Thirty-Six: Showered With Love

This week was gone as quick as it came.

At the beginning of the week, I was so terribly exhausted that I sort of just floated about the world in a languid fashion. If I made it to class, it was only in body. And I had so much to do. The sincere inability to sleep throughout the week probably was to blame. I am certain that this week was the worst for sleep that I've had thus far. 

Friday, we had our last Centering appointment. It was a bitter-sweet thing. I absolutely love to go to these appointments. I truly can't imagine a more effective and tender way to experience prenatal care. At the same time, I'm ready for our baby. So Friday, after class, I had begun to get ready for our appointment. When I got out of the shower, I felt oddly light-headed and nauseated. I sat down for a moment and then I started to feel some unfamiliar cramp-like pains in my stomach. I haven't experienced such a thing during my pregnancy, and certainly no nausea since the second trimester, so you can imagine I was concerned. I tried to lay down some, but it was no help. I didn't think that I was in labor, but I didn't feel right. After an hour or so, I decided to call and see if I could come for an earlier appointment. After waiting much longer than anticipated, we finally were called back. One of the midwives did the Strep B test (which I needed to have done anyway) and then checked to make sure everything was okay. She said that everything seemed fine and more than likely, it was just something I ate that had upset my stomach. She also said that our baby was dropped down into my pelvis (which is good) and that she had a nice round head, and let's just say she didn't do a sonogram to figure that out...yeah. So then we went to Centering. We had three people come speak to us including a mother who spoke on cloth diapering, a fire rescue squad member on properly installing carseats, and another mother on baby wearing. And then, just like that, we were finished. I'm a little sad, because I'm not sure I'll see all of the girls again, and we've kinda been going through this thing together this whole time. And since our daughter may be delivered by any of the midwives, I'm not sure when we'll see Mary (our instructor/midwife) again and she's been with us every step of the way. I am so grateful for the Centering program and the dedication, love, and support from Mary. We have learned and experienced things that we wouldn't have from typical appointments or books.

So from here on out, we are week-to-week appointments. The final stretch.

And then Saturday. Our baby shower was wonderful. We decided to do a "co-ed" baby shower because a) We don't discriminate b) I think that men should be more involved. Why complain about fathers not being as involved in parenting when we don't include them in baby showers, and all the pregnancy journals are targeted primarily and almost exclusively towards mothers and diaper bags and most of those products are mostly feminine and c) I just figured it'd be more fun to have Jordan there too along with our guy friends. So anyways, it was fun. I always feel awkward at events in which I'm the one being recognized (like our wedding, reception, and so on). I also feel strange receiving a bunch of gifts. I don't know. But really, I truly truly truly appreciate our friends and family who took time and/or effort to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our first child with us. It meant a lot to us and we are grateful. I also am beyond grateful for the stress, time, money, etc. etc. that my mom spent trying to make the day so special for us. I feel loved and blessed.

So now, at the end of week thirty-six, all that's really left to do is have our baby.

Easier said than done right?

Mobile from Baby S's Great Grandma Rose