The Baby's Room

Well folks, this week I'm 35 weeks and loving life. Seriously. I would say this must be the pregnamoon (as in 'honeymoon' or 'babymoon'). I'm big enough now that when the baby moves around, I don't just feel pops and nudges, I feel body parts shifting in there. I feel hiccups down low, where the baby's head is, and occasionally I feel movement there so I assume that must be the hands. I feel knobby bulges that must be feet and a little round bump that sticks out above my belly button, which must be the baby's little butt. I love to tickle it with my fingers. I really feel like I'm finally carrying a baby around, not a bad case of indigestion.

(Speaking of, the other day, I, um, passed gas, so suddenly, that I startled the baby and the baby jumped! I'm sorry if that's too much information but I consider it to be too funny not to remember forever.)

At 35 weeks, I'm not too big to be on my feet, my symptoms haven't gotten any worse (and in some cases, better... maybe it's my body giving a grievous sigh and just deciding that this is life now, and that it's just going to accept things the way they are). Whatever the reason, I give my body a huge high-five for letting my nose finally, finally clear up at night. Thank you, body.

At 35 weeks, we're smack in the middle of April and God has blessed us with a nice, cool spring so far. (Normally the weather seems to jump from winter-fifties to summer-eighties within a week or so, with no turning back, but not this year.) I am leaving the windows open while I work at my computer and work around the house. I am very busy with projects on my work to-do list, my house to-do list, and my baby to-do list, but it's nice to be busy.

And at 35 weeks, my hormones are either finally regulating or surging with oxytocin, because I am suddenly very patient with the dog, very happy to make dinner for Brian, and very much looking forward to each day. I think I am walking around the neighborhood each morning with a springy step and a cheesy grin to accompany my big bubble belly. I probably look like a Macy's Day float.

I will look back on these moments very fondly when I am crying incessantly in the weeks after the birth and saying things like, "I don't know why I'm crying... probably because the bacon grease splashed on my arm... and because the garden needs to be watered... and because it's so hot."

Thankfully, one thing I can almost cross off my baby to-do list is... drumroll, please... the baby's room! It still needs blinds, and the rocking chair needs a coat of finish, and the baby's clothes and things need to be washed and organized, but other than that it's pretty much done.

The baby will sleep with us for the first little bit (three weeks? months? years? who knows?) in this:

We'll move it downstairs when we get closer to May 22. It's pictured in the empty baby's room, but now it's sitting in the loft.

When it's time for Dubs to leave the nest, he or she will fly on up to the nursery where he or she will surely sleep blissfully for nine hours straight.

Whether the sleep part is true or not, the baby will finally occupy this room. And let me say, I can't wait. Because I LOVE IT. Everyone has their own vision for a nursery, and it is so darn fun to finally be able to put YOUR vision together. I can't tell you how many times I'd walk up to this room and stand in its empty light and imagine what it might look like one day.

I wanted a room that was not too full, not too 'permanently decorated' (because sometimes kids grow up and develop their own tastes, and also because sometimes people move home to Michigan, and you just never know what might happen), and not gender specific. I wanted it to be simple, bright, and warm. I also wanted to look for things I could use in the very distant future, when there is no more chance of new babies, so I picked things out that could be used in other rooms of the house one day (for example, the changer top can be removed to transition to a bookshelf). The only thing that can't transition is the crib, but I loved the drawer so much I looked past that.

Without further ado!

The crib and mobile:


Changer with mirror and hanging fish above it:

Baby toy basket, non-baby-proof lamp and treacherous cord (don't worry, I'll take care of it someday), our hospital bag (yet to be packed, I'm afraid), and a nightstand to sit beside the rocker. Someday this nightstand will sit beside a twin bed and hold journals and artwork and little-kid treasures:

I can see little hand prints on this mirror in the future. Also, selfishly, one day I will steal it and put it in my room. It's huge! (I just love the Michigan teether sitting on the top for now:)

The rocking chair will sit to the left. The wall cards add some color and can be taken down without leaving marks. I LOVE them because on each one, there are a multitude of little things that start with the letter on the card. I hope my baby and I can look at these and have fun finding all the items:

Bo just loves this rug:

Another look at the mobile. I saw this on Etsy and decided to make my own. It's not perfect, but it was made with love and I enjoyed doing it:

The bottom of the changer will hold board books and toys for the baby to grab. These have been gifts from family, friends, and some toys that Brian played with as a little boy:

The beginning of our diaper stash (the pink was a hand-me-down, and if we have a boy, well, he'll never know):

Baby's clothes are still being organized and sorted:

That's all, folks!

I'm hanging up now. See you soon!

Here, Kim!

At the behest of my friend, here is a blog post about The Baby.

Hmm. What should I write?

The Baby seems to be doing well, as far as I can tell without being able to look inside. He or she has been head-down for at least six weeks, which makes me wonder, in fourth-grader fashion, isn't that uncomfortable? Why doesn't all the blood rush to its head?

I think the Baby's butt is facing my left side because its feet are all up in my right ribcage. Which isn't too bad, actually. I have the feeling this kid is going to be fairly mellow. Instead of kicks and punches, I get stretches and wiggles. I think, to Brian's great disappointment, that I am growing a little yoga master and not an MMA champ. Sorry, Bri! But thank you, Baby.

And me? I am feeling fine as a spring day in North Carolina. I believe that I have discovered the perfect time to have a baby. MAY! (But maybe wait to ask me when I'm trying to lose my baby weight by pushing a stroller in two-hundred-degree heat.)

Pregnancy has been pretty easy on me. The worst I've had to deal with is a blocked nose, some hip pain that comes and goes, and frequent guilt about eating candy. Actually, no. I take it back. The absolute worst thing I've had to deal with is a dang double chin! Oh, would that this double chin were a hemorrhoid, gestational diabetes, or preeclampsia! Anything instead of its matronly sag!

(With all due respect to my pre-eclamptic friends, that was a joke.)

Are we ready for the baby? Not quite. We have a few things to finish and a couple things to buy, which I'm waiting on our registry completion discount to do. My birth center bag isn't packed yet. And - OH yeah - I'm not ready mentally. It's still in the process of sinking in that I'm even pregnant. I need a mean old coach to come over and scream, "Get your head in the game!" The truth is, I thought being pregnant would sort of ease me into Life with a Baby. I thought it would act as a little trial run. But somehow I am still sleeping through the night and feeling fairly normal. (Albeit slightly huge.) A trial run, this most certainly is NOT.

The only thing this pregnancy is preparing me for is life without wearing high heels. My feet look like dough blobs after a few hours of wearing cute shoes.

So the closer my due date gets, the more I'm feeling a bit panicky that I don't know how I'm going to do it! I'm going to go from carefree Baby-less living to being a MOM in one day! (Gee... I hope labor's not any longer than that. Maybe we'll say two days, just to be safe.) My recent dreams include me grilling hotdogs at midnight in a tired fog, holding my baby floppily in one arm while my mom tries to wrestle me back to bed - "Maegan, what are you doing?" Or finding myself, with the baby upside down in the stroller, on the other side of the neighborhood, taking a sleepwalk at 2 AM while my mom drives around trying to find me.

(Can you tell I am glad my mom will be here?)

So suffice it to say I am hoping the next six weeks do something to prepare me. Because at this point I'm not as curious to know whether it's a boy or a girl as I am to find out if I can actually take care of it!


Speaking of whether it's a boy or girl, it might look like one of these:

GOLLY! We are pretty cute, if I do say so myself. I just love Brian's little chin. I suppose MY current chin is a worthwhile burden for a cute little one like that on my baby. My current CHINS, I should say.

Anyway, since you've read all this blather and blah, and since you've mustered the courage to peer into the dark, swirling cavern of my anxious mind, I will hereby reward you with a picture of pregnant Maeg.

Bedhead, morning face, ugly striped socks, and all.

Sincerely, I love this ride. When I think life can't get any better, I get pregnant. I mean it when I say that this has been the most blessed time of my life so far.

Chins and all, I'm extraordinarily thankful.