Belly Ponderings

We had our second childbirth class last night. It was a bit intense. Because of the freak snow and ice storms earlier this month we missed a session so we got to watch all the less awesome videos back to back in the condensed catch up class. The ones on birth complications, labor augmentation, c-sections... and the list goes on all effectively made me feel a little ill. Luckily they went for slightly less graphic animated views of things like breaking the waters and Cesarean, but it didn't make it any less weird when applied to the little person who was kicking away inside as though to say , "don't even try that stuff on me!"

We're planning to have the baby naturally. Apparently this is less common than I thought, and is the most popular question that people ask when they see a distended belly. "Have you given any thought to how you want to deliver?" Are you kidding? Of course I think about it. Like every few minutes when I again realize she has to be born somehow. It reminds me of a similarly awkward tendency for people to ask what my life plan was senior year of college. When it comes down to it if I answered 90% of those asking, most of whom are pretty much strangers, they would likely be equally satisfied by something ridiculous as by my painfully sincere and overly thoughtful response. I'm tempted to say- "we're going for a zero gravity birth in a space shuttle" or "I've heard great things about hand stands and hard core drugs to induce labor." I've come to realize that no matter how personal it is to be pregnant, it's also possibly the most public thing you can do as a woman. It's pretty hard to hide, and I wouldn't want to anyway.

In nursery news we're planning on finishing up this weekend. We had a fruitful pre-class trip to Ikea last night. Let me rephrase that to be more accurate. I am hoping to get everything finished this weekend and hope that Mike is on board for spending his days off working on some, mostly frivolous, decorations for his child's room. He's been a trooper so far.

Also on the table this weekend- I am meeting with a potential Nanny share candidate. She may be WAY out of our budget, but with the chance of a wait list at the neighborhood daycare center I want to have a backup option. Fingers crossed. We're also attending a good friend's birthday party. It seems as though all of my favorite people were born within my 9 months of booze free time. There are 3 other months in the year! But, this particular individual knows how to have a pregnant friendly party. While I cannot partake in the lovely craft beer and sparkly wine selections, The party is a pie party, so.... me and baby are going to chow down.

Happy weekend to all!