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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Life snapshot

Here we are, officially in week 27 as of yesterday. Our baby is getting so old! S/he's practically a newborn! (I made that joke to Frank yesterday and he found it less funny than I did.)

When I told my family at dinner last night that we'd hit third trimester, my dad revealed that he's been keeping track of the baby's medical viability outside the womb. "Lung development will be good by now," he said, "but vision would be poor." Having a doctor for a dad is always a hoot. (And reading about Grace's experiences being married to a resident gives me new respect for my parents as young'uns.)

We've been at my parents' for dinner the last two nights because Sunday is our traditional dinner-with-the-family night, which lately has turned into football night (for Frank, Dad and my brother) and get-the-latest-Rainbow-Loom-craft-from-Angela (for Frank and me). The Rainbow Loom craze has hit her hard, especially since she got a loom for Christmas. At least she knows her target audience—she keeps offering us trinkets shaped like wine bottles and wine glasses. We were over there again last night because I had the day off from work (thank you, MLK!) so we took the opportunity to hit up the Ikea near my parents' for baby ideas. We came home with a package of child water glasses, frozen meatballs, and cinnamon buns, but no actual baby supplies.

Lately I've been perfecting my master list of what we actually need for the baby—the theme is "minimalist" since our apartment is about as tiny as the name of this blog implies. One of these days I'm going to share the list on here so all you veteran moms can weigh in. Meanwhile I'll keep subjecting Frank-the-long-suffering to extended monologues on the benefits of travel systems vs. convertible car seats vs. umbrella strollers. Don't get me started on where the baby is going to sleep. Between the bassinet my mom has saved in her basement, reading about the benefits of co-sleeping from my former professor, and helpful relatives who told me their child slept in a laundry basket for his first 6 months and turned out just fine, I really don't know what to think. Is there a single aspect to this baby thing I haven't extensively over-thought? I think not.

Here, I thought you guys might enjoy a "bump photo" as I believe they are called:


This was taken right before I headed out for Chicago's annual March for Life (in warmer clothes, though). I so wish I could be at the big one in DC, reuniting with all my wonderful DC friends, but sadly that whole middle-of-the-week thing killed that plan. I posted a link to this article and video on Facebook with the accompanying message, "Loved this coverage of yesterday's March, especially the video. My baby and I marched on behalf of all the babies who have no one to speak for them. Now more than ever I realize how precious every life is."

It's true. Few things can bring home the horror of abortion more than realizing that my baby, to whom I feel so connected and whom I love so much—AND who is fully viable outside the womb at this point, albeit with probable health issues—could legally be killed if I felt differently than I do. Isn't that the most horrible thing you've ever heard? I can never get used to it, no matter how many times I think about it. I've already written a whole lot on here about participating in protests, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Today I worked from home because of last night's snowstorm that made the roads terrible. This is my third? fourth? snow day this winter (I lose count). Snow days never get old; I love it every time I get to work from home. Normally I take advantage of being home to cook a bunch of stuff (soup, bread) and clean the house, but today was so action-packed at work that I never even got around to making lunch. 


Now I'm waiting for Frank to get home from work so we can meet some new friends for dinner (new friends who are also expecting a baby! Hurray for pregnant friends!). But first I must attend to a veritable Everest of dirty dishes, so I'll leave you here for now. Hope everyone is staying cozy and warm in this polar tundra.

13 comments:

  1. You are soooooo cute!!

    I got nothing to say about where a baby ought to sleep. I'm pretty indifferent to the different methods psychology suggests. I look forward to hearing what you decide, though ;)

    God bless!

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  2. Isaac was born at 27 weeks 1 day. He's doing so great. I hear the third trimester's uncomfortable but worth it for sure. :) congrats!

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  3. The minimalist approach is a good one. In this regard I am happy that my first go-arounds with newborns were via adoption, and therefore we had no time/notification for loading up on equipment. It is very possible to have nothing but a car seat and everything will be fine :). There are also gifts to make room for!

    I love reading about your pregnancy. Your photo is darling.

    We were hit with quite a bit of snow today (DC area) and it's still falling. Lots of people's march for life plans have been majorly snarled.

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    1. Colleen, what great perspective. I love your comment that you can start out with just a car seat and everything will still work out just fine. :) I need to keep that in mind more often!

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  4. You really are just gorgeous. Pregnancy suits you! Your approach to impending motherhood is so similar to my own that it's scary. We brought Margot home to a tiny one bedroom walk up apartment, so minimalism was the idea du jour for us. And it really did work well! To this day, we're very minimal compared to a lot of the other families in our playgroup. Sometimes it makes me feel a wee bit guilty, especially as Margot gets older and doesn't have the piles of cool toys other kiddos have. But then, she's so active and imaginative already that I can't imagine it being anything but a blessing to know the value of simplicity.

    Another thought (because I haven't been verbose enough, I guess!): we actually didn't have a stroller for the first six months, and even now the stroller we have is one we got for free and have only used a few times. Our reasoning: we lived in a walk up, so we didn't want to be dragging the stroller up and down stairs; we didn't have storage for the stroller in our apartment; the sidewalks in the area were (and are) extremely narrow and bumpy, not good for strolling in the stroller at all; and babywearing has decent benefits as far as snuggling/bonding goes. We still babywear either in the Ergo or a woven wrap, and it's great because Margot has a great view of everything, I keep her close, and we can navigate crowded places really easily. Just a thought! The moby and other stretchy wraps like it are fantastic during the early months because you can snuggle with baby as you are up doing (cozy! non-strenuous!) things around the home postpartum.

    Sorry. I can't help myself. Pregnancy/babyrearing is my favorite topic and I know you're an information glutton like me :)

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  5. Oh, you look so great! I'm so excited for you guys!

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  6. Yay for bump pictures! We miss you so much here, too! The March was *cold* but very fun :)

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  7. So stinking cute!!! Can't believe it's third trimester. Can't wait to read your list.

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  8. ahhh i fell out of reading blogs so i totally missed the news but congrats tess!!!!! just by reading your blog i know you and frank will be incredible parents.

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  9. I get $20 for each 20 minute survey!

    Guess what? This is exactly what large companies are paying me for. They need to know what their average customer needs and wants. So these companies pay millions of dollars every month to the average person. In return, the average person, like me, fills out surveys and gives them their opinion.

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