And then there will be three...

Before long, we will welcome baby Eleanor into the world! Due on December 28, 2005, our little girl already seems anxious to get out and meet everyone.

It doesn’t seem so long ago that Vince and I were staring dumbfounded at the home pregnancy test. I don’t think either of us thought it could possibly be true. It was though, and now we are so excited to meet this new little life.

Pregnancy has been a fairly smooth ride for me. No morning sickness, though I did feel faint every now and then early on. That is actually why we got the home test, I remembered my friend Andrea B. telling me that she found out she was expecting because she passed out in the shower! Cravings in the first few months were only sort of weird: hard-boiled eggs (five at a time), fettuccini alfredo (several days in a row), and slurpees from 7/11 all summer long. I did have the weird sensation of my right leg falling asleep all the time in the beginning, some sort of pressure on the sciatic nerve. Thankfully, as the baby got bigger that went away though.
As the baby has grown, so has my belly. It sticks straight out, 30 lbs (so far) of baby hanging right out front. One of my friends at work, Jackie S., suggested that this is the best time to clean out your belly button and now I see what she means. Where I used to have a hole, now I have a little protrusion of soft skin, which has never seen the light of day. I have had some lower back pain but it is amazing what a hot water bottle or a hot shower can do. Prenatal yoga has also been very good for gentle stretching and relaxing.

One of the many amazing things about pregnancy is that the measurement (in centimeters) from the pubic bone to the top of the uterus, which the doctors can feel by gently pushing on my stomach, is equal to the number of weeks along in the pregnancy. Whoever figures these things out?!

Now, as we get near to the arrival date, it is funny how emotional everything becomes. (Ok, maybe that was true throughout the whole pregnancy!) I see babies and spontaneously weep. Vince is wonderful to put up with these emotional roller coasters, which, try as I might, I have no control over. That is one of the many reasons why I love having him as my husband and partner as we begin this family of our own together.

I feel the baby rolling around and stretching out, it is like nothing I can describe. When she was smaller I would say it was like the little rubber hammer that doctors use to test reflexes, except gently tapping in my belly. Now it just feels like one of those alien movies where everything is pulled and pushed all out of shape before something comes springing out of someone’s belly. You can actually see a foot or elbow moving around. I haven’t been around many pregnant women for any extended period of time so it seems really miraculous to me. I think everyone should see and feel a baby moving inside its mommy’s tummy.

One of my favorite things about having this baby inside me is how Vince loves her already. He makes whale sounds (think Finding Nemo) and sings sweet little songs to her. My favorite that he sings is the song “Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby” that Emmylou Harris, Allison Krauss, and Gillian Welch sing on the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. He of course makes up some of his own words, but that makes it all the more endearing.

At a recent appointment in the 30th week of pregnancy, the doctor at the hospital told us that baby E’s legs were already measuring at 33 weeks. I guess she is going to be a runner like her dad. At another appointment, the doctor said that through the ultrasound they could tell she already has hair. This led Vince and I to, again, debate what color the hair on our little monkey might be. Amazing the technology!

Probably the most frightening part of the pregnancy was the trip to the hospital for some bleeding at 30 weeks, which is why we had additional ultrasounds. The fantastic doctors and midwives at the Physicians and Midwives Collaborative Practice had me stay overnight for monitoring and to be seen by a perinatal specialist. Everyone was so good to us and it was reassuring to know that we will get the best possible care when it comes time to deliver. In the end, after two weeks of bed rest, the problems that they feared (placenta previa, placental abruption) were not substantiated. Apparently, sometimes bleeding just happens and they never figure out why.

Now that appointments are weekly, the doctors and midwives have said that baby Eleanor is head down, with her back on my right side and her legs over on my left. I guess she will probably stay in that position until she is born. She is measuring well and her heartbeat is strong when the doctors and midwives listen with the little Doppler machine. I guess the next update will be at baby Eleanor’s arrival. And then an overwhelming overload of proud parent pictures!