Scott and Helen’s Wedding

What was surprising to me about the third trimester was that, instead of being so tired and big and unable to do much, I had my nesting instinct kicked up a whole notch or five, and I got really busy and mobile getting all the rest of the things ready.  Wool cloth diapers, swings, car seat and strollers, the baby’s first two years’ worth of clothing, and anything else I might possibly need I was beginning to acquire even before I had my first shower.  Many people asked me whether I was excited.  Honestly Scott and I were amazed how fast seven months had gone by, and instead of being sick of being pregnant, we were like busy bees trying to finish painting, selling furniture to make room for baby gears, and organizing everything else in life to be in order before the baby’s arrival.  So we haven’t had time to even really sit down and think about meeting the baby and get excited!  We’ve decided on our pediatrician, pondered on whether to give birth at the birth center or the hospital, whether to have the baby circumcised, and all kinds of important parenting directions from sleeping arrangements to disciplining philosophy.  With 8 weeks left before the baby arrives, I finally began to look forward to meeting the baby boy.  It happened at a Happiest Baby On The Block class taught by our doula at Evergreen.  We had one newborn and their parents learned to wrap the baby while we all had dolls whose head is bigger than the real baby.  I couldn’t help but imagine what our baby boy will be like.  Will he be sleeping a lot?  Will he cry a lot?  I try to get to know him now while he’s still in the womb.  From what I can tell he is highly active, but he has never persistently kicked at one spot.  I’d always move and he’d always stop.  When I even gently rub my belly he’d sometimes answer immediately.  He seems gentle, sensitive, not so dense or stubborn as I’d have expected him to be (Scott and I are both very stubborn, in case you hadn’t noticed).  But it’s hard to say.  I’m sure there will be numerous things I can point out in hindsight after he comes out that I should have known about him. But for now, that’s all the understanding I can come up with about his personality.

Before painting.

After painting.

Just got back from my OBGYN regular check-up today, at 33 weeks.  I’ve gained about 20 pounds during this pregnancy.  He is head down, ready to be born.  Everything has been as perfect as perfection can be.  I am not at all anemic, in fact they tell me my iron level is “just beautiful”.  They also tell me I am “not even close to fail the gestational diabetes test”.  Another concern of mine as I’ve known people skinnier than I am had it.  In fact I’ve been expecting at least some sort of complication all along, being pregnant at 36, but I just don’t seem to have any whatsoever.  No carpel tunnel.  Not even major back pain (except for occasional achiness in the back and neck when I’m in a bad position for too long).  I’m still expecting swollen ankles and getting so huge that it’s uncomfortable to sleep at night during my last seven weeks. But so far, my ankles look just like they did pre-pregnancy, and I still sleep soundly at night except for a few bathroom breaks.  ;)  Had a couple of food poisoning incidents, though, just this past week.  But there was no sign of pre-term labor, and my doctor was surprised when I told her that, during pregnancy, Scott had had a fever for 7 days and yet I wasn’t sick at all, so that I was quite surprised how I had more food poisoning symptoms than Scott this time around (my stomach is usually iron-clad).  We’ve painted our place some sunny yellow and baby blue, and I have mostly packed our diaper bag so we’re ready to head to the hospital/birth center when the labor begins.  My nesting instincts are so strong that I’ve been giving away stuff that are just overflowing our place: an extra swing, extra stroller, baby girl clothes and lots of other stuff for freecycle.  I’m still suspecting I probably am having my last spurt of energy before I’ll be bed-ridden and just impatient for the baby to come out.  Still, I’m enjoying my last few weeks of pregnancy, savoring all the moments, and I am glad that I still have a few more weeks to get more prepared for the baby.  Not in any rush at all.  Enjoying the baby kicks as he is more and more active and the entire belly or even my body moves when he kicks.  The funniest time was when I was laughing so hard my entire belly moved up and down and got Scott laughing at me and the comical scene if you were there to see it.  It is very cute.  I am really enjoying being pregnant; and I know the first time is special, and it may be our last time, but I am really enjoying it while it lasts.  =)

Scott is also more and more into the baby now, even though he doesn’t have the hormones to help him get all this “high” that I’m getting.  He would tear up when he talked about realizing that it is really his baby that is coming, and what he might be like.  He gets excited whenever the baby kicks so hard the belly contorts and moves like a tidal wave.  He is amused by other babies and finds them cute and adorable just like I would be.  He works hard doing things he probably wouldn’t have cared so much simply because he loves me and the baby.  I think Scott has grown throughout this pregnancy.  Our anniversary is coming up in 10 days and so much seems to have happened.  Life continues to be wonderful, and Scott and I are wonderfully close these days.  We know that life will definitely change when the baby gets here.  But as no one is truly “prepared” to be parents until they are, we are as ready as we can be.  I am really being honest in saying that I’ve enjoyed and continue to enjoy this pregnancy, and this marriage to Scott.  We will also try to enjoy each stage of raising our baby boy, as in Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: ²A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; ³A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up…

There IS such thing as a baby brain, though. The scientific explanation is all the hormones are doing the trick.  Personally I have experienced plenty of examples: going to the doc appointment without either my wallet nor my cellphone, at the same time having an empty gas tank that I’d forgotten to fuel before the trip, and then completely stranded at the doc’s office since I don’t have enough gas to even make the 10 minute trip home.  A kind doctors lend me $20 so I can go to the closest gas station to solve the dilemma.  Not to mention writing checks at the post office when I have plenty of cash (they only accept cash and checks, no credit cards), forgetting where I’d just put something, and while looking for it forgetting other things I just had in my hand.  Things like that need to be documented even to be remembered.  Otherwise I’d have completely no recollection of what just happened last week.  For example, in listening to Scott retelling our babymoon and all the details he’s learned from our European tours, I marveled how I’d gone there twice, on the same cruise!  It seemed like I’d never heard of these facts and such information before!  It was as if I hadn’t gone on the trip.  I have no recollection of any of it, and found what Scott was saying fascinating.  ;)  Even my OBGYN confirms, yes, I do have baby brain, and without Scott there to hear the proper steps to prepare for labor etc, I probably wouldn’t remember a thing.  So please bear with me if I seem to forget my brain these days.  It should go away eventually but I hear it gets worse when sleep deprivation kicks in after the baby arrives.  ;)  So be warned.

Did I ever mention all kinds of symptoms that Scott has beyond just sympathy weight?  He has sometimes been more forgetful and fuzzy in memory than I, having baby brain it seems.  He got more nauseous than I was and had to lie down on the bed right when we got to Whistler, when my morning sickness was rampant, and I had to carry all the luggage from the car since he was completely incapacitated—although probably by the altitude change, not so much the pregnancy.  ;)  He has gotten more sick, exhausted, and emotional during the last  months than I have been.  Cravings for cookies, sweets, ice cream and chocolate were more typical of him than of me during my entire pregnancy – he speedily finished the entire box of Harry and David chocolate truffles that his mom gave me after I gave him my permission in the first trimester, since I really had no desire whatsoever for anything sweet or chocolate.  Sometimes I make fun of him being pregnant; actually I make fun of him all the time about that. We’ve already prepared ourselves and talked about how he will be crying and getting emotional and needing to get himself together during my labor before he can take care of me again.  I’m glad we’re having a doula.  =)  I am glad to have Scott, who is so very sweet, sensitive, caring, gentle, kind, and just unbelievably understanding during the entire pregnancy.  Very easy to make fun of, of course.  Thus adorable.  hehe…  I am sure he will burst into tears often after the baby gets here, and the reality really sets in for him.  For men, oftentimes they really get into the whole baby thing after the baby’s arrival.  It is just very sweet to see Scott’s reaction and attachment to our baby boy.  We can’t wait to share him with you also, and announce his name upon his arrival – it will be an unusual but easy name to remember, spell, and pronounce.  I am curious how you guys will all react when you find out.