At this stage I feel a mix of anticipation, anxiety and
entitlement. On the latter, I am being bold in my “I am pregnant, either help
me or get outta my way” attitude. I raced around Capitol Hill on Sunday morning
running errands and acting as if once each errand was complete a round of
applause from spectators was on order. I feel that about most things these days:
If I manage to walk the dog, applause.
If I make dinner, applause.
If I put the crib together, applause. Well, on that last
one, I SHOULD get a round of applause!!
My movement has slowed considerably. I got a wake-up call 2
weeks ago when my back seized up and forbade me from walking for 3 days. I am
carrying a lot more weight these days, although thankfully most of that seems
to be sticking to my belly. I pushed it a bit too far with activities and after
working most of it out with a 90 minute massage I have vowed to SLOW DOWN and EASE UP.
On a lighter note, we had three very lovely and very
different showers in one week. The first was at Jason and Lauren’s new place
and was a lovely mix of our friends. The second was at IFES where my colleagues
gathered – about 40-50 of them – in the Board room and gave me a very generous
shower complete with cake and decorations. The final shower was in NJ hosted by my mom, who did a great job and didn't go too over the top except perhaps in baby clothes department. It was, indeed,
very nice until my friend from high school stole the leftover pizza I was
coveting for the journey back to DC! My godmother, Denise, was there and Hayden
hadn’t met her. It was fun to hear them chat and to see her rib my mom
about their college antics from years ago.
So we are ready. We’ve got all the gear. We took a baby
basics class and are signed up for baby CPR and intro to breastfeeding.
This has been very me-focused blog, which is indicative of
my above points I suppose. I will say that the baby is kicking like crazy and
clearly growing as expected. I’d really like to meet him soon (but not too
soon!)
