Babywatch – Day 13

So titled because it’s 13 days since I started leave. :)

(not my baby.   This is my niece Cooper – circa Nov 2010)

 
I am doing laundry and stocking up on groceries but still no baby.    

I know walking is good for me so I find a few errands to do every day that make me get up and around a bit.    The issue lately is that my left knee (I don’t know why it’s always something with my left leg) hurts.   It’s not overly swollen so I’m not sure the cause but it does make walking uncomfortable.

The manager at Stop & Shop (I only know this as she is usually the one people call over to fix stuff at the register) was bagging in the lane I was in today and when I walked through to hand her my reusable bags she was like “Oh.  You’re pregnant?”

I’m not sure what gave her the clue.  Perhaps that I almost had to walk sideways to get there. :)

I’ve got to say – since I started obviously showing people have been really nice to me.  It’s going to be sort of a downer when the kid gets here.  Although I guess you still get some attention then with all the “Oohhhh!  How old is s/he?”  from people when you take the baby out.

I guess this is why I am drowning in a sea of blue clothing.  People are all paranoid about strangers calling their baby by the wrong pronoun.

Everything I have bought for myself is in a more neutral color.   Don’t get me wrong.  I like all the clothes we’ve been lucky enough to receive.   He’ll be going home in a baby blue number (unless he turns out to be a giant and the outfit doesn’t fit).  But he’s a BABY.  He doesn’t need to look like a miniature grown up right from the start.

We’re as ready as we’ll ever be I am guessing.    We did one of the smartest things ever – which was buy a small freezer to keep in the basement.  Not only do I think it’ll come in handy later for Costco runs – but it enabled Jen, my mom and me to make some trays of food so that there will be no worry about the rest of the household going hungry those first days home with the little one.

I’ve been reading a lot of ‘mommy blogs’ lately  - specifically some posts about what people find helpful those first few days home.  I’m in a strange position here.   I’ve been taking care of 4 other people for the better part of a year and a half – so it’s not like I don’t know what it takes to run a house.  But I’m also having my first baby.   So on one hand I am absolutely a first time mom.   On the other – not so much.

The nurse who ran our childbirth class mentioned things like putting a note on the door telling visitors to come back at a better time – or keeping a bathrobe in the downstairs closet to throw on when answering the door to keep visits short.   I don’t know where most people live where they have a ton of unexpected guests just stopping by to see a new baby.    Is this odd to anyone else?  There is no one I know who wouldn’t call first.   There is no one I can think of who would come over uninvited.    I don’t have any friends who would park themselves in my kitchen and expect me to serve them when I have a newborn.    And anyone who asked to stop by would be most welcome.   Maternity leave turns into a bit of a lonely existence.     Factor in that my immediate family lives a state away on either side and my friends all live in NY for the most part – it means I’m mostly here hanging with my friends on Bravo.

I’m looking forward for the social life the baby might afford me.   There’s a stroller fitness class at the PAL, there’s a Mom’s group I joined on Meetup.com.     I’ll be walking around the neighborhood a lot – all ways I think to find some new friends.

And yet – I miss my old friends.  The ones who live on Long Island and get to see each other often.    The ones who live and work in Manhattan and – though all of our lives have gotten increasingly complicated – can still meet for drinks after work.

I miss drinks after work.  

At the same time I am excited and nervous and a whole slew of things about this baby.   Having a child of my own was a dream I almost gave up on.   Right when I started to lose weight I also started to come to terms with the fact that my life might just be being an aunt to my three gorgeous nieces, living in New York and hanging out with my friends.    It’s amazing that not so long after I did that my life turned completely upside down.

I mean seriously.  COMPLETELY.   There is nothing about my life then that is the same now.

But I wouldn’t change a single thing.

PS:  Happy Valentine’s Day – whether you have someone to share it with or are hosting a “Cupid Can Kiss My Ass” party as I once did if nothing else a holiday founded almost exclusively on chocolate deserves to be celebrated.