Well, I will officially be 37 weeks pregnant tomorrow. Thirty-seven weeks is considered full-term, so I guess our baby could arrive any time now! I have to say, I am ready. While I might not feel completely prepared, I am ready to meet this baby and take care of her/him (more on that later) on the outside rather than on the inside. I've started sleeping on the couch at night because it's more comfortable than sitting up in the bed. Every time I lay down, the baby decides it is playtime and starts doing what feels like gymnastics -- not fun...for me. I also feel like my stomach can't get much larger, but as I sit here and type, I can almost feel myself growing. Although, I'm not sure if it's the baby or the chocolate chips I'm inhaling. I guess it could be a little of both.
An interesting thing about being pregnant is that total strangers will make comments to you and try to predict what you are having. At our ultrasound appointment, the technician seemed pretty certain it is a girl, but for some reason, I just wasn't so certain...until about a month ago. Heath was out of town with the guys for their annual "boys weekend." Since he was away, I decided I should have a "girls weekend." So, Kelly and I did some baby / maternity shopping in Charleston. The more we shopped and talked, the more I became convinced I was having a girl. After all, this pregnancy has been so different from my previous pregnancy with Jacob. Up until last month, Heath and I really hadn't bought anything at all for the new baby. I loved looking at all the cute baby girl clothes and did a lot of window shopping, but could never bring myself to make a purchase. This particular weekend, however, I finally took the plunge and bought a few things. I thought more about my ultrasound appointment and how the technician said she had been doing ultrasounds for 20 years. I thought about how she said she was certain it was a girl...even though she had to do a bit of searching to figure it out.
Just when I had finally convinced myself it is definitely a girl, something happened that planted another seed of doubt in my mind. As Kelly and I were walking down the street, two old men happened to pass by. One looked at me and said, "Hi...how are you doing today?" I said, "I'm good, thanks. How are you?" He replied, "Just fine," then he pointed at my stomach, said, "That's a boy!" and walked on by. Strange. I looked at Kelly who told me I shouldn't listen to him. "Paula, he's probably drunk," she said. And while there is a good chance Kelly was right, I couldn't get that comment out of my mind.
After a few days, I came to terms with it. Who was that guy anyway? A total stranger. What does he know? I shouldn't let some stranger get to me like that. I went shopping again and bought a few more girly things and that made me feel better.
This past weekend, I had even more strangers tell me I look like I am having a boy. When I got my hair cut on Friday, a lady who works at the salon said she thought I was having a boy. Then, on Saturday, the guy behind the counter at the Food Court looked at me and said, "Boy?" What is going on???? I talked to some people at church on Sunday about my encounters and they think it's just because of the way I'm carrying. All my weight seems to be out front in my stomach and as the old wives tale goes, if you carry out front instead of all around, you're having a boy.
As of this moment, I have decided not to worry about it. Whether this baby is a boy or a girl, we will love him/her the same and will be excited either way. Just in case, I did buy a gender neutral outfit to take to the hospital with us...along with our original girl outfit. The funny thing is, Heath and I have had a boy name picked out for a while. We still can't seem to nail down a girl's name!
On to another subject....Jacob. He still manages to make me laugh everyday. I'm hoping that continues forever! :) I didn't witness this next story, but it's really cute. Saturday, while I was shopping, Heath took Jacob to the play area in the mall. He LOVED playing on the little slide. Apparently, there was another little boy about his age playing on it too. One time, they both found themselves at the top of the slide. They looked at each other for a few seconds wondering who was going to slide down first. Finally, Jacob leaned over, patted the boy on the back, looked him right in the face, and said, "Go....go....go." So, the little boy slid down and Jacob went next. He's two and already has such good manners! Well....at least he did in this particular instance.
Sunday morning Jacob wore one of his suits to church. (Thank you Grandpapa!) He looks so cute in a tie. Don't you think?
Here he is pre-dress socks and shoes...and pre-hair being combed.
Here he is post-church ----- shirt untucked, very tired and his hair looking pretty much like it did when he woke up that morning. He was actually crying because he wanted to hold the camera to see himself. He wasn't at all interested in smiling for another picture.
One more little Jacob item.....Heath and I keep wondering where he gets his southern drawl from. It's so funny the way he says certain words like, salt: saaaww-t and dog: daaaww-g. Actually, he says dog exactly the way Molly Shannon from SNL used to say it in the dog show skit......"Cause I....uh-looooove......uh-daaawwgs!!" Does anyone remember that? Lately , he's even let the drawl slip into the word "baby." He says, "bye-beee." It's hilarious. Where is he getting this from??? Hopefully, I'll catch him on video saying these things so I can post them on here. I'll have to work on that.
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