You may or may not be familiar with the program popular government program, WIC which is an acronym for The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. WIC is a great program that enables pregnant women, moms and infants to purchase healthy food at low cost.

They give you a series of coupons for each month that you take to a participating grocery store to get things like milk, fruit, beans, rice, cereal and peanut butter. If you or your children have special allergies or nutritional needs, they ask for a doctors note and will provide you with coupons for special formula or milk. I remember when I was pregnant they gave you a $10 month allowance for participating fruit and vegetables, eggs, 4-6 gallons of milk per month, dry beans, grain, cereal, juice and peanut butter coupons. When I had my baby and was breastfeeding, they added things like tuna or salmon and more nutritious items. When we learned my baby was allergic to galactose, the other molecule in lactose, and I could no longer breastfeed, they reduced the price of formula to less than what it had been when I was pregnant. WIC is a wonderful and necessary program that benefits a lot of moms and children. However, it was a very stressful process at the grocery store. I can only imagine if I had multiple children with me instead of just my one son.

I first got WIC for the month of December. I had to figure out where the WIC offices were, which happened to be inside the sliding scale clinic I went to as my OB-GYN. I then had to find out when they were open and waited about an hour and a half to talk to a representative who told me to come back with documentation of my income, proof of pregnancy, etc. It was the busiest time of the year at my hotel job for the Holidays and I was working 6 days a week there and 3-4 nights a week at my other job. Once I found the place, it took me a few weeks to get off work and wake up in time to go. Once I did, they subsidized my coupons for the month and I can remember rushing on New Years Eve to a grocery store and trying to figure out what products qualified as a WIC product or not. I remember the store being crowded with tons of people making last minute purchases before they celebrated the new year. After a long time waiting in line to check out in which I was already late to my next job, I went to hand them my WIC coupons and they told me they couldn't accept any WIC at that location. I was beyond frustrated. At the time I didn't have a car and there were no grocery stores close to my house and this was the only window of time I had to try and use the WIC.

I remember getting a ride to a new Walmart location, excited about the new store, and being able to use the WIC and upon arriving across town seeing a sign posted on their front door that they couldn't accept WIC yet.

Another time, I met with my old roommate from college for coffee and she offered to use her car to drive me to the grocery store before class. At this point I'd done the WIC with success a few times and knew what brands and sizes worked with it. However, we went to WInn Dixie, which I had never been to before, and they rejected a ton of my items. I was so frustrated at how awkward of a coffee date this had turned out as my former college roommate was sent to run to different aisles to retrieve different items so I didn't start all over in line. She was late to class and it reminded me of the very different directions our lives had taken in the past year. It was nerve-racking and embarrassing.

I can remember having a boyfriend drive me to WalMart one night and being so embarrassed when the cashier visibly sighed when she saw the coupons and immediately called over another employee to help her because "she couldn't deal with this nonsense" at that moment. That time too the boyfriend ended up running to different aisles as different products were no longer eligible or as the cashier was sure there was a cheaper version, which is what WIC states you must purchase. Even products with their pictures in the WIC pamphlet would not always ring up correctly and you'd be forced to go find the qualifying product or wait for a manager to do so or somehow void or approve the item.

Finding time to grocery shop while pregnant, working two jobs and car-less when you live in a part of the city that's a literal food desert was stressful enough. The discrepancies at every grocery store with many different products and with the WIC constantly changing what brand or blend of juice or peanut butter or instant oatmeal qualified was even more stressful and at times humiliating. Some employees were super attentive and helpful and some were very upset at the process and rude when I was trying to get the groceries. What I learned to do was to double check with customer service upon arriving at the store about changes, new items, signage, different WIC policies and eligible items and then to just check out with the same customer service person or manager whenever I went.