Everyone probably thought the baby would have arrived by now, but here I am past 39 weeks and no baby yet. One of the things that strikes me at this point is how easily I’ve gotten used to the changes in my life. You get used to waking up several times each night to pee, to not always being able to get back to sleep, to swollen hands and feet, and most of all, to uncertainty. I have no idea what kind of child I’m going to have, except that medical science has led me to believe it’s a boy. Everything from size to hair color to mental capacity is a complete mystery to us. He’s going to be the ultimate surprise gift.
His ETA is also still totally up in the air, though I thought for a while last weekend that he was finally going to join us. Around 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning, I was awakened by a strong contraction. I got up, drank some water, and went back to bed, where I drifted in and out of sleep between contractions for several hours. They seemed to be coming regularly, but eventually they began to fade away, and by 9:30 I knew the baby was not on his way quite yet, which was just as well, really. I had plans for 11:00 to see my friend K—, who was up from D.C.
K— and I had a nice lunch, though the servers at the restaurant seemed fascinated by my pregnancy. One of them took one look at my belly and said, “Whoa! Can’t hide that!” Perhaps they were worried I’d pop while eating. K— thinks that’s crazy, but my mom says that once she got past 8 months, she definitely got the feeling that people worried she’d give birth in front of them. I don’t know if people really do think like that, or if I just think they do because of my own concerns about the impending event. I try to live a normal life, leaving the house when I have errands to run or fun to pursue, but it does make me nervous sometimes.
Even though she’d already given us gifts for the baby shower, K— brought another bag of goodies for the baby. I had a lot of fun opening up all the little tissue-wrapped packets of clothes. The clothing designs were more modern, less cutesy, with images of things like rabid pillows and klutzy monument-destroying monsters. Faithful Reader and I both got a kick out of them. Then, after giving us so many nice things, she apologized for the extra laundry. She needn’t worry. I’ve already accepted that laundry will be a daily chore for a while.
I was sad to see K— go so soon, but she had to drive up to Vermont that evening. After she left, I mentally gave the baby permission to arrive if he was ready, but he declined the invite. I had contractions on and off all weekend, but now I’m pretty much back to where I was before, just more fatigued and unwieldy. I slept late today, which left me feeling groggy, but I’m glad for the extra hours of shut-eye. I need to take them where I can get them.
We have plans for every day this week. I wonder if Baby will let us do them all. I’ll keep you posted.