It's 10:30 and I should probably be in bed based on all those pregnancy books that say things about getting enough sleep for the baby and blah blah blah. I think they'd have something to say about me not getting enough fruits and vegetables and substituting fruit snacks and oj instead. Then again, so would your Auntie Jess.
And since it's late but I really felt the need to update, I'll just do this is bulleted list format. That sounds nice.
- Your Uncle Joe and Aunt Kari are having a baby boy. They found out a couple weeks ago, but I sensed that the whole time. This will be your cousin who will only be a week or two older than you. Or maybe more or less. Guess we don't really know these things until they happen. Really, you could come first. Who knows?
- Your Aunt Rachel and Uncle Dan (Yes, you're going to have a lot of "Aunts" and Uncles"--not to be confused with Joel and Kari from the last bulleted point. They're blood relatives, not necessarily the people I chose to associate with because of their super coolness [think: Aunt Jess]) Anyway, they're also having a boy. And again, I suspected that was such from the beginning. Unfortunately, Aunt Rachel needs some time to adjust. She was really thinking girl. But if she's lucky, that boy will come out with eyelashes like his dad. That man has some beeyootiful eyelashes. You'll likely get to know this boy well too. And if all goes well, in 25 or so years you will come to realize your lifelong love for each other, marry, and have babies with those beeyootiful eyelashes. That is, assuming that first sonographer was right and you are a girl. But don't get this confused with me saying I have a problem with you two getting together if you are both boys. I certainly don't. You'll learn early on that your mama is a proud liberal who will gladly accept you no matter who you fall in love with. (Okay, that's a lie. Even I have my limits. You'll know when you've hit them.)
- Wow, that was a long bulleted point. I may have forgotten what else I was going to note. Oh yes, the heartburn. I'd read about that in the baby book too. I thought that, much like that morning sickness they'd talked about, this would skip me too. But it hasn't. And it's come with a frenzy. At first I wasn't even sure what it was because it was like no heartburn I'd had before. It felt like when you walk outside on the coldest winter days and your breath just escapes you. Or like when you chug a glass of ice water too fast. It's a cool buring from top of throat to chest. I've basically been chasing my meals with Tums.
- Gas. It's also come back with a vengance. Mostly I feel bad for you father. He has to share a bed with me.
- Speaking of your father, he's already tracking down the best possible daycare facility for you. Good thing he's here. If it were up to me, I'd forget about it until a week before I went back to work and then drop you off at the closest available home with no time to check if the owner has locks on the lower cabinets where she stores her toilet bowl cleaner. Ok, maybe that's not entirely true. But you can be sure it wouldn't be on my radar until a bit closer to your birth (or just afterward, I promise).
- I'm officially wearing maternity pants. Okay, that started closer to Christmas. But I was really trying to get myself into my jeans for as long as possible. And yes, that meant threading a ponytail holder through the button hole to add a couple extra inches. That added another week to my pre-maternity clothes time. But now I'm into the stretchy panel pants. And I gotta say, I'm not missing zippers. These are seriously the most comfortable pants I've ever owned aside from sweatpants. In fact, it really feels like I'm wearing pajamas to work. I give this two thumbs up.
- Speaking of thumbs, the baby book says you have fingerprints this week. Good job! Way to go! What a great effort!
- Next week we'll know for sure if you are Baby Girl Clay or Baby Boy Clay. Frankly, it never mattered to me one way or the other. But I have started using the female pronouns, so that might get awkward if you turn out to be a boy. I'll keep you posted.
- Remind me to tell you about the moment I had with my mom in Don Pablo's. That's a good story. Instead I'll just say that I'm really excited to feel you start kicking. Any time, the book says. So...let's get on that, k? Great.
