Granola Bar ⏤ Vol 38

Giving the doctor HER orders, Fun World, and cashing out!

Feb 21, 2022

Hey friend HEY!

Chilllleeeee, I had a baby. A whole baby. But we will get to that a little later.

How are you doing? Anything new happening in your world?

Lunch will be a quick and good one today, and I am sure you know why. But before we get into today’s topics, can we take a brief moment and give a ton of flowers to Queen Mary J. Blige. Sis had a HELL of a week, performing at the Super Bowl and All-Star weekend. She was giving me all the life I needed, mainly when I was laid up in the hospital bed watching the Super Bowl halftime show.

Alright, let’s get into today’s topics.

Feb 15, 2022 @ 1:38a
Bébé's Kids
Sold

February 15, 2022 @ 1:38a

My son was born at 40 weeks and 2 days—a son. I have a son.

Waiting to find out what our firstborn would be was the best decision we’ve made. The shock of finding out the sex was an overwhelming experience. I had to ask my husband what the baby looked like because my eyes went immediately between the legs to see what we were having. I didn’t even look at his face.

The journey of bringing him into this world was not an easy feat. My original due date was 2/13/22, and my contractions began the night before. That intense feeling hit me like a gut punch. I was like, “WTF is this.” And that is when I knew something was going to happen soon.

We had already scheduled an induction on our due date because we didn’t want to wait much longer to meet our little one but little did we know he would come into this world without the help of the inducement.

Once we got checked into our room, I had the option to start the contraction inducement drug Pitocin or get a balloon placed inside my cervix to assist with my water breaking. I chose the latter, which was some excruciating pain I did not expect. The way I hollered as they filled up this balloon in my cervix, they had to remove some to get me to calm down.

But it worked.

After a few walking laps around the labor & delivery floor, my water broke. The next moments seemed to fly by because I quickly went from 1cm to 6.5cm. I just knew this baby would be born soon and on Valentine’s Day.

I was fooled.

I labored for a total of 30 hours, went through two epidurals, and stalled at 6cm for over 8 hours. It seemed like nothing was working.

They told me I’ll know when we are “there” when it feels like I have to poop. So once I got that feeling, it gave me hope, but nope my body still wasn’t ready. And the internal pressure was becoming unbearable. All I could do was scream and cry.

There was another woman giving birth at the same damn time as me. She and I were alternating screams— her then me.

I kept hearing “we are almost there” what seemed like for hours, and I wasn’t having it. I said enough is enough.

I looked at the doctor in her eyes and said, “cut this baby out of me right now, go prep the OR.” She seemed so stunned, like, “did she just give me some orders.” If you know me, this shouldn’t be a surprise.

I couldn’t take it anymore. The pressure and pain were overwhelming.

The doctor knew a c-section was not a part of my birth plan. So she said, let’s check you one more time before we do anything else. And it finally was time.

Four major pushes later, John-Joseph Marlowe Williams entered the world.

The look on my husband’s face was priceless. His tears of joy made a few of the nurses cry.

My performance made a student almost pass out. Poor thing, it was her first day on the job, and she landed in my delivery room. A great teaching moment, however.

We named him after our late fathers. Julian’s dad’s name is John, my father’s first name is Joseph, and middle name is Marlowe. Put it all together, and you get John-Joseph Marlowe Williams, JJ for short.

No one can prepare you for labor & delivery. Everyone has a unique experience. But one constant thing is the feeling when your baby makes its first appearance, and you lock eyes on them.

I wouldn’t have been able to get through this life-changing experience without my amazingly supportive husband. He consistently made sure I had whatever I needed and also helped me break the “no eating” rule while having my epidural. He was sneaking me slices of mandarin oranges, a few sips of ginger ale, and a bite or two of a granola bar.

If you are planning to start or expand your family and haven’t researched the benefits and value of a doula, then do it NOW. At times, our doula was the most encouraging and supportive person in the room. She kept vigorous notes and was able to question, ask and answer on our behalf during most of our experience. When both my husband and I felt defeated, she was there to pick us up.

Today marks day 6 of JJ’s life, and I already feel like I have had him forever.

I am so in love.

Bébé's Kids

I have been asking this question to friends with and without kids for a few years now. So I want to ask you.

At what age do you think a kid can watch Bébé's Kids? It’s PG-13 rated, but what do you think?

This is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I’ve been anxiously awaiting the day to have a kid I can share this movie with. I mean, hell, JJ and I can watch this now, mainly me watching and him sleeping, but I’m curious about a reasonable time frame to show him this classic film.

This ‘92 film has some of my favorite Yo Mama jokes of all time. I laugh out loud thinking about them right now.

And this one is by FAR my favorite Yo Mama joke of all time.

How he leans up when he says "bowl” at the end makes this joke nothing short of perfect!

Did we know that Marques Houston played Khalil, the oldest kid, in this movie? I had NO clue. He made his acting debut with this animated comedy. After that, his next film was House Party 3 in ‘94. That was was alright, nothing like the first two.

Robin Harris was a standup CLASSIC! He made his acting debut playing a bartender in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988). He also had roles in 1989's Do the Right Thing and Harlem Nights. Robin played the father of Kid in House Party (1990) and later that year had a small role as a jazz club MC in Mo' Better Blues. Mo’ Better Blues is one of my favorite Denzel films.

During Robin’s standup, he would always have a reoccurring set about “Bébé's Kids,” which folks loved so much that it would turn into a film. But during pre-production, Robin died in his sleep of a heart attack in a Chicago hotel room after performing to a sold-out crowd at the tender age of 36.

So instead of scrapping the film, they decided to make it animated with Faizon Love playing Robin. Whoever made this call deserves all the flowers because Bébé's Kids is a classic culture film.

I can’t wait to share these laughs with JJ.

Sold

I sold the entire BlackWifeLife brand.

The impact that it made in such a short amount of time on Instagram was amazing, but the demand and lifestyle were not sustainable for me.

I didn’t even think of selling my intellectual property until an Atlanta-based relationship influencer who was an active BWL stan reached out to me. I immediately thought, well well, this might be worth my time to listen.

With a baby on the way, no paid mat leave (I am a 1099 consultant), and no desire to step into the influencing sphere again, this seemed like a good idea.

I thought it would be hard to hand over the reins to something I poured so much time and dedication into, but once I heard what her ideas were to keep the brand alive and also keep the original brand story intact, I was all for it.

So now, BlackWifeLife has a new owner and a new home. I will always be the creator and founder, but I am 100% removed from the brand.

And I am so glad I got all of it taken care of before I had my son. Because listen, I barely knew what day and time it was after spending six nights, five days in the hospital, and sleepless nights since.

Look how I had to come to lunch with you today.

How do influencer and blogging mommies do it? Hats off to you ladies! You got the juice.

Jems 💎

#watch:

Cheer, Season 2 (Netflix) — I was a big fan of this series when it came out last year, and season 2 is even better, despite Jerry. I love how they showcased a different school and shed light on men in cheer.
The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (Netflix) — This series is a hilarious parody of the film and book (which I’ve read and seen) The Woman in the Window. The book was excellent, the original movie, not so much. This rendition of it is so much better. Episodes are like 23 min. I watched all 8 in one day.

#getlostin:

Ever since buying a home, my husband and I have been obsessed with looking at luxury homes. We subscribe to the Architectural Digest YouTube channel and will spend a few moments watching tours of outrageously priced homes.

Check out this $28.5 Mil Hollywood Hills home!

And then I discovered Enes Yilmazer YT channel and the properties he shows are just 🤯. This $25Mil Henderson, Nevada home has been my favorite thus far.

Well friend, we made it through lunch today! It was a process, but we made it. JJ says Hiiii and he can’t wait to have lunch with you again next month!

xo, Jemia

Monday Lunch

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