Just got some good news-- brother-in-law's 2-day seminar has been postponed for 2 weeks. So Baby can be born on Granddad's birthday, if that's what s/he wants.
Whew!! So relieved!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Yes, I'm still pregnant.
And no, the little jokes and comments aren't wearing thin, not at all. Ha, ha, ha, see, I'm laughing!
Yes, I know baby will come when baby is good and ready. It would be nice if baby would work with mama here and get him/herself born either by Wednesday midnight or sometime after Friday 6pm (yes, we have childcare worries. It's times like these that grandparents are sorely, sorely missed-- not that they aren't sorely missed at other times, too, but you know what I mean.) And I just don't think I can go into labor and give birth while worrying about who is watching Geo and who will pick him up from school. And I don't *want* to give birth alone, should C have to be taking care of Geo. C and I have a pact. His job is to stay with the baby whatever happens. This is really, really important to me. I need to know someone will be with the baby, just in case.
I shouldn't complain, we're blessed with so much-- kind friends who are willing to help us out, a car (!!) to get to the hospital, a brother-in-law who can pitch in (except on Thursday and Friday!!)... But giving birth is one of the scariest, loneliest things in the world. No one else can do it for you. Every woman faces the possibility of her mortality, and worse, the mortality of her child when she faces childbirth. It's huge. Overwhelming. Terrifying. Can you blame me for wanting C nearby to hold my hand, and hold the baby, if I can't?
Pity party over. I've still got to clean and hit the grocery store this morning before my 3 hours of freedom are up.
Yes, I know baby will come when baby is good and ready. It would be nice if baby would work with mama here and get him/herself born either by Wednesday midnight or sometime after Friday 6pm (yes, we have childcare worries. It's times like these that grandparents are sorely, sorely missed-- not that they aren't sorely missed at other times, too, but you know what I mean.) And I just don't think I can go into labor and give birth while worrying about who is watching Geo and who will pick him up from school. And I don't *want* to give birth alone, should C have to be taking care of Geo. C and I have a pact. His job is to stay with the baby whatever happens. This is really, really important to me. I need to know someone will be with the baby, just in case.
I shouldn't complain, we're blessed with so much-- kind friends who are willing to help us out, a car (!!) to get to the hospital, a brother-in-law who can pitch in (except on Thursday and Friday!!)... But giving birth is one of the scariest, loneliest things in the world. No one else can do it for you. Every woman faces the possibility of her mortality, and worse, the mortality of her child when she faces childbirth. It's huge. Overwhelming. Terrifying. Can you blame me for wanting C nearby to hold my hand, and hold the baby, if I can't?
Pity party over. I've still got to clean and hit the grocery store this morning before my 3 hours of freedom are up.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Another week, or almost, has gone by. It's been, as usual, busy in a quiet way. Our big news is that we bought a car (yippeeee!!) and that took a fair amount of time and energy.
I'm so pleased and grateful we were able to get this car. It was being sold via the anglophone parenting group I'm a member of-- its former owners left for Australia (today, actually) and they really wanted to get rid of it, which meant we got an awesome deal on a nice-sized family car. Now I'm not stressing out about how I'll get to the birth hospital when the time comes. I was having anxiety about waiting for a taxi, having the taxi refuse us, my water breaking in the taxi, laboring in a taxi... See the trend? What a relief to be independent of both taxis and public transportation when it comes time to leave for the hospital.
We're looking forward to a short visit from P & C this weekend, courtesy of the European UU annual meeting (C presides, and P accompanies).
Otherwise, school is still going well for Geo. When I dropped him off this morning, his teacher told me how cheerful and joyful and open he is. She said other teachers have picked up on it, and what a pleasure it is to have a child like that in the class. Of course, this made me cheerful and joyful, too-- I think my little guy is a treasure-- it's nice that other people see those qualities in him.
On the way home from school, I got to hear about this intense, complicated game Geo played during recess today. Something about a boat sailing through water with lots of sticks, and pirates (in the shape of older boys). He's really at that age where he concocts elaborate stories around his play, and it's interesting to see what he comes up with.
So, other than being very, very tired that's about all that's new here. Insomnia is a terrible thing-- I have tons of energy at midnight, or at 5 am, but can't really do anything useful. And during the rest of the day I'm so wiped out from lack of sleep that I can't seem to accomplish much either. Ah, well, it won't last forever, I'll be 40 weeks pregnant as of Saturday. Baby, you can come any time now!
I'm so pleased and grateful we were able to get this car. It was being sold via the anglophone parenting group I'm a member of-- its former owners left for Australia (today, actually) and they really wanted to get rid of it, which meant we got an awesome deal on a nice-sized family car. Now I'm not stressing out about how I'll get to the birth hospital when the time comes. I was having anxiety about waiting for a taxi, having the taxi refuse us, my water breaking in the taxi, laboring in a taxi... See the trend? What a relief to be independent of both taxis and public transportation when it comes time to leave for the hospital.
We're looking forward to a short visit from P & C this weekend, courtesy of the European UU annual meeting (C presides, and P accompanies).
Otherwise, school is still going well for Geo. When I dropped him off this morning, his teacher told me how cheerful and joyful and open he is. She said other teachers have picked up on it, and what a pleasure it is to have a child like that in the class. Of course, this made me cheerful and joyful, too-- I think my little guy is a treasure-- it's nice that other people see those qualities in him.
On the way home from school, I got to hear about this intense, complicated game Geo played during recess today. Something about a boat sailing through water with lots of sticks, and pirates (in the shape of older boys). He's really at that age where he concocts elaborate stories around his play, and it's interesting to see what he comes up with.
So, other than being very, very tired that's about all that's new here. Insomnia is a terrible thing-- I have tons of energy at midnight, or at 5 am, but can't really do anything useful. And during the rest of the day I'm so wiped out from lack of sleep that I can't seem to accomplish much either. Ah, well, it won't last forever, I'll be 40 weeks pregnant as of Saturday. Baby, you can come any time now!
Friday, January 15, 2010
What's new around here?
Well, the baby turned head-down, so I guess the acupuncture worked (hooray!!). C is fully back at work and we miss him a lot. Geo is happy at school (not sure if I mentioned this already, but it's really kind of a miracle!). Every day he comes out of the classroom and tells me "I had so much fun at school today, mama!". Music to my ears.
I'm finishing up the work on the magazine's spring issue (deadline is today) so baby can come any time now. I'll be 39 weeks along tomorrow.
Other than that, I just wanted to post something about the incredible bond between parents and children... because really, it just blows my mind some days.
First, a sweet story. Yesterday afternoon Geo's buddy and his buddy's mom were over for a playdate/ coffee klatch. Geo and friend were fully engaged in Geo's marble run, when Geo ran over to me, gave me a kiss and said "I love you, mom." Then he turned to my friend and told her, "You know, M, I really love my mom." When he went back to join his friend, he told him, "I love my mom SO MUCH." It made me a little teary-- I have a feeling there won't be many more playdates where one topic of conversation is how much he loves his mom!!
But about the bond. When Geo was a tiny newborn, and an older baby, and a toddler-- I would frequently awake out of a deep sleep for no clear reason. I would try to lie quietly and fall back asleep, wondering how on earth someone so deeply sleep-deprived could possibly be wide awake for no reason. Then, a minute or two into my wakefulness, Geo would wake up and need to nurse or get his diaper changed, or whatever. It was this crazy mental connection we shared.
What's cool and amazing to me is that we *still* share it. It still happens occasionally that I'll wake up for no real reason, and within a minute or two I'll hear a little voice in the next room calling for me.
Then there are the moments, like the one yesterday, when I realized Geo had taken a red marker to our blue couch and drawn on it, that I think this mental connection thing should really work during the day, too. Red + blue = really ugly. It would've been nice to anticipate that little shenanigan!
Well, the baby turned head-down, so I guess the acupuncture worked (hooray!!). C is fully back at work and we miss him a lot. Geo is happy at school (not sure if I mentioned this already, but it's really kind of a miracle!). Every day he comes out of the classroom and tells me "I had so much fun at school today, mama!". Music to my ears.
I'm finishing up the work on the magazine's spring issue (deadline is today) so baby can come any time now. I'll be 39 weeks along tomorrow.
Other than that, I just wanted to post something about the incredible bond between parents and children... because really, it just blows my mind some days.
First, a sweet story. Yesterday afternoon Geo's buddy and his buddy's mom were over for a playdate/ coffee klatch. Geo and friend were fully engaged in Geo's marble run, when Geo ran over to me, gave me a kiss and said "I love you, mom." Then he turned to my friend and told her, "You know, M, I really love my mom." When he went back to join his friend, he told him, "I love my mom SO MUCH." It made me a little teary-- I have a feeling there won't be many more playdates where one topic of conversation is how much he loves his mom!!
But about the bond. When Geo was a tiny newborn, and an older baby, and a toddler-- I would frequently awake out of a deep sleep for no clear reason. I would try to lie quietly and fall back asleep, wondering how on earth someone so deeply sleep-deprived could possibly be wide awake for no reason. Then, a minute or two into my wakefulness, Geo would wake up and need to nurse or get his diaper changed, or whatever. It was this crazy mental connection we shared.
What's cool and amazing to me is that we *still* share it. It still happens occasionally that I'll wake up for no real reason, and within a minute or two I'll hear a little voice in the next room calling for me.
Then there are the moments, like the one yesterday, when I realized Geo had taken a red marker to our blue couch and drawn on it, that I think this mental connection thing should really work during the day, too. Red + blue = really ugly. It would've been nice to anticipate that little shenanigan!
Monday, January 11, 2010
It's about time...
Ok, I know it's been more than two weeks since I posted, and I apologize for that.
The holidays were really wonderful-- peaceful, joyful, full of friends, family, good food, nice gifts-- it was lovely. C's recovery from knee surgery seems to be going well also. He's back to work today after a three-week sick leave. And it was soooooo nice to have him home for all that time! Geo and I really enjoyed it, and Geo was sad last night when we told him Baba had to go back to work.
Post-holidays, things have been a little more stressful. This baby is breech/transverse and is making his/her mama nervous! I even had an acupuncture session last week to try to encourage him/her to turn. No luck so far, but the acupuncture was a very interesting experience. It included having my belly warmed with burning (and very, shall we say pungent) smelling herbs. The ride home on the totally packed RER was interesting, as people smelled me and assumed that at 8.5 months pregnant I'd been busy smoking a lot of.... something.
And Geo, who's been doing great back at school, has started having really horrible sleep issues at night. I think we're working our way to the end of that, but it's been a rough couple of weeks sleep-wise, and we're all feeling a bit tired. Actually, that's understating it. We're feeling desperate for sleep. Just in time to welcome a newborn, too!
Now that C is back at work and Geo is back at school I have a bit of time to concentrate on welcoming this new baby and preparing for the arrival. My to-do list is appallingly long, but I've decided to jettison all but the most important things on it and concentrate on relaxing and feeling peaceful. I'm due in about 3 weeks, so baby could come at any time, and I want to feel joyous and excited, not tense and stressed out. To help in this goal I plan to avoid listening to any political podcasts as all the political news from the US is raising my blood pressure!
The three of us hope everyone is well. Now that I've gotten around to posting, I'll hopefully manage to get some pictures up from Christmas vacation before too long.
Oh, one last funny Geo-ism. Recently, when he's upset or disappointed by something, he's taken to frowning ferociously and saying, "That's bitter!". I'm not quite sure what he thinks it means, but it reminds me of the line from The Princess Bride:
The Sicilian: "Inconceivable!"
The giant: "I don't think that word means what you think it means."
The holidays were really wonderful-- peaceful, joyful, full of friends, family, good food, nice gifts-- it was lovely. C's recovery from knee surgery seems to be going well also. He's back to work today after a three-week sick leave. And it was soooooo nice to have him home for all that time! Geo and I really enjoyed it, and Geo was sad last night when we told him Baba had to go back to work.
Post-holidays, things have been a little more stressful. This baby is breech/transverse and is making his/her mama nervous! I even had an acupuncture session last week to try to encourage him/her to turn. No luck so far, but the acupuncture was a very interesting experience. It included having my belly warmed with burning (and very, shall we say pungent) smelling herbs. The ride home on the totally packed RER was interesting, as people smelled me and assumed that at 8.5 months pregnant I'd been busy smoking a lot of.... something.
And Geo, who's been doing great back at school, has started having really horrible sleep issues at night. I think we're working our way to the end of that, but it's been a rough couple of weeks sleep-wise, and we're all feeling a bit tired. Actually, that's understating it. We're feeling desperate for sleep. Just in time to welcome a newborn, too!
Now that C is back at work and Geo is back at school I have a bit of time to concentrate on welcoming this new baby and preparing for the arrival. My to-do list is appallingly long, but I've decided to jettison all but the most important things on it and concentrate on relaxing and feeling peaceful. I'm due in about 3 weeks, so baby could come at any time, and I want to feel joyous and excited, not tense and stressed out. To help in this goal I plan to avoid listening to any political podcasts as all the political news from the US is raising my blood pressure!
The three of us hope everyone is well. Now that I've gotten around to posting, I'll hopefully manage to get some pictures up from Christmas vacation before too long.
Oh, one last funny Geo-ism. Recently, when he's upset or disappointed by something, he's taken to frowning ferociously and saying, "That's bitter!". I'm not quite sure what he thinks it means, but it reminds me of the line from The Princess Bride:
The Sicilian: "Inconceivable!"
The giant: "I don't think that word means what you think it means."
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