The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

Hey folks!  I just wanted to hop onto the blog to provide a quick update on Little Brother.  Well, we are in the homestretch now.  I am just over 39 weeks -- just 6 days until the big due date on May 2nd.  Here is an updated belly pic.   As you can perhaps see, Little Brother has definitely dropped and is now sitting squarely in my pelvis.  So, apart from being a bit uncomfortable, this new development is also creating a bit of a beer belly effect which is more obvious when I lift up my shirt.  My belly just sort of hangs over my pants now whereas it used to sit atop my waistband in a more perky sort of fashion.  Ah well.  Just a little bit longer, right?

Or maybe a lot longer...who knows?  My midwife gave me a good dose of false hope last week when she reported that Little Brother is at zero station (meaning all the way engaged in my pelvis).  She said that if she was a bettin' woman, she would guess that I would deliver early.  "I just can't see how you can hold him in much longer" is actually exactly what she said.  Music to my ears, of course!  I promptly packed my hospital bag, and Conor promptly stopped biking to work.

Well, nearly 2 weeks have passed, and there has been no action.  Nada.  Sigh.

I know I shouldn't complain.  This pregnancy has been very easy just like the one I had with Fionny.  I still feel good for the most part.  A little tired, sure, and I definitely feel that my belly is getting in my way at times -- but nothing too terrible.  So really, who cares if I have to wait a little bit longer?  I dunno, I think the impatience on my part right now is really just sheer excitement to meet Little Brother.  I just can't wait to hold him in my arms and introduce him to his family, especially his Big Brother, Fionny.   Can you blame me?

Fionny, for his part, also seems very excited to meet Little Brother.  He talks about him CONSTANTLY now.  He especially likes to talk about how he is going to teach him all sorts of things: how to walk, how to pee-pee and pooh-pooh, how to watch TV, and how to eat pizza and drink milk.  In that order.  Haha!  It is truly adorable.

Impatience aside, I am trying to live in the moment and appreciate these last days as a mom of just one rascally little boy.  Believe me, I know that life is about to get a whole lot more hectic and difficult.  As a result, I am trying to breathe in the quiet (well, as quiet as it gets in the presence of Fionny!), special moments with my boy while it's just the two of us during the week.

For example, today for Adventure Friday we went to the National Arboretum to check out the gorgeous azaleas which are in spectacular bloom right now.  It was so much fun walking the grounds with Fionny, chatting with him and just enjoying our time together.  I especially enjoyed watching Fionny fill up his front pocket with rocks and then try to convince me that all of them needed to go home with us.  Haha.

Now obviously we will continue to have fun adventures together.  But I know that they are about to be forever altered.  Whether Little Brother is strapped to my chest or walking along beside us at our future outings, our time together will be different.  And the dynamic of our family will be completely changed.  We are so excited for this next chapter, obviously, but it's bittersweet too.  Our little family of three is about to be no more.  Sniff, sniff.

Okay, enough of the sentimentality for now.  A Skinny Cow ice cream bar is calling my name, so I will sign off here.  I'll report back sometime next week or even before if Little Brother appears to be making his grand appearance a bit early. As it stands right now, though, I am wondering if yet another induction is in my future.  Ugh.  Send labor thoughts our way, people.  We need it!  Until next time...