I really thought I would have at least a week or two between finishing work and having a baby. Instead I had one day. Yes, ONE DAY! It was one glorious day of "break" between being a (more than) full-time college professor and being a full-time mom.
On that ONE DAY break, Ryan and I blew off cleaning and organizing and getting ready for Baby Wynne. Instead, we went to see 2 movies (Mission Impossible and Twilight (both seemed appropriate for a pre-labor date night!)), did some shopping (mainly for Baby Wynne), went out for lunch and dinner and just enjoyed the day! At the time, it seemed frivolous and silly (because we had lots to do around the house), but now I am happy we did it. The next morning, was my 37-week dr appt and the start of Eli's arrival! It's almost like Ryan and I subconsciously knew we should enjoy the last kid-free day of our lives!
Since I thought I would have two weeks or so of freedom, there were a few things I hadn't posted yet that I planned to. So here are my final thoughts on pregnancy (until the next one??):
Guess the sex of Baby Wynne:
I was hoping to have everyone guess the sex of Baby Wynne. All throughout the pregnancy, everyone tried to guess. It drove people crazy that we weren't finding out the sex of Baby Wynne. I was going to go through all the old wives' tales about guessing the sex of the baby. You know, the needle over the belly, the Chinese calendar, peeing on Drano, weird food cravings, heart burn etc, etc.
Long story short -- It's a boy! :)The "tests" were about 50/50 anyway ... though deep down I sort of always thought Baby Wynne was a boy. Ryan thought Baby Wynne was a girl after week 20 and was shocked by a boy!
Guess the birthday:
I also had planned to get a "baby pool" together and have people guess Baby Wynne's birthday. As the due date was January 11th, 2012, I highly doubt any one would have guessed December 24th, 2011!
Many, many, many THANKS!:
We didn't have a baby shower. I know. You think this is crazy. But we were given a lot of baby stuff from our already-parents friends. And Ryan and I got so many things on sale (like ridiculously on sale). And the grandparents have been very generous too. And ... despite not having an official baby shower ... so many of you gave Baby Wynne so much!! Ryan and I were both also surprised by baby showers at work! I meant to write a nice long post thanking everyone. But now I think I will thank you each as Eli uses all the wonderful things you gave him! Keep an eye out for photos of Eli using your gifts soon!
Being "artsy":
Near the end of the pregnancy (about 35 weeks?), Ryan and I got a little "artsy" taking photos. Many of our friends had done professional photo shoots during their pregnancy. I love the amazing photos of the parents and their soon-to-be-babies! But I also thought we should save our professional photo shoot for when the baby was actually here. So, Ryan got a bit creative with our digital camera (which we love) and we walked along the path that is in our backyard and took a few "bump photos" outside of our green nursery! Here are a few of my favorites:
Pregnancy = a pretty good time:
I can honestly say, I enjoyed being pregnant. Sometimes, I even forgot that I was pregnant (even near the end!). I was very, very lucky that everything went so well!
Sure, the first trimester hangover phase wasn't super fun, but it also wasn't that bad. I hear what other ladies have gone through, and I didn't really have any issues. Sure, I also had gestational diabetes (GD), but other than dealing with the excess appointments and the insurance company about it, it also wasn't that bad. I didn't really even change my diet much. I also didn't gain a huge amount of weight (6 lbs total! Woot!) and so I didn't experience those issues associated with weight-gain (achy joints, back aches, water retention, etc). I was tired, but that surely had to do with my more-than-full-time job that I continued with at my highest possible level right up until the end. And my lack of caffeine. I missed beer and ibuprofen, but those were easy sacrifices.
Overall, I felt great and I loved being so close to Baby Wynne. Feeling him and protecting him and loving him. It was definitely a lot easier carrying him and feeding him when he was in my womb than now when he's on his own!
And so, though we have no plans for it, I look forward to the next pregnancy ... and the next joy it will bring!
