Preparation

We started childbirth class this past Monday. In the first session we learned, among other things, some stretching exercises that can help make the third trimester, as well as labor, easier. I'm trying to do them at home almost every day, with Torsten's help.

The crib, bookshelf, and dresser are in the nursery, fully assembled. The bookshelf is full of kid stuff--toys and books. The top drawer of the dresser contains Piglet's freshly washed, 0-3 month wardrobe. The 3-6 month wardrobe is waiting to be washed and dried and then put in the bottom two drawers of the dresser. The glider is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. Then we'll need blinds, a crib mattress, and a variety of small stuff like a laundry hamper and a changing pad. And then the nursery will be ready for the baby.

We still don't have a stroller or a car seat or a few other bigger things we need. But we've done all our research and we know what we want. And within a couple of months we'll have all of it. We even know where we're going to store most of it.

I hit the third trimester, 28 weeks, next week. After that I start going to prenatal appointments every two weeks instead of every four. I already have my next three appointments scheduled. Then there aren't that many more appointments before I get to full term.

January 19, my due date, is less than three months away. That day, there will be a full moon. They say that full moons can cause women to go into labor. I wonder if I will actually give birth on my due date.

If I don't give birth on my due date, I'd rather be late than early. The longer Piglet stays in there developing, the better. And the further his birthday is from Christmas, the better. Yes, I know I'll be incredibly uncomfortable by the end, and please feel free to throw this post in my face when I'm complaining that this baby needs to get the hell out already, but from the vantage point of the still-comfortable second trimester, I'd prefer him to stay where he is for as long as possible.

Baby clothes are so SMALL. It's hard to believe that he will ever be small enough to fit into this stuff. On the other hand, if he were too big to fit into this stuff, I don't see how I'd ever manage to give birth to him, so I guess it works out for the best.

This year we're thinking that instead of sending a holiday card, we'll send a birth announcement that has some sort of belated holiday message. I actually mocked one up on Shutterfly last night and was really pleased with how it came out. I also started putting together a recipient list for it. There are 70 people on it. That seems like a lot, and I'm guessing there are some people who still need to be added. Some of them have moved since the last time I sent them something; I have to hunt down some addresses, which is why I started the list so early.

We still don't have a name, but we have a front-runner, and we've agreed to revisit the issue when I hit 30 weeks. That's less than three weeks away.

The sushi chef at Whole Foods asked me out of the blue the other day if I'm pregnant. When I said yes, he said, "It's a boy?" I don't know if he's psychic, has his own theories about the shape or position of my belly, just has a preference for boy babies, or had a language barrier that prevented him from phrasing the question in a more neutral manner. I'm guessing the last one.

Piglet kicks all the time now. The kicks aren't painful, and they're so frequent that I've gotten used to them and sometimes I don't even notice he's doing it. He also kicks much higher up than he ever did before. He's getting close to my ribs and I suspect once he starts hitting them, the kicks will become much more uncomfortable. At this point Torsten has both felt and seen baby kicks, though we aren't yet at the point of being able to identify specific body parts.

I've checked the same book for first-time dads out of the library three times, at Torsten's request. Each time, I've hit the renewal limit before Torsten has read more than a couple pages. Now, he's actually reading the book. He reads it in bed before we go to sleep and reads passages that he finds particularly interesting or surprising out loud to me.

They're saying it might snow here next week. Snow. Piglet is due in the height of snowy season.

There's a baby coming soon. A real one.