So this is the weekend I've had slotted for a while to unpack & wash baby items. I have most of my baby clothes present & accounted for, some of the dingier things from my son (that I did not find until we were moving) have soaked, and the first batch is in the wash. The "washing baby clothes" is perceived by some as "nesting"--at least, that's what my mom told me with the last one. Well, she was right. . . I did have her within 3-4 days, though only at 37 weeks or so (I suspect I was more like 38 weeks). However, it tends to feel more like a rational decision than an impulsive burst of energy, so I just don't know. Tonight, I bought a new Sterilite drawer unit for the clothes. Plastic drawers are pretty standard for my newborns!
So I'm 37 weeks, and I feel that the preparations should begin.
Meanwhile, my husband (who had already washed most of the other clothes in the house in order to make way for my baby clothes washing) evaluated the situation with carseats. My daughter is now behind the driver's seat, the new baby will be in the middle, and my son will be behind the passenger--except that I have declared him an adult for airbag purposes, and decided that he may now sit in the front when my husband is not with us. He's taller and heavier than some adults, even though he is 10 and not 12. He takes adult doses of medicine (at least, he could, but I am a medicine minimalist and would prefer to give him the age-appropriate dose if it does the trick!!). The original plan was to put the toddler seat in the middle, but the infant seat did not fit well behind the driver's seat and our vehicle has side-impact airbags. With the infant seat so close to the door, it just didn't feel safe to me. Big brother is behind the passenger because of the carpool line at his school--someone is always trying to help my toddler out of the car to go to 5th grade.
This doesn't feel like nesting to me, as I've said, but a funny thing happened tonight when we went to eat supper (out, a rare treat these days). I have been craving fresh tomatoes for 2 days, but on our way to get sandwiches or pitas (with extra tomato, please!), I decided that chinese food sounded good. Once inside the restaurant, nothing would satisfy but the spiciest darned thing on the menu--which they made extra spicy: Jjambbong. Ask Mrs. Darwin, she knows!! It's a Korean soup with seafood, pork, veggies, round noodles, and some pretty spicy peppers. Almost as soon as I ordered, I remembered that eating spicy foods is one of those old "tricks" that supposedly stimulates labor. At any rate, it's traditional to try that route when overdue. Most of my brain (the rational part, which I hope dominates at least most of the time) feels confident that this is a myth--though not one the Mythbusters will test any time soon. The irrational part of me was perhaps a little hesitant to dip into my soup-of-flaming-chiles. I am fairly confident that the baby comes when the baby is ready--spicy food or no spicy food. But if the baby decided to be ready tonight or tomorrow, I would wonder. . . I'm not really ready, so hang on baby, and I'll put the Tabasco away!!
UPDATE: Probably by sheer coincidence, I had my very first REAL, NATURAL contraction last night--as in, too painful to be a Braxton-Hicks, and not induced by pitocin. Now, this is somewhat encouraging. On the other hand, it scared me silly!! Both the pain and the fact of the thing which, by my calculation, should not be happening yet. I stayed stock-still in bed until morning because I didn't want to do anything to trigger more. I am telling myself that I would have handled it better in daylight hours. And had I not written this post about stimulating labor only hours before. . .
5 comments:
I think it sounds like your nesting too--laundry combined with your nothing-satisfies cravings. So sweet!
I'm so excited for you! I have baby fever bad.
I know what you mean about not wanting to call what you're doing "nesting."
I hate labels, myself. Especially when poked at me with "knowing" looks by clusters of people nodding their heads together-- who are trying to analyze me based on what they think they know.
"Oh it's getting on to *that* time. Oh look, she's getting ready. Isn't that *adorable*!"
I wonder if there is any time I could do something for the coming baby w/o it being called nesting.
("Wow, she's nesting early!")
*sigh*
I've lived in a "fishbowl" much of my life. I've gotten used to it but never liked it.
Hmmm... I don't think it's quite that conscious with me! I don't have a lot of people observing me--I'm not the kind of person who inspires that kind of involvement. Like no one tries to rub my belly. I'm kind of like a pregnant porcupine. ;)
I guess I just don't recognize it as what's always been described in the books, combined with not wanting an early baby--I like them to have some additional time to fatten up!! But I have certainly reached a point where "waiting for baby" seems like the agenda rather than "finishing dissertation chapter" or "grading exams & research papers"! Maybe it's not wanting to admit that I'm preparing, not so much resisting the label. Anyway, I'm enjoying it, whatever it is! And kind of laughing at myself, too! ;)
Mm, spicy Jjambbong! That was good stuff.
We had three car seats in the back of a sedan for a while, and I found it easiest to put the baby's seat in the middle. It just seemed to fit there most conveniently. It was a bit of a hassle reaching over the other car seats to snap in the carrier, but it would have been more of a hassle to try and buckle the middle seat belt all the time.
You'll be in my prayers over the next few weeks...
YEA! I know it's too early but still it's promising. Hopefully she'll hold off another couple weeks and you'll go into labor on your own!!
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