We had a week 30 check up last week. I was very congested from my pool cold. As I was struggling to breathe through my check up, my OB said, “You know, you can take Sudafed.” (Insert choirs of angels here.) That is a beautiful thing.
He checked things out and everything seemed good. I noticed that I am no longer (and I think Philip is the same way) anxious to go to these check ups. My chest doesn’t get tight when the doppler is applied to hear the heartbeat. Then the OB said, “We are going to continue to look for premature labor signs. But once we get to week 36, we no longer talk about premature labor. We then talk about labor signs.” Uh-huh, uh-huh, wait, WHAT??!!
On the way to the elevator, I heard Philip say “Heh-heh-heh….it could happen in six weeks…” I turned my head to look at him and he was not smiling. This can’t happen in six weeks. That’s like…in SIX WEEKS!! This kid has to wait until at least 38 weeks. I have so much to do at work before I can leave. I haven’t even thought through how to train my new assistant in a system that only makes sense in my head. I have to cast the summer stock show. I have to sweep the floor of my office, I have to call the computer guy, I have to, I have to, I have to …
Then the house. Oh my god, the house. We JUST made a list. We are still in research phase. We spent the last 6 months in denial and shock and focused so hard on surviving the pregnancy that we somehow didn’t think about the possibility that this can happen WAY earlier than planned. It’s not like a wedding when the date is set. This, we have no control over. We have to start buying stuff. A male friend (mind you he is straight, not married, and doesn’t have children) yelled at me for not having registered. I yelled right back saying I had time-and he will get the list-and he WILL buy things, because we are good people and we deserve it.
So we kicked it in to high gear. We began the purge required to make room, went online and purchased a couple of items on our list, made a date to go to Babies R Us to shop and register. The most amazing thing was the paint shopping. Typically, when we paint a room, it takes us months to decide on a color, we bring home dozens of paint chips, then buy samples and stare at that painted spot in various lights for a good week before we make a decision. This time, we marched in to the hardware store, went to the color chips, and pulled out three. Ten minutes later we had the color for the walls and the color for the furniture that we are refurbishing and we were standing in front of the counter watching the paint cans shake.
I had also made an excel sheet (yes, I’m a dork) of compiled data from six of our friends who gave birth last year as to what we need in the first three months and where to get it. We sat down and went through the list, marking things as “buy now” or “register.” One week after the check up, I’m feeling slightly calmer.
I am noticing that it’s taking a lot of courage for us to shop, which seems like an odd thing to say since we both love to shop otherwise. We’ve put it off because we were afraid that the minute we get excited, this would go away. Despite my stomach growing and everything going smoothly, we still have it in our head that it would end just when we start to believe. But now, we have to face it. We have to actually bring things into the house as if there will be a baby. Courage, Willow. We must purchase. It is OK to be excited. If we didn’t believe in the first place, we wouldn’t have tried for this long or come this far anyway. So I guess we believe. It’s the most frightening kind of hope I’ve ever experienced. But it feels good.
I was watching a Japanese television drama on AZN TV. It was episode #2. Japanese dramas run in series of 11 episodes and they conclude, as opposed to American TV series that might run for years. As I was watching it occurred to me that by the time this drama wraps up, we may have a kid. Then I thought, “I better TiVo this.”
Bonus
I had my second photo shoot in a hospital. Below are some photos from it. Notice that I have a fake Japanese husband (he is not a fake Japanese, just a fake husband). It was an all Japanese cast. Have to love Seattle for that.
Fake nurse and fake husband check real Mimi into real hospital (but not for real).
Real Mimi and fake husband pretending to time fake contractions.
Real Mimi takes real nap while on real job. Nice.
He checked things out and everything seemed good. I noticed that I am no longer (and I think Philip is the same way) anxious to go to these check ups. My chest doesn’t get tight when the doppler is applied to hear the heartbeat. Then the OB said, “We are going to continue to look for premature labor signs. But once we get to week 36, we no longer talk about premature labor. We then talk about labor signs.” Uh-huh, uh-huh, wait, WHAT??!!
On the way to the elevator, I heard Philip say “Heh-heh-heh….it could happen in six weeks…” I turned my head to look at him and he was not smiling. This can’t happen in six weeks. That’s like…in SIX WEEKS!! This kid has to wait until at least 38 weeks. I have so much to do at work before I can leave. I haven’t even thought through how to train my new assistant in a system that only makes sense in my head. I have to cast the summer stock show. I have to sweep the floor of my office, I have to call the computer guy, I have to, I have to, I have to …
Then the house. Oh my god, the house. We JUST made a list. We are still in research phase. We spent the last 6 months in denial and shock and focused so hard on surviving the pregnancy that we somehow didn’t think about the possibility that this can happen WAY earlier than planned. It’s not like a wedding when the date is set. This, we have no control over. We have to start buying stuff. A male friend (mind you he is straight, not married, and doesn’t have children) yelled at me for not having registered. I yelled right back saying I had time-and he will get the list-and he WILL buy things, because we are good people and we deserve it.
So we kicked it in to high gear. We began the purge required to make room, went online and purchased a couple of items on our list, made a date to go to Babies R Us to shop and register. The most amazing thing was the paint shopping. Typically, when we paint a room, it takes us months to decide on a color, we bring home dozens of paint chips, then buy samples and stare at that painted spot in various lights for a good week before we make a decision. This time, we marched in to the hardware store, went to the color chips, and pulled out three. Ten minutes later we had the color for the walls and the color for the furniture that we are refurbishing and we were standing in front of the counter watching the paint cans shake.
I had also made an excel sheet (yes, I’m a dork) of compiled data from six of our friends who gave birth last year as to what we need in the first three months and where to get it. We sat down and went through the list, marking things as “buy now” or “register.” One week after the check up, I’m feeling slightly calmer.
I am noticing that it’s taking a lot of courage for us to shop, which seems like an odd thing to say since we both love to shop otherwise. We’ve put it off because we were afraid that the minute we get excited, this would go away. Despite my stomach growing and everything going smoothly, we still have it in our head that it would end just when we start to believe. But now, we have to face it. We have to actually bring things into the house as if there will be a baby. Courage, Willow. We must purchase. It is OK to be excited. If we didn’t believe in the first place, we wouldn’t have tried for this long or come this far anyway. So I guess we believe. It’s the most frightening kind of hope I’ve ever experienced. But it feels good.
I was watching a Japanese television drama on AZN TV. It was episode #2. Japanese dramas run in series of 11 episodes and they conclude, as opposed to American TV series that might run for years. As I was watching it occurred to me that by the time this drama wraps up, we may have a kid. Then I thought, “I better TiVo this.”
Bonus
I had my second photo shoot in a hospital. Below are some photos from it. Notice that I have a fake Japanese husband (he is not a fake Japanese, just a fake husband). It was an all Japanese cast. Have to love Seattle for that.
Fake nurse and fake husband check real Mimi into real hospital (but not for real).
Real Mimi and fake husband pretending to time fake contractions.
Real Mimi takes real nap while on real job. Nice.
Comments
Or...flippy could be late and you'll be sitting around saying, "But there's nothing left on the list! What are you waiting for!?!"