Twenty-Nine Days

Twenty-nine days until my "guess date."

Hypnobabies uses this term, and I like it, as it's a good reminder that library books are due on a given day, but babies pretty much come when they damn well feel like it.

Though I'm very much hoping that Lentil feels like coming, say, a week before her due date.

Yesterday I had tons of Braxton-Hicks contractions, including three about ten minutes apart... that ?sadly resolved when I finally emptied my bladder.

I also experienced painful kicking yesterday from The Girl for the first time. Oww!

Today, though, all is quiet on the southern front. Except for having a couple sore spots on my ribs. I think they are actually tender lymph nodes, and not my ribs themselves. I will ask the midwife what that's about. I've also got a very sore left arch of my foot.

Otherwise, I feel good. I'm still sleeping great, for which I am exceedingly grateful. It's a little strange being home now, full time. I haven't been outside yet today, though I'm about to hit the library, the dollar store, and the shoe/watch repair man. Later I'm heading to the upper west side for dinner and maybe a couple of quick errands, including a new pair of flip flops that will hopefully be easier on my feet.

I made an appointment for acupuncture for next week, my first since first trimester, per the advice of both my midwife and my acupuncturist. Apparently it might help labor start in a timely fashion (which, of course, means not any time in the next two-three weeks, alas). Truly, though, I'm not quite ready for this little girl to arrive... even while I'm impatient. Plus, I know she's better off with a few more weeks in cooker.

Today is my first day home after a visit to my sister's family in the Berkshires, and I made a good start on tackling my lengthy to do list. Of particular note, I finished my will, using Legal Zoom. I agonized over this quite a bit, going the cheap route versus meeting with an attorney and possibly even creating a trust to the tune of $1500 or more, money I don't feel like I necessarily have... But I finally consulted my mother, an attorney, who advised me that unless the will is contested, there's no real issue with the risk of going the cheap-o route. And she doesn't think our family will contest the will. So I decided to save my pennies for daycare instead.

I also completed Health Care Proxy and Power of Attorney forms on the Legal Zoom site. I'm pleased to have this all taken care of, given that I promised myself to complete it at twenty-four weeks. I'm usually better about keeping my commitments to myself about things like this.

I also ordered my jogging stroller, the Bob Revolution, with various accouterments (all a gift from my best friend Scott, the one who gave me the elliptical... he knows how important exercise is to my sanity), a blender, printer cartridge, and baby gifts for a friend. For those who worry about the risks inherent in parenting solo... my dear friend, though married, had a brain tumor a few years back, and has been warned that she has a limited lifespan... typically 7-10 years before the tumor returns... how anyone can make that decision, to have a child or not in those circumstances, is beyond me... But what wonderful parents she and her lovely husband are, I am sure.

Tomorrow I'm having professional maternity photos taken. One more thing to cross off the list of things that must be done before the baby arrives. Next up is theater tickets next weekend to see the Broadway musical Anything Goes, featuring my favorite heartthrob, ?septegenarian Joel Gray. What can I say: I have a thing for old guys. (Actually, my [former] running group, the Hash House Harriers, aka The Drinking Club with a Running Problem... they name all the members... and my name? AARPenis. I kid you not. Because my ex is twenty-three years older than me.)




Every Hash House Harriers kennel has an annual red dress run. This one apparently took place in Lima, Peru.