Archive for December, 2006

December 31, 2006

thank you.

I wish I could respond individually to everyone who left a message about Nathaniel, but I’m so overwhelmed by all the good wishes and congratulations that I can’t. I’m feeling very very lucky to be so blessed with friends, relatives, colleagues and loved ones to help share my joy.

Thank you.

It’s good to have independent confirmation that he is, indeed, quite as gorgeous as I think.

I’m tired. Nate sleeps very well–if I feed him thoroughly, he’ll sleep for three or four hours at a time, so that’s wonderful for me. But I’m still on woozy-making painkillers and I seem to be hungry constantly, because of the milk-making. Every now and then I have a half-awake dream and am very startled when I come back to reality. Yesterday I was holding him on the couch after feeding and, for a moment I sincerely thought that he was a loaf of bread.

My parents have been here and they have been great–spending lots of time adoring our son, but also cooking, cleaning, and stocking up my refrigerator. They went home this morning and we’ll miss them.

December 26, 2006

fecklet

Nathaniel Jem, born at 3.59 am on 23 December 2006, weighing 4 kg or 8 lbs 13 oz:

The following day, Christmas eve, after his first bath:

We’re home now; Nate is good-natured and hungry; he is even cuter when awake. His father is besotted. I am very sore and very happy.

Thank you everyone, so much for your love and good wishes. What a very lucky baby he is to have so many friends.

December 22, 2006

typical…

…The baby makes me wait 13 days, and then, three hours before I’m due to be induced, I start labour.

At least I think so. Between contractions, I don’t quite believe it. During contractions…man, I really do.

We’re off to hospital. Anna will most likely post a comment when she hears news.

December 20, 2006

Everybody who writes comments is so witty and upbeat that I’m a little inadequate today. I’m tired. We saw the midwife this morning and set up an appointment to induce labour on Friday morning. So if the baby doesn’t arrive before then, he should be here by Saturday at the latest.

Between then, I’m planning to sleep and, on the midwife’s advice, to buy lots of magazines for the hospital while we’re hanging around waiting for labour to start.

December 19, 2006

those with delicate stomachs, look away now

So this morning I didn’t shave my legs. And after looking online about ways to induce labour, I came across an article on nipple stimulation. It said you had to stimulate your nippes for fifteen minutes out of every hour, for as long as it took.

Seeing as I’ve tried everything else, I tried the nipple rubbing this morning. I didn’t go all the way towards weirdness–I did it through my shirt, in my own house. My husband, upon seeing me, kept his eyes resolutely trained elsewhere while we were talking. My mother, when she turned up, cried out, shuddered, and also averted her eyes.

From these clues I deduced that sitting around rubbing one’s nipples through one’s shirt is not the most attractive occupation–at least when one is in one’s 41st week of pregnancy.

We had to go out, so I stopped (my husband and my mother were discreetly thanking the Lord). And I haven’t had the baby yet. It might have worked if I’d kept on doing it, but quite honestly I’d rather stay pregnant a little longer than spend 25% of my day playing with my nipples.

Now we are going for a curry.

December 18, 2006

a small bird distraction, and shaving

The other day we met a man who had trained a pair of robins to eat out of his hand. He gave us each a worm, and when we held out our hands, the robin flew into them, delicately pecked out the insect without alighting, and retreated to her branch.

Do you know, every single day for the past three weeks I have conscientiously bathed, and shaved my legs, because there was a chance I might be going into hospital and who wants the midwife to see your hairy legs?

Forget sex, and raspberry leaf tea, and strenuous walks, and loud music, and jumping jacks…tomorrow I’m going to skip shaving my legs and see what happens.

December 17, 2006

four things

Still no baby. In public, people are eying me warily as if I am about to explode.

Donna tagged me in an attempt to distract me from my seemingly-interminable waiting…

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Blueberry raker
2. Waitress and/or barmaid
3. Photocopying girl
4. Lecturer in English and American literature

Four places I’ve lived:
1. Rumford, Maine, USA
2. Providence, Rhode Island, USA
3. Cambridge, UK
4. Norwich, UK

Four favorite foods:
1. Green & Black’s organic dark chocolate with cherries
2. panettone
3. fried clams
4. dolcelatte

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
2. Grosse Pointe Blank
3. The Princess Bride
4. Harold and Maude

Four TV shows I enjoy:
1. Judge Judy
2. My Name Is Earl
3. Battlestar Galactica
4. The Simpsons

Four places I’ve traveled:
1. Hong Kong
2. Memphis, Tennessee
3. Europe: Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic
4. the backwoods o’ Maine

Four places I’d like to visit:
1. more of Italy and Germany and Scandinavia
2. New Zealand
3. Spain
4. the national parks in the USA
(5. the maternity unit of the Royal Berkshire Hospital SOON)

Four websites I go to daily:
1. e-harlequin
2 The Pink Heart Society
3. Snopes
4. Friends’ blogs and my husband’s band’s MySpace

People to tag…well, I can’t remember who’s done this already! So if you haven’t, please do, and leave a message to let me know you have.

December 16, 2006

raspberry

Still no baby, and I have nothing interesting to say, except for that if you get pregnant and subscribe to an excellent website like babycentre.co.uk, which sends you weekly emails about your pregnancy’s and child’s development, make sure you update your details when you don’t give birth on time or else you will receive an email telling you all about your baby at one week old when the stubborn little guy is still hanging out in your womb.

Because that is just like someone blowing a big raspberry at you.

December 14, 2006

eternity

Yesterday and the day before, I was having regular contractions every ten minutes, though they didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. Today…not regular. I swear this baby is NEVER GOING TO COME and I am going to be pregnant FOREVER.

The doctor was bemused by the tattoo.

December 12, 2006

next, I buy the baby a motorcycle

I’m so bored with being pregnant that I put a temporary tattoo on my belly just to freak out the doctor tomorrow at my check-up.

(Note bruise on belly, a side effect of forgetting how huge I am.)

December 11, 2006

some things aren’t worth it

Haven’t given birth yet. Am trying just about everything…except the cod liver oil. No way am I trying the cod liver oil.

December 10, 2006

one day late

Due date has come and gone. I’m feeling pretty good so this would be fine except I can’t think of anything except Baby! Baby! Baby! I think this makes me a rather boring conversationalist, except to my mom, who is nearly as endlessly fascinated as I am.

So I’m whiling away the days, helped along by frequent injections of chocolate and the kind comments of visitors to this blog (thank you). I notice my hit counter is registering around 400 hits a day lately–about double the normal rate–so I guess this means that not everyone is finding me as boring as I find myself.*

I got my author copies of DRIVING HIM WILD yesterday, so that’s one baby that’s arrived in this house.

*Edit: my ever-pragmatic friend Anna suggests that this could be because hordes of net perverts are looking at my pregnant photo for some sort of sexual thrill. At first this grossed me out, but now that I’ve thought about it, WOW! Maybe I’m a big, round sex symbol!