Elephant

Apparently I gestate like an elephant. It's March 25 and Baby Sunny's due date is March 29. Lucy was nine days past her due date and only weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces. I am grateful for full-term babies. One of my biggest fears of having babies is pre-term deliveries. So, we are well beyond that and I am feeling ready ready ready to give birth to this guy and rub his soft little belly. He is getting lower and lower, although not causing any pain. Well, except for crotch lightening. Every so often I get a quick, sharp, stabbing pain on the inside of my cervix. I don't remember that feeling with Lucy at all, but she stayed under my left ribs until the very last minute she could. That was very uncomfortable. The mid-wives have been saying all along that he will probably come right near, or even a couple days after, his due date. With Lucy I was patient as could be. But this time I feel like I am in a constant pattern of preparing. Get laundry done, buy groceries, pack lunches, clean apartment. I want daily life things to be settled so the transition is as easy as possible on Lucy. As much as I want to meet our little one, I am mostly concerned about making sure she is cared for while I am weepy, leaky, and recovering physically. I definitely lost my mucus plug yesterday, which is a sign of progress toward labor. But at 39.5 weeks pregnant, everything is a sign of progress toward labor.

The beautiful part about keeping him in this long is that we have been intentional about spending time as a family of three. I have tried to slow down on busy work tasks and just spend time with Lucy doing whatever she wants. I even kept her home from school on Thursday so we could make a week day to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Yesterday we went to an Easter festival and took her to see live children's theater in the city. I was feeling panicked and sentimental about losing my only child, but I suddenly feel ready to add a fourth member to our family. Lucy is more than ready. She is going to teach him everything, including how to pee standing up like her dad. She has been incredibly patient with me and waiting for this baby. The whole concept must be so abstract to her.