some of you know that I have never been pregnant "on my own." What this means is that each time I have been expecting a baby, so has either one of my sisters or sisters-in-law, and our due dates have been within weeks of each other.

With Amelia, my older sister Deb was due a couple of weeks ahead of me. Her son Jacob is about two and a half weeks older than Amelia.

With Dylan, my sister-in-law Heather was due not long before me. Her daughter Chloe was born exactly two weeks before Dylan.

But this time takes the cake. Our third little Rogers is due on May 23rd. My sister-in-law Aileen, Evan's only sister, is due on May 21st; my sister-in-law Katherine, my brother Lee's wife, is being induced on the 24th of May because Lee has a week off; and my younger sister Elizabeth is due in mid-June.

I am having a boy, Aileen is having a girl, Katherine is having a girl, Elizabeth is having a boy.

And so, we commiserate together periodically.

Katherine and I have communicated mostly via email, and I was reading back on some of our exchanges and thought they were post worthy. I hope that Katherine doesn't mind me sharing.

I must post a disclaimer here to say that these emails do not reflect the wonder of the miracle of motherhood, nor are they sensitive to our dear friends who have trouble conceiving. (We love you and pray for you! And in the grand scheme of things, we know that we are grateful that we are even able to be pregnant).

Here are the emails...

Katherine: I thought I'd admit to someone that I finished an entire bag of Dove Caramel Choclates in 1 and 1/2 days....Nice!

Jayne: You are soooo pregnant! If it makes you feel any better, I ate a box of Milk Duds and nearly an entire bag of popcorn last night...by myself when Evan was sitting next to me. I would have shared if he had asked...but he didn't.

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Katherine: I want to complain to someone who understands...I am getting fat! That's right F.A.T. I can't deny it and I can't turn back now. I hate it! I guess eating another bag of Dove Caramel chocolates didn't help, but what can I say?! Sigh!!!!

Sometimes I think, wow, I only have four more months to go, so I better finish all of the projects that I have before the baby comes. And then I think, wow, four more months to pack on the pounds.

How did your sugar appointment go today? I have mine next week.

Jayne: You are so funny!! I feel totally fat too. And I am fat; I just don't feel it. I see my butt and thighs in the mirror. It's not really my tummy that bothers me; that's supposed to get big. But why my butt? Why my thighs? I mean really.

You will shrink down again, don't worry! You have each time before and you will again. (I'm telling this to myself as much as you!)

Oh, and sugar appointment = LAME. I hardly ate anything this morning because I didn't have time and then I couldn't eat an hour before my 9:30 appointment when I actually did have time. So, I had a headache when I got to the doctor's office. Then I had to suck down that syrupy sugar drink and got an even worse headache, had to sit for an hour with a pounding head, and finish it off with a poke from a needle. The moral is, I suppose, to actually eat something substantial before your appointment.

And my luck will be that this time, I'll have gestational diabetes or anemia or something else absolutely lovely.

That's rather cynical of me isn't it? Huh. Maybe the sugar really got to me today. I'm cranky. Oh...wait. I'm just pregnant. And fat. Yeah. That's it.

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Katherine: I'm not kidding when I say my belly is sticking straight out!!!

Jayne: My belly and my butt are sticking out. Not straight out, but certainly out. Maybe they counter balance each other, which reduces the severity of their "outness."

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I need to conclude by saying that Katherine is absolutely gorgeous and I am certain that she is beautiful even when she is pregnant.

And I just try not to spend much time looking in the mirror from the neck down.