November is such a beautiful month. It starts with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, ends with the beginning of Advent. What a glorious time to be Catholic!
If you didn’t see the pictures I posted earlier this week of my Halloween costume, I wore this Jack O’Lantern belly band. Isn’t it adorable? I came into it due to the kindness of a woman at a garage sale a few months ago. I was looking at the maternity clothes she was selling when she asked my due date. When I said late November, she got really excited, ran inside the house and come out with this. She said she’d been hoping to pass it on to a pregnant woman who would have a big belly on Halloween. So she just gave it to me. People at garage sales are just so nice.
Have you ever wondered what it smells like when a twist tie accidentally gets into the microwave and starts to spark on fire? Strangely enough, it smells like incense. I just discovered that this morning (thank goodness my husband was in the kitchen at the time, because my first instinct when I smelled incense was not to look in the microwave to see if something was on fire).
I’ve slowly been buying Christmas presents and am going to start wrapping them today. Is it weird that I plan to pull out Christmas CDs to listen to as I wrap? Even though it’s just barely November? Normally, I don’t turn my focus to Christmas until after Thanksgiving (truth be told, I am slightly sickened to see Christmas displays in stores so early), but I am trying to get as much done as possible before the baby is here. The past couple years, I’ve tended to purchase a large share of gifts online, so I should be fine even if I don’t get it all done before.
On Sunday, I’ll be 37 weeks which means close enough to full term that if I go into labor, baby isn’t going to be stopped from arriving. I know that it is more likely that the baby will come after the due date than before since it’s my first pregnancy, but I should probably make sure we’re ready. Really, there isn’t much more we need to do, except to put the car seat in the car.
Being mentally prepared for the baby is a different story. Is it strange that even with my large belly, a nursery full of baby items, and constantly feeling the baby’s movements, I still can’t fathom that I will have a baby sometime in the next month or so? I try to imagine our family with a little baby in it, but I just can’t visualize what it will be like.
I am very excited about breastfeeding. Does that make me odd? I feel like so many women seem to be nervous or hesitant about breastfeeding, but I’ve been excited for months. We took a breastfeeding class last night and although I had already read most of the information, it was really great to see visuals. Most of the women in the class had experience with friends or family breastfeeding, but since this will be the first baby in the family in almost 20 years and I’m the first of my friends to have children, I have zero experience around nursing mothers. Thank goodness the birth center and pediatrician both have lactation consultants to answer that many questions I’m sure I’ll have.
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ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the upcoming birth and your anniversary! It's funny, my girls are 4 and 2 and I still remember the excitement of finally hitting the "you're good to go" mark. I breastfed both girls (DD2 just weaned a few weeks ago and so I will give you the unsolicited advice to find a BFing support group, other than the IBCLCs. I say this because, it's great to have peers that have been or are going through a breastfeeding journey with you. You'll be in my prayers!
2) That is so cute! How nice of that woman to give it to you! Add another reason to the list of why I love garage sales. :)
ReplyDelete6) I don't know if you watch Friends but that so reminds me of when Ross was about to have Ben and it finally hit him. "I knew I was having a baby but I didn't know the baby was having me."
Congrats on everything! I hope everything goes smoothly and everyone comes out of it healthy. :)
Oh, I know that surreal feeling. How can a REAL PERSON, who you've never met, suddenly be there in your house FOREVER? And that feeling doesn't go away with subsequent kids. Each one is just as exciting as the first :)
ReplyDeleteHow exciting! It is not weird. I'm not even pregnant and I look forward to breastfeeding!
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute Halloween costume! :)
I am getting so excited for you, even though I don't know you! A thought for you, if breastfeeding doesn't turn out to be the blissful, beautiful experience that you might be thinking it is, give it some time. I had a really hard start with my daughter, difficultly latching, cracked nipples, etc, but after getting it figured out it was a wonderful experience. I guess what I am trying to say is . . . If it is hard in the beginning, maybe right after having the baby, when you are exhausted and emotional is not the best time to make any long term decisions about it. And ditto for finding a group of breastfeeding moms, that support made all the difference in the world. Best of luck, and many prayers!
ReplyDeleteI'm both excited AND nervous about breastfeeding! I also don't have a ton of support, since my sister didn't do it with her kids. I've been going to La Leche League meetings during the pregnancy--if you need any extra support, I highly recommend finding one that meets in your area. Best of luck to you!
ReplyDeleteI have to second Ann-Marie. The first few weeks of breast feeding can be pretty rough, but once you get through them it gets a LOT better. There were a few times where I was in tears in the middle of the night, but I am SO glad I stuck with breast feeding. I think finding a network of new(ish) moms would be really helpful. I found my mom friends to be such a blessing when I was in the middle of rough patches. It was so nice to be able to talk to them and hear that I was not the only one who went through ________ (fill in the blank with whatever difficulty I was experiencing).
ReplyDeleteI hope this comment doesn't scare you - I don't mean for it to, but I found it very helpful going into breast feeding without the expectation that it was going to be this beautiful, blissful thing from the very beginning. It takes some time to get there, and you WILL get there.
Whew - that was long.
I'm so excited for you! The count down to baby is ON!! Yay!
Ann-Marie and Betsy, don't worry I'm not expecting breastfeeding to be blissful and perfect! In fact, the vast majority of the women I know have had breastfeeding problems, many to the point that they gave up or pumped exclusively. I am just excited to be able to provide for my baby in such an intimate way - even if it's difficult!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your encouragement! It's getting so close, I'm getting so anxious for my little one to be here.