Pippa, Rowan, and a little bit of other stuff...

The Literary Festival is at Duke right now, and James' cousins came up from Wilmington to stay with us. Last night we went to a talk by Barbara Kingsolver which was the keynote address. An Asian man sitting in front of me turned around and said "Your baby will be a great writer." and then turned back around. A much better prophecy than "you're going to have twins after all", or "you'll go into labor at this very moment" :) We did sit in an aisle seat in the back just in case my water broke, but we probably jinxed it as nothing eventful happened other than the seats being horribly uncomfortable.

We had our clinic appointment today -- everything is going great. Pippa is no longer "running large" but is right where she should be in terms of size, etc (tho I still think she's going to be pretty big). Yippee. Sadly, there is "no progress" in terms of impending labor, so I think 3 weeks is probably a good estimate of how much longer I've got.

A few weeks ago my grandfather had a dream that the doctors said Pippa would be born on May 5th, and I wouldn't need a C-section. My grandparents have a history of prophetic dreams, so everyone keep their fingers crossed -- I'm tired of being pregnant!

James and I were in the grocery store Saturday, and a woman came up and said "You're having a boy, aren't you?" She was very surprised by the girl answer (supposedly boys are carried all in the front, and with girls you get fat all over). Then she asked if I was due this week. When I told her I had 4 more weeks to go, she said "Oh, I don't think so, honey". I'm actually now relieved by the fortune-telling of strangers, whereas it used to just amuse me. Sad.

This was a very busy weekend. Friday, we went house hunting with my mother in Salisbury, NC. After viewing 10 houses we found one she loved -- they made an offer, the owners counter-offered, and they're still negotiating. Hopefully it'll all work out :) Saturday and Sunday we had the last of our baby classes, thank goodness. We are now completely prepared for labor, birth, and parenthood. Right. Yesterday, we did some wrap-up shopping of items we'd need if Pippa was born this week -- again, I'm ever hopeful. James is worried that we won't have our hospital bags packed, so we're tackling that first thing this week. This week I start leaving a few hours early every day to get more rest, and follow doctors' orders.

So here are some recent photos.

Two weekends ago, some friends from DC came down--

Alan

&

Dana

Here are even more photos from the day that our friend Jim took:

We had a baby shower on Sunday -- it was SO much fun!! About 25 people came, including many babies and toddlers. We got lots of great presents -- everyone was so generous! Our two good friends and baby shower hostesses, Ruffin and Lisa, and several of the guests, provided delicious goodies that we're still eating our way through -- one of the best things about parties is the leftovers!

The bed rest of last week went fine -- I didn't get really stir-crazy until the end. I'm feeling much better and realize that I need to rest more than I do; which honestly doesn't seem possible. So I tried yesterday by coming home and taking a nap, then working out (if you can call it that at this point, it's really more like me moving around some until I get really tired), walking dogs, putting my feet up, helping w/ dinner, then collapsing in bed. Not sure it really worked -- I'm zonked today. It seems so silly to me that I'm this tired all the time -- it's not like I'm doing much during the day other than carrying around the extra weight; and with regards to that I walk very slowly and take elevators when I can. I agree with the folks who say the reason you're tired for no good reason at the end of your pregnancy is to prepare yourself for when the baby is actually here and you're up all night with her. Whoopee.

Today I've got an appointment at the clinic -- from now on I'll have weekly appointments for the last stretch, ugh! My grandfather had a dream over the weekend that I wouldn't have to have a C-section because Pippa wasn't too big, and that she would come on May 5th. Here's hoping that comes true :)

Thanks for everyone's concern -- I really didn't mean to worry you!! While technically, I'm on "bed rest" -- it's really like bed rest for wusses... more just keeping my feet up. Pippa is absolutely fine, as am I -- neither of us is compromised in any way. I don't have to lie down, I can recline w/ my feet up, I can get up when I need to, I don't have to stay still even when I'm resting (I can shift around, etc). The point is to get my weight off my legs to give them a chance to recover from the nerve pinching.

My first day off my feet was pretty good. I didn't go as stir-crazy as I thought I would. I read 3 1/2 books, and ate some junk food. Today I'm going to try and eat better :) The nice thing was we had a baby class last night (Breastfeeding), so I got to get out a bit (I sat, and put my feet up at the class). And tonight we have another one (Pain Management -- timely, I thought). Friday I can take completely off, then Saturday we've got class in the morning (I forget which one). Sunday is our baby shower which I'm really looking forward to -- even though James is going to be the one who has to clean the house for it (see previous Saint James post). Then back to work on Monday and hopefully feeling much better!!

Our appointment this week had mixed results. The good news is that Pippa has slowed down a bit in size; I'm now measuring only a week and a half or so ahead. So maybe she won't be a giant after all :) One of the reasons we were glad we had an appointment this week is that I've been having severe pain on my right side and leg. So they made sure I wasn't going into labor (I'm not), and that nothing is wrong w/ Pippa (she's fine). I assumed they were going to tell me to just suck it up and move on, which I was perfectly ready to do -- sadly, instead she recommended bed rest for 3-5 days. We compromised, and I'm going to take it easy this weekend and if it doesn't get better then I'll do bed rest for part of next week. We've got company here this weekend, but luckily they're very easy-going and I've been able to sit around w/ my legs up resting. Of course, James has been doing everything in terms of cooking and cleaning (even more than normal), and that will continue thru next week -- one more reason he's an absolute Saint.