Gestating

Doesn’t that sound like it should be something gross like festering or infectious? Maybe that isn’t even a correct form of the word, but no, it’s what babies do before they are born. It’s a process so miraculous and beautiful, or is it? Our little boy has been gestating now for 36 ½ weeks--it feels like fifty. I sympathize with the elephant who gestates for almost two years and then gives birth to a baby that weighs anywhere between 220 and 330 pounds!! Too bad we aren’t more like dogs (whose gestation is 9 weeks) or rabbits (just over a month!) Wouldn’t it be so much easier to have babies that way? Maybe that is why dogs and rabbits procreate so much more than humans—not that I would want that many offspring!

This pregnancy seemed to be so much better than my first—in the beginning. I wasn’t nearly as sick, and since I was a lot busier the time went faster. Until I hit 30 weeks. I don’t know what changed, but at 30 weeks the clock stopped. The last seven weeks have felt like an eternity and it seems the next three will be just as long. Maybe it’s because I’m so much bigger this time, or that it is undeniably summer, or that this guy kicks me like he thinks he is a Brazilian soccer player.

I told Chad I feel like a walking contradiction. I want this baby to be born so I can have my body and he can have his. But then I remember the sleep deprivation, the painful nursing, the endless diapers and feedings, and I think do I really want that to start just yet? Especially since Lydia is still so young and dependent on me? But then I can’t wait to see what he looks like and hold his tiny, brand-new body. I want the next three weeks to go quickly, but I want to savor the time I have left for it to be just Lydia and me—just the two of us. So, you see what I mean?

Here I am just a few weeks ago at 35 weeks pregnant:



Here is me the week I delivered Lydia--that's 40 weeks for those of you who need that little help:


Althought the angle isn't quite the same, no one can say that I’m not bigger with this baby. My doctor has the measurements to prove it!

So while I wait for this baby and try to live until then without wishing away my time, here are a few best and worst of pregnancies in my opinion:

Best things about being pregnant:
1. You don’t have to fast!
2. No periods
3. You can quit worrying about your waistline. So you look fat, at least you can blame it on being pregnant!
4. You can sweetly ask your husband to do stuff you normally do like clean the bathtub!
5. You are TOTALLY justified in taking a nap everyday!
6. Feeling the baby move, seeing ultrasounds and hearing the heartbeat. You realize you really are creating life!

Worst things about being pregnant:
1. Morning sickness (luckily that goes away).
2. Trying to roll over in bed at night because it requires an 80-point turn and must be done every 30 minutes to relieve sore sides!
3. Back aches, leg cramps, round ligament pain that feels like someone just stabbed you, etc.
4. Immobility in general. Try getting off the floor, out of bed, out of a low car, out of a low chair, through a tight space, etc. It ain’t the same (and yes, I just used the word "ain't")!
5. The absolute exhaustion! It’s not the “Oh, I’m tired” that most people speak of on a daily basis; it is the woofy I-feel-like-I’ve-been-hit-by-a-train kinda tired that never seems to go away not matter how good you sleep or how long you nap.
6. When feeling the baby move turns into getting the junk kicked out of you from the inside!
7. The lack-luster wardrobe. Especially when the maternity clothes you wore with your first pregnancy don't quite cover your belly by the end of the second.

I’m sure I could go on, but I’ll stop there. Hopefully we’ll have a post a beautiful baby boy no longer than three weeks away!