The Royal Delivery

I have a not so secret obsession with Kate Middleton.  She is my imaginary bestie.  To the extent that when I mention my best friend, Steve knows I mean Kate and not one of my actual friends.  I feel like this infatuation has to do with the fact that our lives seem to really mirror each other.  Steve proposed, Will proposed.  We got married in April 2011, Kate and William got married 6 days later.  I was worried for a while when they started talking about April for the royal wedding that it was going to be on the same day as mine making it hard to watch, and yes, I woke up early that day.  I even had it turned on in my classroom that morning to watch the balcony kiss.  I got pregnant, she got pregnant shortly after.  It has been so great being able to share the special moments in our lives together.

Our lives parallel each other so completely that I was convinced her baby was going to be a girl, too.  I actually had a moment of sadness when the news came that it was a boy, until I realized that now our kids can grow up together and get married some day!  

As I was watching all the hoopla this week, and loving every minute of it, I started to think about the similarities and differences between being pregnant as a princess and every other regular girl out there.  So here we go...

Similarities:

1. No matter who you are, people are super excited to find out what you're having:

A crowd reacts to the news it's a boy.  Took this picture from CNN.com...just want to give credit!!  

Evelyn's grandparents wait (phones ready to photograph the moment) to hear the news!

2. People give you suggestions about names and they don't take it nearly as serious as you do.  People in England are placing bets on what the baby's name is going to be.  I've heard that people are even putting bets on Elvis to be selected (took me a few to figure this one out...the King).  Steve and I often heard Penny or Lois as great names if we have a girl.  Har, har, har.  (Since starting this post, the official news has come that the baby is George Alexander Louis, big surprise there.)

3.  People you barely know give you gifts - people you know distantly through work, people your parents work with, etc.  Everywhere Kate and William go, people are handing them gifts. Prince Charles was even handed a gift for the baby the other day.  Did anyone else notice that it was a Sophie giraffe?  I hope that Sophie actually makes it to the baby, those things are amazing.  (Difference: the royals are apparently donating their gifts and asking people to make donations to children's charities instead of giving them gifts, we accepted anything people sent our way!)

4.  You are starving after you give birth.  Supposedly the royal couple had pizza delivered.  My family brought me a wedge salad.  With extra blue cheese.  And potato skins.  And some Christmas cookies.  And I might have even eaten part of the hospital dinner, too.  Child birthing takes a lot out of you.

news.com.au

5. Your parents are super excited to meet their new grandchild.  I will also add that my parents spent the night in the hospital waiting for Evelyn to be born and Steve's parents showed up at about 6 am the morning she was born.  The royal grandparents didn't show up until the next day.  Our parents must love us more.

people.com

usmagazine.com

6.  No matter who you are, you still look pregnant a day after giving birth:

usmagazine.com

I seriously love that she wore a dress that didn't hide her belly.  Difference: her belly will probably be gone in about 3 days, mine hung around for a while (based on my comments above, maybe it had to do with all I was eating).  I honestly would post a picture, but I can't find one.  Also, I give her tons of credit for walking out of the hospital the next day.  I could barely shuffle to the bathroom a day after giving birth.


Differences:
People don't make you pose for side shots when you are a princess.  Especially not when you are walking out the door to go to the hospital.  In addition, you don't get as big as a house when you are a princess.  

At the moment, that's all I've got, but I know there are about a million more.  I had more ideas when I started this hours ago, but my teething baby is really draining me of everything I have.  Help me out with your thoughts.