Impatience Pt. 2

JD's eagerness to meet Loralai continues to grow with each passing day. 

"Aren't I supposed to be the one who's miserable and anxious?" I teased him the other day. "Don't you want to enjoy these last few nights where we get a full night's sleep without interruption?" 

He sounded sad when he said, "You've had her with you all the time for the past 9 months. I just want to finally meet her."

And then it all came together. It's not that JD is impatient merely because he's a naturally impatient person, he's impatient because he's anxious to build a relationship with his daughter.  I'd missed the subtleties in his complaints about our lack of ultrasounds (we've only had 2) or the jokes about the creepiness of my belly movements. He was aching for a way to bond with her more deeply.

Pregnancy requires a lot of sacrifice- pain, discomfort, body changes- but it's so worth all of that for the experience of feeling the little person growing and moving inside of you. I tried to keep JD involved as much as possible by telling him about her crazy movements and habits and putting his hand on my belly when she was being particularly active, but I always knew that it would never quite be the same for him as it is for me.

But, this is just one of the reasons I love him so much.  I haven't even seen him interact with her yet, but I already love him for the father I know he'll be. The ache that he feels to hold her, his desire to integrate bottles after 4-6 weeks so he can feed her too, and the fact that he's looking forward to taking a month off to take care of her after my maternity leave is up is all so beautiful to me.

The Nursery!

This week, JD and I went shopping for the rest of the baby items we need and washed and put everything away. So, I finally feel like the nursery is truly finished.

I am super happy with the way it turned out.  The room is so cozy to me- both JD and I can just sit in there for a while peacefully, not wanting to move (it also helps that our glider is ridiculously comfortable).

From the beginning, we knew that my mom was doing the Classic Pooh mural, so naturally, the rest of the nursery kind of centered around that.  When we were picking stuff out, we knew we wanted the mural to speak for itself.  We didn’t want a Pooh explosion, where everything from the bedding to the outlet covers were Pooh-themed.    

We stuck with earthy colors such as greens and browns to compliment the mural (with a few other pops of color here and there), and either solids or simple patterns like polka dots so that nothing was overpowering the mural.  

I think we struck a great balance- the room is soft but bright, subtle but colorful, and inviting but not kitschy.  Most importantly, there are loving touches from family members that really make it feel like everyone put their love into little Loralai’s haven.

 I am now 38 weeks and very much aware that she could come anytime in the next few weeks!

Impatience

Normally, it’s the pregnant mommy who gets anxious for the little one to arrive.  She’s getting more uncomfortable by the day, and after 9 months of drastic body changes, mood swings, and discomfort, she’s just ready to be DONE.  In our house, it turns out daddy is the impatient one.  While I am getting progressively more uncomfortable (nothing quite like the feeling of 6.5 pounds worth of baby doing a headstand on your pelvis), I am also a planner.  I need to have everything completely ready to go before I’ll feel prepared for her arrival.  We still need to get a few stray items off our registry, then we’ll need to finish washing all her clothes and sheets, then we’ll need to pack just a few more things in our hospital bags (and yes, I said bags plural, because hyper-organized and compulsive over-packer me has a labor bag, a hospital stay bag for JD and I, and a bag for the baby’s stuff).  I should be good to go by next weekend; then she can arrive whenever she’d like.

JD, on the other hand, has reached his own stage of being done with the pregnancy.  Is it because I’ve been mean and hormonal?  No.  Is it because I’ve been whining a lot?  No.  Is it because I send him out in the middle of the night to satisfy random, uncontrollable cravings?  No.  Actually, he’s had it extremely easy, if I do say so myself.  JD is being impatient because that’s who he is.  When he wants something, he doesn’t like waiting around for it.

He decided he was ready to meet Loralai about 2 weeks ago and has been poking at my belly daily, asking her to come out.  I immediately interject, telling her that there's no rush, and she can come out whenever she decides she’s ready.  Not that any of this matters since she's on her own timetable.  

I'm now at 37.5 weeks, meaning in 3 weeks or less, we're going to have a baby.

Ready or not.

Some Pics

So, I was going back through recent posts and realized I haven't posted any pics in a while.  I'm probably overdue for a belly update.  Also, I said I wouldn't post pics of the nursery until it was finished.  Well, it's MOSTLY finished, but I couldn't resist sharing a few pics of the best parts :)

A cute pic of me and JD over Thanksgiving... in Hilton Head with my family.

35 weeks.  Much larger than the last time I posted a pic :)

Here is the classic Pooh mural mom worked on over Christmas.  She'll be back to finish Owl and Tigger, but JD and I are already in love with it!

My favorite part- Pooh and the honey bees.

A closeup of the bees.

Piglet and his dandelion.

Not sure if this pic does it justice, but my stepmom made this to hang in the nursery.  All the little details and different colors are done by rolling paper.  Tiny pieces of paper.  Honestly, I'm not sure how she had the patience to do this or how it turned out so well, but it's beautiful.

A Letter To Loralai

Dear Loralai-

It's hard to believe that you're almost ready to join us in the world, that the familiar rolling in my belly will soon be gone, replaced with a tiny person I will watch grow. A person who will change my life in a profound way I don't even understand yet.

I've spent 9 months preparing, but soon those little choices I made- which crib sheet matched your room the best and what brand monitor to buy- will be so insignificant. They are nothing compared to the choices I will spend the next 18 years making.

I'm overwhelmed with love for you and overwhelmed with the responsibility of molding you into the person I want you to be. No, not a ballerina or a rocket scientist or a tomboy who loves dirt bikes. You can be anything you want to be as long as you live a life full of love, kindness, compassion, integrity, and appreciation. That's the person I want you to be, and I will do my best not to fail you in that, no matter how many mistakes I might make along the way.

This time for your father and I is both exhilarating and scary.  For 5 years it's been just the two of us, and now we're adding a whole new dimension to our family.  Mostly, we're anxious to get to know you, and learn all the quirks that will make you uniquely you.

I would say that it's been a long journey, but it hasn't really felt that way.  Every day I marvel at how quickly time has flown by.  It feels like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant.  I was elated, and at that time 9 months felt like an eternity, but here we are making final preparations for your arrival.

I hope you know how loved you are already.  Not just by me and your father, but by your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and all of our friends who love you as if you were family.  I hope that you can sense everyone's love and excitement in there, and it makes you just as excited to come out and meet us as we are to meet you.

Love, 
Mommy