"Mrs. Rife, I have to say, you are gigantic"

Such was the word from one of the secrataries at our school this morning, after I ran in to make copies. Now before you get too hard on her, she is a very nice person and I wholeheartedly agree with her. Most pregnant women would make a sour face at such a comment, but frankly, she is only stating what everyone else is thinking of.

Indeed, the recent prediction on the part of many is that I will not be making it all the way to July 11. Both Glenn's and my own dad believe that little Jamie will be making an early surprise appearance sometime in June. Frankly, I wouldn't mind him being a little early. And then at school this morning, several people asked me when I was due. Upon hearing that I was due in July and still had roughly two more months, one woman said, "Hmm, you are looking pretty big for July. I'm not sure that you will make it."

I guess we will see, won't we?

For all those, though, that know that I had a pretty easy pregnancy, I am definitely floating into the really uncomfortable part of it all now. Those last two months, when the thought of moving too much is just annoying. After another baby shower this past weekend, I am left with another living room of items to be put away. And yet, every time I look at all that stuff, I just think, "Oh, do I really need to move all of that?" The biggest frustration is the memory of how fast I usually scoot around a room, putting things away. Carrying things here and there and zipping up the stairs. And as much as I would like that to happen now, and as simple to put away all these things would have been even two months ago, now I know that heaving it around will make me out of breathe and take about 3 times as long. Which makes me just look away and go to another room.

And the ankles? Can we talk about the ankles? If that is what those stumps actually are that are attached to my large and swollen feet. For the first time this past weekend, I noticed that my ankles were about twice as big as they should be. Last night, when I pushed on the lump of fluid on top of my foot, I was strangely hypnotized by the fact that it left a little dent for a moment or two. So amazed that I had to demonstrate the concept to two students who hang out in my room after the final bell. Needless to say, those two boys sympathize greatly with me and ordered me to go straight home and sit down.

That is actually, the same prognosis that Glenn has made in the last few days. Seeing how swollen I am becoming, he has ordered me to the recliner for the last two nights. In fact, last night, he yelled at me when I got up to get pillows to prop my feet up further. "You need to say to me, 'Husband, I need some pillows. Go get me some pillows.'" And yes, that is what he said word-for-word. When I came home early from school today, he said the same thing. I was sent to the recliner and he went to the kitchen to make my after-school snack of banana and Nutella on graham crackers, which by the way is fantastic!! And tonight, in light of some nagging belly pains, he helped me make dinner.

The teamwork we show makes me feel confident in our ability to make it through the sleepless nights and rough days full of crying. Not to mention the whole labor and delivery thing.

But before you get all worried, know that by the time I wake up in the morning, my ankles go back to normal (ready to swell again another day).

Getting to know Jamie's to-be best buddy, Christopher

There's no doubt that, for me, I could watch little kids run around all day and just crack up the whole time. Between all the different babies/ toddlers around me, I get a lot of entertainment. Part of the entertainment is getting to see them figuring things out one day at a time.

My friend Monica has a 18 month old son, Christopher, who I see about every week at dance practice. Over the past few months, Monica has made him aware that the big bulge coming out of me is a baby. At Starbuck's about a month ago, he freely did what he has seen his mom do a lot-- he put his hand on my belly. He even went so far as to move Monica's hand away, when she wanted to feel Jamie move too. Each time he sees me, Christopher repeats this, as though to remind me, that I am carrying a baby.

At practice the other day, though, he took this a step further. Sitting on Monica's lap next to me, Christopher once again reached out to my belly. Putting his hand there, he looked at it, and quietly said, "Baby." I must admit, I was a little shocked. He had never actually put two and two together before.

According to Monica, he has been doing this a lot lately. In the supermarket, he points at strollers and other babies, and just says "Baby." In fact, after he touched my belly and declared it a baby, he revealed that he may still be a little confused. He tried to lift up my tank top, as though to say, "Well, they keep saying it's a baby, but man, they should let that poor guy out!"

Shower #2: The Work Shower

At the end of any Friday, getting together after work is always a good idea. And thus, I was delighted last Friday as both Glenn's and my departments came together to have a baby shower for us. Naturally, the shower was held at Judy's, as she has the party house du jour. And, even better, we had my favorite type of food-- barbeque. BBQ beef, baked beans, potato salad, macaroni salad, meatballs, buns, cornbread... I mean, really, what more could I have asked for?

The shower was a success and it left us with a good amount of chocolate cake and another bundle of goodies. We received the last of our big items-- the Pack n Play-- as well as many of the smaller things that we had put on our registry.

All of this meant something great for Glenn-- more stuff to put together. Actually, the Pack N Play is pretty amazing. Well, at least it was from the angle I was waching from. Who is to say how I will feel about it once I have to be the one to put the Pack n Play together.

Also interesting at the shower was a game we played in which everyone had to predict my answers on whether I wanted James to have certain features from Glenn or myself: eyes, ears, mouth, nose, humor, teeth, height, weight, and personality. I am happy to say, at least, that Glenn and I were right on board with each other on this one. And here are the answers, for future posterity: Eyes: Me, Ears: Me, Mouth: Glenn, Humor: Me, Teeth: Glenn, Height: Glenn, Weight: Glenn, Personality: Me. You may have noticed that I left out Nose. However, that is something else that Glenn and I have agreed on-- either way, he is screwed. :)

Thank you to all my colleagues for the great get together and especially for all the awesome food! I'll be asking for some recipes soon.

30 weeks and still growing....

I have now hit 30 weeks, which means I am only 10 weeks away from the big day. It seems to be passing like lightning these days. With another month came another visit to the doctor, which also meant meeting another doctor from my practice.

This time I met Dr. Dobrinksi. I know that isn't how you spell it, but it is close to a phonetic spelling. When she walked in, I thought she looked a little bigger in the same places as I am, but I didn't want to say anything. Lo and behold, she informed me that she was, in fact, due a week after I am. How interesting. A doctor who is going through the exact same thing as I am, at the same time. Needless to say, with so much in common with her, I like her the best of all. Of course, I am sure that she won't be my doctor, as she may be in the same situation I am, at the same time.

In any case, as she sat down, she asked how the pregnancy had been. In her words, "on paper, you look fantastic." Lucky for me, I do, in fact, feel fantastic as well. (Which by the way, is the most common question I have to answer-- "How are you feeling?" For better or worse, I never have a very interesting answer to this.)

The heart rate was good. I measured right where I should. I apparently passed my glucose test two weeks ago, and I even have enough iron and don't have to take added supplements for that. From where she found the heartbeat, it is her belief that he is already turning towards being head down. Normally, this happens at 32 weeks, so I guess I am a bit ahead of schedule. I always was an overachiever. Apparently, I have passed that on to my son.

Frankly, two weeks early would be okay, as long as he is okay. That would be two more weeks I would get to have with Glenn, Jamie, and I all together in the summer. But we shall see...

Coming soon.... Glenn and I start our childbirth classes on Wednesday. Can't wait to watch the video. (Sarcasm)

High five, little guy!

I am beginning to think that Jamie is REALLY running out of room. The movement I feel with him is almost constant when I am sitting down. When I am standing, I rarely feel much of anything, but as soon as I am still, he feels the need to remind me of his presence-- as though I were going to forget.

However, it is undeniable how amazing and hypnotic it is. Sitting in my recliner, watching TV, with my laptop on a pillow in my lap, there is a wave of motion in my belly. A little brush here, a little bounce there. But really, it isn't so much kicking any more. It used to be, that I would feel a sharp smack somewhere in my belly. Not it kinda feels like he is moving his hand across the inside of my belly. Like might happen if he were rolling over and ran out of room. And from the pictures my book has shown me, he most certainly is running out of room!

The coolest part of all this, though, is when he seems to settle mid-shift. It begins with a normal motion. That usual little skim across my belly, but then the movement stops. Yet, I often find I am left with some tiny pressure in one particular place. His favorite place to press is right up next to my belly button. I can't help but think, is my belly button poking in, making him curious as to what that "button" is. Making him wonder, what happens if he presses it. In any case, when this happens, I can't help but stop and put my hand there.

Undoubtedly, I feel a little hard spot, obviously different from the slightly soft spots everywhere else. So I will gently push down on it and then suddenly, the hard spot is gone. I like to tell my students that he is giving me a high five, as I believe that the location indicates that it is a hand, rather than a foot.

My other new obsession is to sit in my chair and just watch my belly, as he flips and flops around. My whole belly quakes and bounces suddenly here and there. The other day, for the first time, I saw a limb push out and along the curve of my body for a second. I have been told of this phenomenon and it certainly is cool! When I called Glenn over to watch "the show" this morning, he could barely believe that this is happening all the time inside of me.

The next step will be when he does indeed decide to make his presence known while I am up in front of a classroom of 20 some students. I can hardly wait. They are already loving observing my new "almost outie".