Pre-Thanksgiving
The truth comes out! I am too wordy! Who’d have thought? Either that, or no one cares about guessing baby stuff. Anyway, we have the big scan on Tuesday, so I’m going to re-post the link to our baby guessing game one more time.
I had a regular appointment this morning and got very scared. It took forever for the doctor to find the heartbeat. You can imagine how long those three minutes must have felt. I do feel some movement on occasion, but nothing like I remember feeling with Erik. In the end, she found the heartbeat way over on my right side, well past my belly. I don’t know how the babe ended up over there, but the heartbeat was plenty strong once located.
That was the most exciting part of my appointment.
Prior to my appointment, things were so exciting that I had to put my book down. I could totally hear the appointment going on in the adjoining exam room. I first noticed the sound of the doppler heartbeat, but didn’t think much of it. A few minutes later I hear the doctor exclaim “You’re dilated to five! You need to go to the hospital right away!”
The lady was not impressed. She had to get ready for Thanksgiving; she didn’t have time to go to the hospital.
This exchange went on for a few minutes, ending with the doctor telling her it was her third child and she would probably have it within 12 hours. I think the lady started to get the idea that she needed to go to the hospital with or without braised turkey drums.
I’m totally exhausted from pie baking. Really, it’s not the pie baking that did me in. It was the constant need for a four year old to “help” and talk and run and jump and spin and did I mention the talking and the helping? By the end of the evening it took every ounce of self control I’ve ever possessed not to snap his little head off. It didn’t help that Mike had to work an odd shift today. It was great to have him home until noon, but he didn’t get home until almost 8. I am generally D-O-N-E at 5, especially on days with no preschool.
I did take a nice gym break, so at least there was that. I did an hour on the elliptical and it about killed me. I felt like I was barely moving, but I couldn’t go any faster. I guess it is a result of the pregnancy, combined with my lack of exercise the last couple of weeks. I’ve only been making it to the gym three times a week instead of six, which kind of sucks. But at least I haven’t gained any weight. I am probably just losing muscle mass.
The front desk lady almost made me cry. She was talking about how Erik has gotten so big and about how he always used to sit on the little couch and read all the letters on one of the big signs. Then she said that she thinks I’m a really patient mother and really great with him. It is probably just the pregnancy hormones, but I thought I was going to cry. It is not often that there is anybody to say things like that, and I always feel like I am on edge with him. She also said that he’s a shining star. How could a mother not well up at that? I, too, think of him as a shining star, but then I think making he’s just glowing because he’s so pale.
I sure wasn’t feeling the patience this evening as he kept grabbing at the pie crust and trying to do the fluting around the edges like I was doing it. I don’t really know the proper way to do it. I know my grandma always just used her thumbs to pinch it, but she never showed me how to do it. She was very jealous of her cooking skills and in later years she was very resentful that I was a better cook than her. I think she was proud in a way, but she was just a bitter person. I miss her, but I am also happy for her. No matter what the end of her life brought–oblivion or heaven–at least she is no longer suffering with herself. She didn’t have many physical problems (for someone her age), but her own mind kept her trapped and miserable.
Isn’t that a cheery thought?
I can’t believe it has been 12 years since I’ve had a Thanksgiving with my family. I’ve spent the last nine Thanksgivings with Mike. That first Thanksgiving together the food was pretty sad! I’ve come a long way in the cooking department since then. Of course, that meal suffered from extenuating circumstances. It’s hard to keep track of the timing of the turkey and mashed potatoes when you keep going to the bedroom to enjoy some good, old fashioned premarital Thanksgiving sex.
There. That was a happier ending for this post.