Week 35: Are We There Yet?
I’m trying to be patient. I really am. And truthfully, we need every second of the coming weeks to get the bedrooms arranged, set up the crib, wash tiny baby clothes, and, oh, by the way, pick a name for this kid. But I’m starting to get impatient. OK, I’ve been impatient for a few weeks, and now I’m probably bordering on obnoxiously whiny some days. I’m ready to be done.
Of course, I don’t really mean that I want the baby to be born right now. I know how critical these last few weeks are for lung development and everything. I’d certainly never sacrifice the baby’s well-being because of my own discomfort. But if someone offered me the option to time-warp ahead a few weeks and just skip the last few weeks of Braxton-Hicks contractions that increase in frequency and intensity by the day, I probably wouldn’t put up much of a fight.
This week, I had a couple good days, a couple OK days, and one really bad one, when I spent most of the day on the couch. Each time I thought I could get up and walk around (or when I had to out of necessity to make lunch, help Max with the potty, or take care of business myself) I’d get hit with another strong contraction. They’re not consistent or timeable, and they’re obviously not the kind that make the baby come out, but they can certainly put a damper on the day’s plans.
As rotten as my contraction-filled day was, though, I really enjoyed my good days. We did the fall family outing thing and picked apples this weekend, then I came home and got all domestic making a bushel of them into applesauce. Mmmmm. There’s nothing like homemade applesauce, and I made enough to freeze for most of the rest of the year. I’m hoping to make a few more apple treats with our harvest, including my favorite, apple dumplings, and then I’m hoping to have enough self-control that I don’t send my blood sugar all crazy.
We also enjoyed a very rare (like once-a-year) adults-only night out with our group of friends. We got all dressed up and went to a trendy restaurant downtown, then realized how incredibly un-trendy it was to have 5 pm reservations and still be hungry when we left because the portions were so trendy, fancy, delicious, and small (especially for the five husbands and three pregnant ladies!). So we went back to our friends’ house and enjoyed plenty of dessert and our only un-interrupted conversation of the year, most of which revolved around the ten kids in the group who were conveniently away with sitters. By Christmas, there will be 13 kids, and the parents will be outnumbered. Should make for an interesting New Year’s Eve party!
On one of my “just OK” days, I got hit with a sudden burst of nesting energy. I moved the train table out of Gracie’s room and back into the dining room, not my favorite place on earth for it, but a temporary resting place until the basement playroom gets finished. Of course, moving the train table meant that I also had to move the china cabinet from one side of the dining room to the other. At least, that’s how my logical, crazy-pregnant-lady brain works.
So, I moved the china cabinet, then the train table, then attempted to rebuild the Island of Sodor for the boys. So much for gender equality and women’s lib; the look of disgust on the boys’ faces as I attempted to design and build a two-tiered train track was incredible. It was like, “Why is this so hard for you, and why, after all this effort, is it still so much worse than anything Daddy’s ever built?” Whatever. My talents lie in other areas.
With the train table out of the way, there is now space in Gracie’s room for a crib. We’ll still have to rearrange some other furniture, but step one is done. And hopefully in the next week or two, we’ll be taking more steps toward being ready for Baby #4, just in case he decides to give me a little time off for good behavior. I’ll keep making the most of my good days and trying to rest on the bad ones, and maybe before #4 gets old enough for the train table, I’ll get some lessons on how to build a decent track. I don’t know if I can take that kind of scorn from three pairs of eyes!
