Signs. Not.

I've been tired and cranky for two days in a row, and the midwives say that's a good sign: the more fed up the better. I dunno. It's starting to look like I'll be able to make another trip to the gym this week. Which, in a strange inversion of my usual attitude, I was actually hoping to avoid.

*TMI* I ate a dozen and a half prunes (or so) this morning in an attempt at a "castor oil lite" remedy... Nothing yet, and Constance came home and ate the rest of the prunes for an after-school snack, so I can't repeat the procedure.

Otherwise, good times on the home front. The midwives at bookclub on Friday said it was okay to drink some beer, and offered stretch 'n' sweeps all round. Awesome. I've been getting some reading done, some cleaning, and lots and lots of napping.

My chiropractor said she wanted to be like me when she's 9 months pregnant... (Referring to my perceived spryness, I assume.) Unfortunately, my ability to move around on the chiro table is absolutely NOT indicative of my (lack of) ability to roll over under covers in bed at night. I'm at the point where I pretty much have to heave myself out of the bed, turn around, and re-position myself back in there, lying on my other side. Awkward at best, and requiring me to rouse myself to a state of full awakeness every 2.5 hours.

I'm not complaining though. I'm just ready. (I'll save the complaining in case I need it a week from now, if I'm still waiting then.)

Also, Ben has just finished convincing us that a family dinner at Ste. Hubert is a good idea. So I'm off the hook for cooking dinner tonight. I'll save the planned spicy curry for tomorrow, when -- if I'm still available to make dinner -- I'll be even more ready.

Imagine (an analogy)

You are six years old. It's December, and Christmas Eve is just around the corner. You know this because it's cold out -- maybe even snowy -- and you and you family have decorated the Christmas tree. Lots of pretty cookies have been baked in the kitchen, but you're only allowed to have every so often, because "we're saving them for the big day". You're so excited, because you are convinced this is going to be the best Christmas ever, and Santa is going to bring you everything on your list. Or at least the good stuff. You can hardly contain your enthusiasm.

But you have one problem. You don't know when Santa is coming, exactly. That's right, Mom forgot to get an Advent calendar, and nobody will tell you the date. Christmas Eve could be tonight! :-) Or it could be next week. :-(

What's a kid to do?

Historical fiction

I'm reading The Book of Negroes right now, and I have to say it's one of the better reads I've enjoyed in quite a while. It may be that I've been subjecting myself to really crappy reads lately (a string of books I haven't been able to finish), and so this is wonderful in comparison, but still. Good book. Not mind-blowing in style or theme, not necessarily a book to make you pause and consider the meaning of life, love or other philosophical issues (but it might -- slavery and war and all), it's just simply a good read. Simple, solid writing style, really well-paced*, and a well-balanced, likable main character -- sympathetic, slightly omniscient, but not too complex. But I would say historical fiction at its best.

* I don't know if I really understood what "well-paced" meant until I thought about it in the context of this book. It's related to not being able to put it down. The story moves along just-so: the narration never lingers too long on a particular event -- the next plot-point is always beginning to unfold just when you're ready for it. I suppose this is obvious, but this book is making me appreciate it.

While I'm on the recommendations, can I mention Lululemon underwear? Every time I put them on I think "I hope other people know about the wonder of the Lulu gitch." They are miraculously comfy -- all of the three (um, thong only) styles I've tried so far. (For full coverage, two words: Jockey bamboo.)

Only mildly obsessed

Monday - Spring coat/shoe shopping with kidlets (Done, with great success!)
Tuesday - Haircut and highlights
Wednesday - Midwife appointment and dinner out
Thursday - Pedicure with Mom
Friday - Sigh. Do I get to have a baby yet? If not, book club.
Saturday - Any suggestions? We're thinking cabane à sucre/sugar shack, if we can find one...

Surely by then I'll get to have a baby, right?

(If I could just know when, even if it's a good while yet, I'd be ok. It's the suspense that's killing me!)

The solution is so obvious

At supper last night, Ben provided us with the solution for getting the baby to finally arrive:

"Hevver, I think it's time. What you need to do is take your pants off, so the baby can come."

Because, obviously, that's what's holding things up.

He proceeded to get up from the table to demonstrate how this would work (though, surprisingly, without removing his own pants), along with a detailed explanation of how it just won't happen with pants in place. We assured him that there would be plenty of warning that would allow time for me to remove my pants, so I wouldn't end up with a baby sliding down my pantleg.

Meanwhile, McPie and I could hardly refrain from laughing our pants off...

Okay, fine, I give up.

I just got up from a nap. I've napped each day for the past four days. I will no doubt do so again tomorrow. And I really could've used one on Saturday, but couldn't manage to squeeze one in between the baby shower and wine club.

Doesn't seem to matter whether I've gone to the gym (Monday), walked to the grocery store (yesterday), or simply lounged around all morning (Sunday), at a certain moment of the day -- usually after lunch, though today's morning nap was a pre-emptive strike on my part -- the energy just ebbs away... Happily, at most other times of the day, I'm awake, alive, and chipper as hell. And still feeling hale and hearty.

Just like it was hard to scale back my workouts, I'm having a hard time making myself stop and rest. But I'm getting better at it. And I guess at this point, I don't really have much else to do. I've been taking the advice of some experienced friends and enjoying this time to relax, read, and rest. And I feel like I'm doing a mothering task: giving up to my developing offspring whatever extra energy that I can spare. Though this is slightly selfish: I figure the more energy he sucks from me, the faster he'll grow, and the sooner he'll come!

That said, I am off to the gym AND the grocery store... Because exercise is both an energy-giver AND a labour induction strategy. :-)

Nesting

I've gotten to the point now where I feel the need to do every little thing that's on the list NOW, regardless of whether it seems like it could possibly wait. For a natural procrastinator, this is a paradigm shift, but it feels good.

My midwife came over on Tuesday night to check out our space to ensure we'd have everything all set up properly for the birth. I'd addressed many items on the checklist she's previously given me, and we fine-tuned the necessary set-up steps. (I also had my check-up -- everything is fine.) As soon as she left, I got down to business. Although it's likely I'll last another couple of weeks, I might as well get everything ready NOW. Just in case, and also, to keep busy to help with the waiting!

So, I cleared all the surfaces in our bedroom and bathroom, double-checked the fit of the plastic sheets, prepped the garbage bings, made a checklist of things that need to be done when labour starts (for me, McPie, and Mom to refer to at the time), created my phone number lists, called to nag about the dresser for the baby's room (still hasn't arrived!!)... etc.

I finally picked up my diapers and am in the process of boiling and washing them. I've dug out all the newborn sized baby clothes/blankets to run through the wash. (I was going to wait for the dresser, but see "nesting", above.) I've got nursing bras. The bathrooms are clean. I've laid in a few frozen food items.

And McPie and I went to a movie. (The Watchmen. I think it was pretty good. I didn't really get it, and I had to close my eyes for some of the gore, but it was more "filmy" than most comic book movies.)

Luckily, I have plenty of events coming up in the next couple of weeks to keep me distracted -- baby shower, wine club, birthday party, arrival of Mom, haircut/highlights appointment... I'll be hoping for a longer bake-time, just to fit everything in.

Of course, if I get everything completely ready, it's pretty much a guarantee that I'll go overdue or something. Nothing ensures a surprise early arrival than not being ready for it!

Update: In a fortuitous turn of events, the dresser for the nursery came today! All the small sized baby clothes are now put away, and I have a change table!

I love a hotel that provides cozy bathrobes

What a weekend! It was a great way to close out my "must stay pregnant" gestational period. (As of today, baby is officially "term" and I am in waiting mode.)

We had a surreally wonderful supper with the kids on Friday night. They'd spent the last day of their March break out doing fun activities with friends, and I woke up from a late-afternoon nap to the sounds of them doing the dishes and planning to make dessert for our supper. I whipped up a delicious supper of old and new favourites -- pork cutlets in an apple/wine/brandy cream sauce (new), garlicky green beans and rosemary roast potatoes (old). Dad made it home in good time from work, which is always a thrill. The kids were beside themselves with praise for the food (a parent's dream come true), we were all in a gleeful mood.

Eventually, we left to drop the kidlets off at Maman's, and we were off to a friend's birthday party, where we had the chance to reconnect with lots of folks we hadn't seen since the summer. We are so often feeling overly shy and introverted that it was a nice change to both be in social, chatty moods. We actually managed to be the last to leave! (I didn't feel too tired at the time, but have indulged in about a half dozen micro-naps since then, trying to recover.)

Then the weekend really got started. McPie and I headed out in the early afternoon for our Final Romantic Getaway. We spent the afternoon at the Holtz Spa, enjoying facials and massages. Then we walked up to the Château Laurier, and booked ourselves in for the night. After a revitalizing cable-TV-induced catnap, we headed out for a delicious and relaxed meal at the Black Tomato. Filet mignon was exactly the thing the baby was asking for. :-)

First thing in the morning, my heroic husband got up and procured lattés from Starbucks, which I was able to enjoy without even leaving the luxury of the ridiculously comfy king-sized bed. Oh, the indulgence. We had vowed not to hurry for anything, so spent the rest of the afternoon meandering through a greasy pub breakfast and some market shopping. By the time we arrived home, I was ripe for another nap (I think I spent another 3 hours in bed!), and McPie enjoyed puttering for hours around the house, an activity he rarely has time for these days.

By the time we hit the hay on Sunday night, we couldn't have been more content, relaxed, and ready to get the show on the road!

Getting stuff done

I had wakeful night a days ago, the kind where your mind is churning and won't let you rest until you either promise yourself you'll make a list as soon as you rise in the morning, or you actually get up and make that list in the middle of the night.

Of course, as this stage of the game the churning is all about things I need to get done in the next few weeks, and the upcoming Big Change in our lives. And because this stage of the game is also accompanied by raging hormones and uncomfortable tossing and turning, I inevitably found myself sobbing piteously in my poor also-awake husband's arms.

Luckily, Sweetie McPie has a miraculous gift for dispelling my anxieties, and I finally succeeded in getting some sleep. Which I needed, in preparation for the week of Getting Things Done.

I got up in the morning and made a list, which was a great comfort. I wrapped up the final stage of my editing job. I finished painting the trim in the baby's room -- a task that was precluding putting up the new blind I picked up on the weekend. I vacuumed the entire house from top to bottom. I collected a few more items for the "birth box". (This is the pile of supplies we need for the home birth -- plastic sheets, old sheets and towels, heating pads, and whatnot -- currently, the crib is serving as the box.) I cleared out three milk crates worth of junk in the basement via garbage and recycling.

Meanwhile, I've also managed to get to the gym a couple of times, have a few naps, keep up with the laundry, start another wool soaker, and try a new recipe. (It was a seemingly random supper request from McPie that was surprisingly easy to fulfill.) It helped that the kids were in Quebec City for a few days with the Mom for March break. They just got back tonight, and... I didn't realize that I missed them. They are tired but enthusiastic and we had a super chat over supper (leftover meatball soup!*), getting caught up on the past couple of days.

You know, I don't know anything about having an infant, and the next few years will be an adventure and enormous learning process -- I know. But unlike most new moms, I do know already what it's like to have kids. I might be a little spoiled because Ben and Constance are such incredible kids, but I must say that having the opportunity to be a parent to them is a big part of the reason it was an easy decision to want to add to the brood. I feel fortified as I head into the adventure knowing that it will only be a few short years before the Little Fella becomes a person I can chat with, relate to, have fun with, learn from, and hang out with, like I get to do already with his brother and sister.

So, regardless of whether I get done all the stuff in the next couple of weeks, there are good times ahead!

*Anything with meatballs = automatic kid favourite.