The big countdown

Everyone is expecting a baby.

Now.

They have placed their bets.

I believe the first bet is for January 9th, my brother’s birthday. Not to make judgments but I have a feeling this would be a bit early. But only I know this!! Only I know what’s going on in my belly!  Since January 9th is tomorrow I believe that this date of delivery would be unlikely! Especially since I’m not “due” for a few weeks yet. My delivery date was assigned according to an early pregnancy ultrasound, and I am told that it is more likely to be accurate compared to due dates based on last menstrual period. But we shall see!

The contractions have started, but they are pretty intermittent and rare. I’m not even sure that they are contractions. It simply feels like my stomach is tightening for a few seconds, to the point that I have to pause in what I’m doing to allow it to pass. The movements and changes have no regularity so I know that this is probably someting early, probably something “Braxton-Hicks”-like. It is pretty funny to go through late pregnancy for the first time. People ask, “Are you contracting?” and I may say “yes” or “no” but truly I am not always sure.  I do not always have words to describe how I feel, how quick events can affect my emotional state profoundly and how all of a sudden I can get back ot normal. Sometimes my belly just feels like it is cramping for 10-15 seconds.  I think and hope I’m contracting, but I am not sure.  Let’s just say that even though I knew that being a mom is special, it is definitely different going through the third trimester oneself in comparison to teaching and preaching about it when I was a medical student.

And even the decision-making process I’ve gone through involves much daily thought – planning what to buy, who I want to be at different events, when I find that it will be safe to travel. My ideas and conceptions have changed so much compared to what I wanted prior to pregnancy, what I wanted during pregnancy, and how I feel now that the baby is imminent.

The biggest mind-blowing phenomenon to me is not the idea of having a baby in the world. That fact makes me happy and excited and I have some idea what to expect (and every idea that the unexpected will happen). But just think about it. There is a whole life that T and I have created. What we are going through now, our child could be going through 30 years from now. It is just amazing to think that we will be bringing into the world a person, someone who will be contributing TO that world one day and becoming a productive person in the world. That is the true miracle of a baby.