{"id":34818,"date":"2014-02-11T19:42:21","date_gmt":"2014-02-11T19:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=34818"},"modified":"2014-02-11T19:42:21","modified_gmt":"2014-02-11T19:42:21","slug":"preparing-big-shabbat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/preparing-big-shabbat\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing For The Big Shabbat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"deadline<\/a>If I had nine months to plan my wedding, I probably would have been a calmer bride. Probably not. \u00a0I don\u2019t handle the unknown well.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a new kallah<\/i>, one of my mentors reminded me and my chattan<\/i> that the wedding day was just a few hours long and advised us not to get hung up on the details of this one day to the point that it stressed us out and distracted us from the bigger picture: that we are beginning our marriage. The marriage is the most important aspect. A wedding day should be a happy day, a celebration of a new beginning, but we cannot control everything. These proved to be wise words for us.<\/p>\n

When my husband and I learned this summer that I was pregnant, we were thrilled. And scared. And humbled. And excited. And anxious.<\/p>\n

And as we counted ahead nine months, we also realized we could be having a Passover baby.<\/p>\n

Of course Hashem\u2019s humor was in full gear, and we soon enough realized that our estimated due date falls out on Shabbat HaGadol<\/i>, the Shabbat preceding the Passover seder (and in our case, two days before).<\/p>\n

Talk about a Big Shabbat.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Doctor<\/a>We decided not to announce the exciting news until after the first trimester, which gave us plenty of time to work ourselves into a panic that we couldn\u2019t simply sell everything in our apartment and move out for a week, which we did last year.\u00a0 Both sets of our parents live in different states, so we would be staying home this year and making Passover ourselves.<\/p>\n

In some ways we couldn\u2019t decide what gave us more anxiety: preparing for a baby, for which we were clueless\u2014or preparing for Passover, for which we were clueless. \u00a0Lehavdil, lehavdil<\/i>\u2014yes, I know. \u00a0Not exactly the same experiences and preparations.<\/p>\n

We decided not to learn the gender of our child.\u00a0 Yes, we don\u2019t want to count our eggs before they hatch, but my husband is also concerned that should I learn we are having a boy, I would get myself worked up about preparing for a brit milah<\/i> during the only eight days of the year that bagels are forbidden to be consumed.\u00a0 He knows me well. There is still a 50\/50 chance that we\u2019re having a girl.<\/p>\n

\"Fetus<\/a>And then I remembered the advice from my mentor when we were engaged and reapplied it to my new situation in life. Pregnancy and preparing for Passover are temporary moments in my life: strengthening my marriage and preparing for my new role as a mother is the priority. \u00a0Doing what I can to give birth to a healthy baby is the priority.<\/p>\n

And my attitude can shape the whole labor experience: don\u2019t go into it expecting terror, this is a day to celebrate the birth of our baby! Certainly we can\u2019t control everything, but this special day marks the beginning of a bigger picture: we become a family.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, since we\u2019ve been able to speak openly about our upcoming excitement, we have been able to breathe more easily. The passing months have allowed reality to sink in and we have treasured the gift of time to educate ourselves about pregnancy, parenthood and beyond.<\/p>\n

We realize we still have no clue what we\u2019re in for but we\u2019re in this together, and we plan to keep laughing.<\/p>\n

One day, in an attempt to humor myself, I pondered the similarities between Passover preparations and preparing for a new baby. \u00a0Although it might feel like Passover prep begins earlier and earlier each year, it\u2019s not a nine-month endeavor (nor should it be).<\/p>\n