Thirty weeks is a long time. Dean noted that this morning while he was eating his cereal. I agree. It's 3/4 of 40. (For you non-pregnant people, pregnancy is counted in weeks. It's 40 weeks, although it can go longer or shorter. If you ask a pregnant woman how far along she is, she will likely answer in weeks, not months. Thirty weeks is about seven and a half months.)
On top of that, it's almost the end of July, and my deadline to be ready for the baby, or as ready as we can be, is the end of August. My classes begin August 31, and I want all baby items to be ready to go before school begins. This includes setting up the car seat, putting the co-sleeper beside the bed, washing the bottles, and number of other tasks I have recorded under the title "Baby To Do List." We have a lot coming up baby-wise in August, including two more baby showers (one in NC and one here), a yoga workshop for labor and delivery (taught by my prenatal yoga teacher), the hospital tour, a "breastfeeding basics" class, and another ultrasound. School-wise, I have to choose essays to be included in the next Interpolations and meet with my substitute-to-be Agnes to plan our syllabus and choose textbooks. I am going to align my syllabus with hers so that it is easy for her to step in and take my classes whenever the baby comes. We got all of the substitute plans worked out with the department, finally, so it is all set that I will take six weeks off beginning when the baby comes. When I go back after six weeks Dean will stay home with the baby on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. All in all it's worked out pretty well. Dean has seven weeks of sick time he can use as "paternity leave" so he is going to take 3 or 4 of them at the beginning and use the rest to work partial weeks. That will get us through the semester, and then I will have January off--UM has a winter term and I don't teach then. It only recently occured to us that following fall and winter will be spring, so we don't have any real set plans for the spring (or summer or the rest of our lives with a daughter) but we are smart people so I am sure we will come up with something.
I am feeling pretty good, although I am sleepy a lot and some of the nausea seems to be returning. This time around, it is more classic "morning sickness," as in it really does occur only in the mornings. Whatever. I wish it would go away entirely, but that seems unlikely at this point. Of all the pregnancy problems that can happen, this one is far from the worst.
I have been trying to stay active: I walk up escalators, walk a lot in general throughout the city, and I try to both go to yoga classes and swim once a week. It would be very easy to descend into total inactivity, but I think I feel better when I am active, and besides that, I am in training for labor. If I am lucky and things go well enough with my labor to proceed naturally, I don't want to get too exhausted to keep going.
I am definitely looking more forward to the time when the baby is here. Before I was pregnant, I romanticized pregnancy. It was to me a time of wonder, rosy glows and cute maternity dresses. I was puzzled if a mom I knew happened to mention that she didn't like pregnancy. Now that I know more of the real deal I know what's not to like. Still, I am trying to enjoy this time while it lasts. Pregnancy is the ultimate example of non-permanence--the baby (and your body) changes every day. I try to remind myself to live in the moment.
After all, I may only have this experience once.
For the record, though, feeling the baby move is the coolest thing ever. It is definitely the one thing I will miss about being pregnant. The wiggle baby's whole repoirtoire has changed since I labeled her moves a few months ago. In fact, many of her movements are kind of alarming. There are a lot of strong kicks, rapid jabs, and repeated thrusts that make me wonder what's going on in there. As long as I assume everything's okay, it's very cool, and possibly the only thing that will make me nostalgic about pregnancy.
Still, I am getting more and more excited to meet and hold this little wiggly person. Maybe because it's the only choice, I am becoming less terrified about having a baby. Dean's excitement helps a lot. I still feel like I am going up a tall, tall roller coaster--there's only one way out--but instead of squeezing my eyes shut and clutching the safety bar, I am looking around at the amazing view. Hopefully by the time labor comes I will be ready to put my hands in the air and enjoy the ride.
Anyway, pregnancy/life change metaphors aside, I think we may have picked a name for the baby. I actually got a lot of suggestions--thanks everyone!--and Dean and I added almost all of the suggested names to our master list. The name we are thinking of has surprised me, since it was not on my original list of names at all. But the more I think about it the more I like it. And yes, I am going to be coy and not say what it is right now. Dean and I have "picked a name" before and I have changed my mind about it, so I am having a practice session with this name in my mind for at least a week or two before I say what it is.
So, the mystery baby remains mysterious for now. The mama is off to the pool.
2 comments:
I'm glad you're enjoying the view and the ride whilst looking forward to the end product. It's a difficult but important balance (like enjoying your wedding but looking forward to the marriage). I loved your comments about the constant impermanence of pregnancy.
This is possibly the most showered baby EVER! Just shows how much everyone loves the mommy.
If you haven't already thought about childcare for spring, I would suggest you do so now. If you're going to do something in home, you can wait, but my experiences in Chicago and Nashville suggest that if you need to use a daycare, you need to get on lists as early as a year or more in advance -- not intended to scare you, just a suggestion if you might go that route.
I second that! Even in little bitty Landrum/PC I had LOTS of drama finding a suitable place for Darci. It's not that there are not PLACES, just that you will find that most places are not necessarily going to "click" for you--b/c everybody looks for different things that are important to them. Also, when I was thinking about the P/T job last year, I quickly found that it was VERY difficult to find part time care.
Post a Comment