Week 38.6: Come out and see the world.
Tomorrow I will be 39 weeks pregnant, according to typical measures of due date calculation. According to my calculations and hunches, the baby is due on Tuesday January 23, which makes me now almost 40 weeks pregnant. But who am I to contradict the ultra sound? We shall see who is right - me or modern medicine.
Since the baby can push the ribs on the right side of my body, my left hip bone and scrunch my lungs and intestines all at the same time, it seems he's big enough to come of there! When is this supposed "lightening" coming that I keep reading about?! (Readers who have not been pregnant: lightening refers to the way it feels when the baby gets in the diving position and no longer compresses the mother's lungs.) I can catch my breath only slightly better than before he descended into position, but that's mostly because I now spend the majority of my time parked like a beached whale.
In some ways it feels like I'm planning my departure from the planet (and new moms may tell me that I am). Each day at work I make sure everything is caught up and in place should I not return the next morning. Each evening that Dave and I have to do whatever we please is savored as if it is our last for many moons. At each meal I think, if I go into labor in the next few hours I might not get to eat until sometime tomorrow! (And I pack in all I can, until my compressed intestines threaten to fight back.)
I have no ankles, my knees and chin are increasingly less visible, I cannot get enough water, the thought of moving for more than an hour or two brings me to tears, I am desperate for our apartment to be spotless and the most common greeting I hear when I walk into a room is, "You're still here?" Come on child, take me to the hospital where we will sleep and be waited on hand and foot for three days (yes, that is my illusion of what labor, delivery and recovery will be, please don't ruin it.)
Since the baby can push the ribs on the right side of my body, my left hip bone and scrunch my lungs and intestines all at the same time, it seems he's big enough to come of there! When is this supposed "lightening" coming that I keep reading about?! (Readers who have not been pregnant: lightening refers to the way it feels when the baby gets in the diving position and no longer compresses the mother's lungs.) I can catch my breath only slightly better than before he descended into position, but that's mostly because I now spend the majority of my time parked like a beached whale.
In some ways it feels like I'm planning my departure from the planet (and new moms may tell me that I am). Each day at work I make sure everything is caught up and in place should I not return the next morning. Each evening that Dave and I have to do whatever we please is savored as if it is our last for many moons. At each meal I think, if I go into labor in the next few hours I might not get to eat until sometime tomorrow! (And I pack in all I can, until my compressed intestines threaten to fight back.)
I have no ankles, my knees and chin are increasingly less visible, I cannot get enough water, the thought of moving for more than an hour or two brings me to tears, I am desperate for our apartment to be spotless and the most common greeting I hear when I walk into a room is, "You're still here?" Come on child, take me to the hospital where we will sleep and be waited on hand and foot for three days (yes, that is my illusion of what labor, delivery and recovery will be, please don't ruin it.)
posted by Jen | 2:45 PM
4 Comments:
Just couldn't resist checking in on you. I love everything you've written. I had my babies all pretty textbook style. The first came in about four hours, the second..we were at the hospital for about 7 minutes and the third we were there for 30 minutes (two hours of labor with 2 and three). My water broke with #2 and I didn't have a clue, haha. No big deal so don't let that worry you, just meant she came quickly which was a good thing. I can only hope and pray for you that your birth goes as good as mine did! I would go through it all again just for the pure joy of it all! Hang in there, it's all worth the wait. Blessings to you!
If you haven't gone into labor by next weekend, do you want to hit the slopes with the boys? hahaha Could you even imagine???
I'm thinking about you everyday. I wish I could have come to visit this weekend, but there were too many birthdays to celebrate (Elizabeth and Gabe).
I love your blog!! I really can't wait for your little son to be born! (Although, I'm sure you're much more anxious than I, my sister!) I love you and I'll see you in a week
-Rebecca
Well written article.
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