the waiting game

Mike and I are now well into the sitting-around-waiting-for-the-baby-to-get-here part of pregnancy, where we don't really know what to do with ourselves aside from talk about what it will be like when the baby arrives and stare, wide-eyed, at each other as we let it sink in that these are our last weeks/days/hours before we officially become parents. We have been doing our best to keep ourselves distracted this weekend, which was made easier by the absolutely gorgeous weather we woke up to this morning!

We spent the first part of our day taking a walk in the sunshine and sucking down milkshakes on the boardwalk.


We admired the view of our little harbor, though it is still quite barren-looking without all the boats of summer. This, of course, wasn't fully a distraction from thinking about the little alien, because we started imagining what fun it will be to take her for walks down to the water and show her all the fun our town has to offer, especially during the crazy tourist-season months!

We also treated ourselves to a date night, and I jammed my swollen hooves into a pair of heels that I should have seriously reconsidered wearing. I got lots of impressed looks from other diners, and managed to keep the shoes on all through dinner and even halfway up the street to our car at the end of the night... but then I took a peek to see if anyone was looking and just ripped them off and hobbled barefoot the rest of the way. Luckily, Mikey treated me to a nice loooong foot rub when we got home, which brought some feeling back to my toes. Currently, swollen hands, feet, ankles, and calves are my biggest pregnancy maladies, which my midwife says is pretty much to be expected at this point.

As an aside, it's Restaurant Week in Maine, so all you fellow Maine-iacs should get out and grab a meal for a steal! Mike and I treated ourselves to a 3-course meal at our favorite Lily Bistro for just $20 apiece. Gave me an excuse to get dressed up for probably the last time in the foreseeable future, and Moohoo loved the food so much she treated us to a particularly emphatic kick-and-punch belly show at the end of the night.

To close this post, I wanted to share a picture of my mother during her pregnancy for me. As I've gone through the craziness of the past 38 weeks, it has helped to hear from other moms about what things were normal, challenging, and rewarding for them when they were carrying their babies. My mom has been the greatest sounding board and empathizer of all, and it has made me feel a new connection to her as I've imagined her going through this incredible experience to bring me into the world. It's hard to believe that she was also once playing this same waiting game, wondering who her daughter(s) would be.

This picture below is of her, just a few weeks before I was born. If there was ever a question about what my body would look like pregnant, this picture provides the answer. While I don't normally think that my mom and I look much alike, I can only see myself in her body's profile in this picture. If she could deliver 9lb 14oz me, I know I will find the strength to see Moohoo into the world.