Single Track Vernacular

In my life B.B. (Before Benjamin), I had no idea the expansion my vocabulary would undergo once a pregnancy commenced. Who knew that along with baby comes an entirely new language. And like it is with learning a new language, it could be a full-time job studying all of the words and their meanings that can be found in Baby Land. There are the words, phrases, and acronyms that you want and hope to hear, like 'BFP (big fat positive),' 'doubling HCG levels,' 'fully effaced,' and 'great APGAR score.' And then there are the dreaded words that you hear, but wish you hadn't, like 'small for gestational age,' 'induction,' 'non-stress test,' and 'posterior position.'

And then of course, there are the words which represent the slew of items that accompany baby, most of which conveniently seem to start with B. There's the Bassinet, the Boppy (pictured at left with the binky!),the Bottles, the Bumbo (pictured above right), the Bibs, the Binky (ok, so it's a pacifier, but that's what we call it in our house), the Blankets, and my favorite, the Bargains (they don't so much accompany baby, but they do make my day!).

Oh and how could I forget, the most famous Baby B word of all, the Breast (not pictured for obvious reasons!). I don't know about your house, but in my house, this word opened the door to a whole new world of puns, mostly courtesy of my hubs. We're driving on a trip and Baby Ben (yes, we thought we'd stick to the B theme when we named him!) is growing hungry. Hubs says, 'oh we better pull over at the Breast Area!' And Hubs also refers to 'them' as Ben's Breast Friends. My addition to our new found vernacular includes the 'Dine n Dash.' This occurs when I pack everything up I need for an outing, then feed the lil bambino, and then proceed to dash out the door, attempting to maximize the time we have before my good lil eater gets hungry again! But my favorite one of them all has to be the term my hubs coined and likes to announce just about every time it's time for Ben to eat..."Benny-Boo, the Breastaurant is now open, today's dinner specials include..."

It's kind of funny how once you give birth, all inhibitions, in writing and life in general, go out the window! And yes, since Baby Ben has arrived, we've learned a lot of new words and made some up too. You might say we've developed a single track vernacular, all falling under the general category of that one, all-encompassing addition to our lives...Baby.