My belly button has finally popped out in the last week or so. Before it was still an innie in the morning and would pop out sometime during the day – it was almost always out by dinner time. But now it is consistently out. It is so bizarre though – it is like a little nose or something. It protrudes further on the top ridge and then tapers down towards the bottom. But the turkey timer has popped out, so hopefully that means that he is close to done.
I wouldn’t be worried about the timing if it wasn’t for the fact that we found out this morning that Mike got accepted to the next level of this leadership program at his job, which is FANTASTIC news for him, but not such good timing since it means he’ll be in Switzerland from June 3 to 11. The timing could be worse (like May 15 to 25), but if the baby is two weeks late (the latest they’ll let me go), he’ll only be a few days old when Mike leaves, and we will have only been home for the hospital for a day or two in all likelihood. So now I am really hoping that this baby is on time or a few days early. Hopefully all my sleep and good nutrition and protein will help him get out of there on time. Not that these things probably have anything to do with it… Ah well. A girl can hope.
I am concerned about solo-parenting a baby so little, but also concerned about having a lot of motherly visits – both his mom and my mom. They both make me a little crazy (my mom way moreso than his mom, actually), and if they think I am in need of a lot of help while he is gone, I think it is might be more than I can take. I am not sure how I’ll delicately handle the “I am fine, please leave me alone” conversation when (not if) the time comes…
Back to the belly-button thing – I have really been on the tail end of a lot of the physical things in pregnancy. I didn’t feel him move until pretty late in the game – I think I was 22 or 23 weeks along before I knew I was feeling movement. I couldn’t identify body parts until at least a few weeks after the books/newsletters were saying that I would be able to, and now finally my belly button has popped.
I still feel really good. Getting out of bed can be a challenge, as can be picking up dropped knitting needles off of the floor, but I can still bend over to pick things up for the most part, and am not feeling uncomfortable. I have been going to the gym some still (though have not been good about doing my kegel exercises or the other exercises they taught us in our Bradley class). The elliptical machine has been good for me the last weeks/months as has the pool when I can force myself to get in. When my feet are swollen, it does feel really good to get in the pool, but I find it totally boring, not a workout, and sometimes cold getting in, so I don’t find I have a ton of swimming motivation.
I have pretty much completed my to-do list that I had been working on. I think the two last things are to finish my quilt (I am going to go pin it now) and my knitting projects (three projects down – a green sweater/hat set, a football helmet style hat, and leg warmies) and one project to go (a tan sweater and maybe a matching hat if I have leftover yarn). If he is late I am going to find myself with a LOT of time on my hands. I always say that I am never bored because I don’t sit still well and always have lots of projects going on. But if I really get to the end of my to-do list (other than the general cleaning stuff I do every week or every-other week) I am not sure how I will fill all my time besides going to the gym and knitting, and that only takes up so many hours in the day. But at least I will feel like I really got everything done before he arrived, which would be nice.
So, anyone out there in internet-land, please think happy thoughts for an on-time or slightly early baby so that Mike gets in some bonding time before he has to head to Switzerland for 10 days!
I’m glad you’re feeling so good
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I know you’re not looking forward to having eager-beaver grandmas around, but don’t underestimate how helpful they can be when steered toward projects that are actually useful to you. Taking care of a newborn is hard enough with two adults, but particularly when you’re solo-parenting – having another person around to do a load of laundry, make you a healthy meal or just hold the baby while you shower can feel like a godsend. Please don’t feel like it’s anything but normal to ask for and/or accept help; new-mama-hood is a time when you’re *meant* to lean on the people who love you. Put those grandmas to work! (And if not them, your friends. I can’t tell you how much I wish *I* could come over for an afternoon or two while Mike is away and just do whatever you need.)