Baby on the Way

I'm quite excited to announce that I'm pregnant and due in late February 2010. My in-laws were in town for the Labor Day weekend, and my mother-in-law couldn't help herself from buying this precious little sleeper with frogs on it. It's the first baby item we have gotten, and we really don't even have a place to put it yet, so it sits on my dresser reminding me of two things (1) there's a real, honest to goodness baby in my belly and (2) I have a tremendous amount of work to do to prepare our apartment for a baby - starting with finding somewhere to store this one newborn-sized sleeper.

The realization that there is a baby in my belly still hasn't quite resonated with me, though it's beginning to. From what I've read, I could start feeling him/her (we'll find out gender, hopefully, at our October 4th appointment) moving in the next two weeks. But, I also had a little scare last week that illustrated to me that I'm not just responsible for me anymore, but for a little baby also.

The scare occurred while I was walking to lunch and started experiencing pain in my abdomen and back. First, willing to dismiss it as a familiar pain I've felt many times before, I then realized that it wasn't a pain I should be feeling these days and that it could indicate something was quite wrong with the baby. Instantly, I felt panic and regret for all of the housework (including moving furniture) I'd done to prepare the apartment for our first real house guests since we moved here in July '08. Seeing blood when I retreated to the bathroom only sent the panic into overdrive. "What have I done?!"

Several hours and an emergency ultrasound visit later, I was calmed to learn that baby was absolutely fine, but I also learned that I was diagnosed with Placenta Previa, and I was sent home with instructions to avoid any "strenuous" activity and "heavy" lifting, which included carrying groceries and running. Pressing the nurse for activities I could do, I only received more limitations. Swimming isn't even an option. I'm just to wait for clearance until my next doctor visit on September 29th, which will be followed by an ultrasound visit on October 4th. Hopefully, baby will have moved up (which the nurses and doctors fully expect, and science indicates is probable), and I will be cleared to participate in my normal activities again.

It was a good eye-opener for me, and I'm going to try to spend the next few weeks reading some of the books I've accumulated and planning a make-shift nursery for our apartment. We're expecting to move when our lease is up in June, so baby will only be in this apartment for a couple of months. Any big plans for a nursery will come once we find a new home next summer.