We are now in the month
in which you will be born! I actually
feel pretty relaxed about it right now.
I know you will be here soon. After
a slight incident this morning, I thought perhaps you could be here today. But it was a false alarm. You could be here tomorrow, or I could be
waiting several more weeks. It’s
okay. I’m ready for you to come, but I’m
also not anxious. Today’s false alarm
made me realize that if you don’t come now, I have things I would still like to
accomplish before you do. But if you
were to have come now, none of those things are so pressing as to make me
nervous about their not getting done. I
know I’m not going to be pregnant forever.
You will come, and the end (our new beginning?) is so close.
Although I did send you
this message on Facebook this week, “Alright kiddo, perhaps you didn’t get the
memo, but space in your house is severely limited. If you want to kick like that, you’re going
to have to move out!” You’re still
moving and shaking, despite your increasing lack of space! At some point, my tiny tenant, your eviction
notice will be officially served! The
good news is I know for sure you have two feet, because I have felt them both
moving side by side at the same time!
In a book I’m reading
called “Simplicity Parenting,” the author talks about having rhythm in your
home. By “rhythm”, he means a broad
combination of predictability, schedules, routines, structure, things that can
be counted on to occur, so that children (and the entire family, really) have a
sense of peace and security.
There are a few pieces of
“rhythm” we have practiced during this pregnancy that should be noticeable to
you.
Of course I am awake
during the day, in which light shines into your house; and I sleep during the
night, in the dark, making it also dark in your house. My movement changes during the day and night. And even though during the day I often am
still, sitting at my desk at work, there is still more frequent movement than
at night.
Each morning on my way to
work, I say “Good morning, Beta!” Then I
tell you what day of the week it is, and what is on the agenda for the
day. Coming home from work, I sing at
least two songs to you, the same two songs each day. Some days I sing many different songs, but I
always sing at least those two.
Meals are another point
of rhythm. Your movement increases for a
while after I eat, which I imagine is because my digestive system makes enough
noise to wake you. You really “eat” (receiving
nutrients passed from my blood, to your placenta, to your blood) about two
hours after I do.
Finally, each evening
when we go to bed, your Daddy plays with you and talks to you. This might be at 9pm or at 10pm, but it
happens every night. Some nights you
have been very active during this time (which your Daddy loves), and other
nights you seem to rest or listen through it.
When he tells you “Goodnight, Beta!”, he always says, “I love you!” His recent nicknames for you are bumpy,
lumpy, and silly goose. He always asks
you “Watcha doin, Beta? Whatcha up to?”
If he can find your feet, he tickles them.
You still have hiccups
almost every day, and sometimes twice a day.
Now that you are so much bigger, your hiccups move your body strongly. And that moves MY belly strongly - I can feel and
see it!
Our friend Cindy finished
painting your dressers during the week.
Then your Daddy drilled holes in the drawers and installed new
knobs. We put all the drawers in place
and filled them up! The wide dresser is
your changing table, and holds cloth diapers and clothes. The tall dresser will be used by your Aunt
Priscilla, but one drawer contains your blankets and linens.
Then we hung shelves, artwork,
and pictures on the walls. Collected in
your room is hand-painted artwork from your Daddy, me, and your Tita (my
grandmother). I have one small piece of
art from Benjamin’s grandmother, but I still need to find a frame and spot for it. I love how so many pieces of your room have
been hand made with love from your parents, grandparents, aunts, and great
grand parents.
I was really hoping we
would be done with your nursery this weekend, but it is about 95%
completed! What remains are three little
things: I have one picture frame left to
paint. Your shoe rack needs to be washed
and hung on the wall. And when we raised
your crib up to infant height, we realized the crib skirt is not long
enough! It was sewed to the proper
length for the crib being at its lowest height (for toddlers). Your Grandmama is going to sew an extra
length of fabric and attach it with Velcro, so it can be added or removed
depending on the needed crib height.
Yesterday was my last
Sunday to play with our worship band at church.
I want to start clearing my schedule of responsibilities, so I can relax
and rest and be peaceful when you decide to arrive. I think you will miss it though, since you
usually spend most of our two-hour rehearsal dancing to the bass and drums!
Sunday I took photos of some friends of ours who are expecting their own “Beta”, who they call “Baby
Hope.” I’m sure the two of you will be
friends, because you will grow up together having been born days or weeks
apart.
This morning, I had a
couple symptoms I thought might be you coming, but it was a false alarm. You are still perfectly happy staying inside
me! The humorous part is my symptoms
occurred while I was photographing the labor of another expecting mommy, and
our midwife, Robin, is also her midwife.
Robin was pretty much begging me to be careful and not do anything to go
into labor since she had just delivered another baby right before the current
labor, and didn’t want a third to be immediately on the way! You were polite enough to respect her wishes.
Today, you didn’t really
stop moving until this afternoon! All
morning and midday you have been crazy active.
It amazes me how much you still move around and make your presence
known. I can feel your feet pushing,
sometimes your hands or knees wiggling, and definitely your head rotating in my
pelvis.
At our Friday appointment
with our midwife, you were sleeping. For
once you weren’t terribly squirmy when she tried to feel you. You are still in a perfect position, and your
house measures forty centimeters. Also, my body seems to have stabilized from the symptoms I had last week! I was so relieved and excited that prayers and vitamins have had such a positive effect.
According to averages,
you are now a bit over nineteen inches long, and weigh about seven pounds! Your development is complete, and now you
just keep gaining weight. The increase
in weight comes from fat, which means you have very little wrinkled skin
remaining. Instead, your skin is smooth
and plump. It is also a nice pink color
(or will be shortly after birth, since most babies are a bit purple when they
first emerge, until oxygen gets into their lungs). Some creamy vernix may remain on your skin,
but most of the lanugo should be gone.
As the lanugo has shed,
and as the vernix sheds over the next couple weeks, it is absorbed into the
amniotic fluid surrounding you. Since
you swallow this fluid, it is these waste products that primarily compose your
first bowel movements – meconium. Colostrum,
the first food you will receive, has natural laxative properties, which will
help your bowels push out the meconium, a sticky black substance, like tar. After two or three days of colostrum, you
will eat regular breast milk, and your bowel movements will change to the usual
mustard paste we see in breast fed newborns.
Your hands are already
strong, and will have a firm grasp when you are born. Finally, your lungs continue secreting even
more surfactant – the coating which allows the lungs to expand and fall
normally, instead of collapsing.
Sometime in the next few
weeks, you will need to find the door to your house, and follow its path into
fresh air. Your body will forge the path,
and my body will make space for you.
That journey we will do together, with the support of your Daddy, our
family, some friends, and our midwife.
As you search for the right path, remember that Jesus has already laid
it out before you, and will guide you through it at just the right time, in
just the right way. He has promised.
“You make Your saving
help my shield;
Your
help has made me great.
You provide a broad PATH
for my feet,
so that
my ankles do not give way.” (2 Samuel
22:36-37)
“You make known to me the
PATH of life;
You
will fill me with joy in Your presence,
with
eternal pleasures at Your right hand.
(Psalm 16:11)
“In you, LORD my God, I
put my trust.
Show me Your ways, LORD, teach
me Your PATHS.
Guide me in Your truth
and teach me,
for You
are God my Savior,
and my
hope is in You all day long. (Psalm
25:1,4,5)
“The LORD is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the
right PATHS for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for You
are with me…
Surely your goodness and
love will follow me
all the
days of my life,
and I will dwell in the
house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm
23:1-4,6)
