Counting Down the Days

Let me give you some perspective. There are 27 days left until my due date. My sister had her baby 20 days before her due date.

I hardly even know what to say about it all. I’m so ready to meet this little guy. I think I’ll just recognize him, you know? And it will be so amazing to snuggle him close and hold his tiny little fingers. But there’s just no way to prepare for this.

I’m not a fan of surprises, really. I’d rather know what to expect and act accordingly. Going into labor will be the biggest surprise. It could be next week or it could be five weeks from now. My best friend described waiting for labor as being like the night before Christmas, except you don’t know when Christmas is.

In some ways, I feel fairly prepared for labor. I’ve read tons of books, I’ve taken the classes. I know myself and what I expect for myself. I’m prepared to be as flexible as I can be. But in other ways, I feel completely unprepared and a little freaked out. Emily just had her son a couple of days ago, after nearly 42 hours of labor. She had contractions for almost two entire days. How is that even possible? I am so amazed by her. I don’t know how I would handle something like that. Fortunately for me, they say that I could make a good guess on what my labor would be like based on my mom and sister. And for her first child, my mom was in labor nine hours, and for her second labor (me), only three and a half hours. My sister’s labor was only three or four hours. And they were all before the due dates. But I could also turn out to be nothing like them.

Andrew is clearly so excited to be a daddy. I love seeing him get excited about this, knowing that he’s anticipating it all just as much as I am. At the same time, he has also started to go a little bit into nesting mode and a little bit into freak-out mode, all at once. And I have suddenly become the calm(er) one. Andrew thinks we don’t have the stuff we will need, that we’re not prepared. I say, eh. That’s what our parents are for—they’ll help us out and make those Target runs if we find we don’t have x, y, or z.

Plus, I feel pretty prepared. The baby's bedding and layette and whatnot is all washed. (I believe that will be the only time I’ll ever use the word "layette" in my life.) The nursery is ready (and it’s super cute—see pics below). My hospital bag is half packed. We even bought a video camera. Give me one more weekend to gather stuff and I’ll be all ready to go.

And then inevitably, it’ll be four more weeks for this baby to decide he’s ready to come out and meet us. Sigh. (Have I mentioned how I’m over being pregnant?)

Done?

Maternity Photos!

Here's a belly photo taken by yours truly about two minutes ago, while sitting at my desk at work. Now go to the fabulous Erika's blog to see much better belly photos.

Thanks, Erika! They look great!

Erika's Blog!

That Wasn't So Bad

Andrew and I took a class last night called "Newborn Care Essentials." I was a little nervous going into it. For the last several days, I seem to cry at the drop of a hat. Sometimes I'm frustrated, sometimes I'm tired, sometimes that one girl's story on American Idol was just too tragic. So I was worried that something in the class would seem overwhelming to me, and I would have some sort of breakdown right there in front of fifteen infant-sized dolls.

But it wasn't bad at all. In fact, I don't think I really learned much of anything. And not even because I was too busy staring at the basket full of Rice Krispie treats (our mid-class break snack) to pay attention. It was because I already knew this stuff. Apparently my very small amount of baby experience and all those books and blogs I've been reading have taught me more than I thought. I almost feel ready to take on this whole caring-for-a-baby thing. Almost. Of course there will be much to learn and figure out. But it doesn't seem so scary.

Now, my suddenly swollen feet and ankles are another story. Those are scary. I now have two pairs of shoes that fit comfortably—my tennis shoes and my snow boots. So that's fantastic. Sometime this weekend I'm going shoe shopping, looking for one versatile, comfortable pair that I can wear every day for the next six to eight weeks. Preferably a pair that just slips on and doesn't require me to tie any laces or use my hands in any way. Also, if the shoes could manage to not be terrible ugly, that would be a bonus.