Lessons to learn

I'm learning patience this week. Did you know that only 5% of babies are born on their due date? More than 75% are born after. You would think, after ALL these years of women having babies, they would be able to come up with a more accurate method of predicting when birth will occur. Hello! I like to have a bit of a plan in life, especially when it involves an hour and a half trip to the hospital...
Which leads me to my next lesson... children learn very early on, how to run their parents' lives. From the time they are barely a spec on an ultrasound screen, they influence how frequently their mother visits the bathroom, when she eats, what she eats, how much and well she sleeps and subsequently how much and well their father sleeps. But they don't really start to shine in this until the last few weeks of pregnancy. Based on experience and what others have told me, women are usually done with being pregnant several weeks before they actually give birth. The awkwardness, sore everything, poor infrequent sleep and constant potty breaks just become too much. Babies on the other hand, at least 75% of them, seem quite content to hang out in utero where it's warm and cozy, for as long as they can. Doesn't matter how many pep talks I give it, with promises of more room to stretch and cousins and friends to play with, and lots and lots of love, still no signs of coming any time soon.
Patience girl, patience.

2 Weeks - We're Ready.

I'm not freaking out as much as I was 7 weeks ago. We are surprisingly ready for this baby to come. In more ways than one...
I'm tired of puffy marshmallow feet, tingly carpal tunnel hands, and awkward position changes when I'm trying to sleep between pee breaks. I (think I) am ready to give birth. But, we also have the nursery, except for a few nails in the trim and some curtain rods, ready. It's exactly what I envisioned and am quite pleased with how our project turned out.
By the way.... this is what the room used to look like. An improvement no?

Baby's Got Talent

I had completely forgotten about this commercial until we saw it earlier this week… I might have to pick up some Maltesers in town today just to see if our baby can do that too. Betcha it can. Yesterday I had it following a pen that I was tapping on my belly; kicking and pushing where the pen had just been tapping. Such a smart baby!

2 months = 9 weeks = excitement & trepidation

Are we really ready to have a baby? If we talk about it in terms of months, we are. There is still lots of time to finish EVERYTHING that we have left to do to get ready for Baby V. Talk about it in weeks… not so much. Talk about it in weeks, and all of a sudden, there isn’t enough time between haying, renovating, harvest, working and bringing the cows home to get things ready. And that’s assuming this kid is just on time and not early. I can’t even think about it being early. I need those prenatal classes just to learn how to breathe through the nesting anxiety let alone contractions.

Regardless of how much time we have left… I’m thankful for many things.
1) Continuing health. I still feel great. Lumbering and awkward most of the time, but I get around energetically.
2) A wonderful, understanding husband. He will make us lunch when I'm too caught up in work things to get started early, make the bed before I get to it, dispose of drowned mice from my rain barrels, and save me from being dive bombed by moths. He'll even rub my dirty, swollen feet and ankles after a long day of doing whatever and push me out of the couch when I just can't get up. He is a good man, an excellent husband, and will make a great dad. Whether he's ready or not.
3) Our garage. It is finally being built. The foundation is ready for the cement (hopefully coming on Friday), the walls and rafters will be up in no time. I will never again have to scrape snow and ice from my SUV before I leave home. Pure bliss.
4) Free furniture. We don’t have time to go to the city together to shop for a car seat, much less nursery furniture. At the rate we're going, we'll pick up the car seat on the way to the hospital. But I’m so thankful there are those around us looking to purge. Lovin' the hand-me-downs.
5) A cool basement office. Though I didn’t get to take much advantage of how much cooler it is than upstairs this summer. We have been plagued with a very cool, wet summer. Hardly a day above 25C. I will gladly suffer a week of +30 for the benefit of everyone else deprived of a proper summer this year.

So Baby, while we can't wait to meet you and shower you with our love... please, please, please wait until October 21st. Any sooner, and you might be sleeping in the car seat box.

While I continue to build up the courage to show bloggerland what my bare belly looks like right now, perhaps this will appease the masses for a short while.

And really, I find it much more interesting to look at than the basketball under my shirt. You can see Baby V's nose, lips, chin, an ear, hand and of course it's large head. The ultrasound picture is just about as interesting to stare at as my belly when Baby V starts ferociously kicking and punching me, making my belly pop, ripple and quiver.

Baby V is laying sideways. Head on my left, feet on my right, back or head resting on my pillow-like bladder. Not a fan of this staying still nonsense, so it's always moving, and distracting me from my work.

I thought you were as good as gone!

I've noticed my belly button has been shrinking the last few days. It was getting so small, that last night, I was certain it was going to soon disappear, or pop out, giving me an outtie.

Nope. This morning, it's as cavernous as ever. Showing no signs of ever disappearing. Truth be told, I'm kind of disappointed. I want to see what the end looks like! Early in my pregnancy, I tried to peer into my belly button, certain I would catch a glimpse of Baby V. (I promise, I'm an intelligent, educated person. Just given to the occasional juvenile fantasy, that's all). I think I may have to soon abandon all hope of ever seeing the end.