Pregnancy Update: 28 Weeks

Feet. Hands. New baby smell. Reflex smiles. The blinking and adjusting to light outside the womb.

These are the things I think about as my last 9 weeks of pregnancy is about to begin.

The due date (May 7) sometimes seems a long way off, sometimes it feels right around the corner. It all depends on my current mood, how uncomfortable I am, how many baby clothes I’ve purchased that day, how much nesting I’ve accomplished. It seems an impossibly long way away whenever I go into the nursery to put away new baby stuff – clothes, bedding, registry items, hand-me-downs (that I’m so grateful for), trial packs of goodies (also items I’m so grateful for).

The due date seems close when my husband puts his ear to my stomach and talks to Max, even if it’s only to say bye before he leaves for work. It’s close when the baby rolls around inside and I see it all happening from the outside. Which is also really creepy. Both because I’m not prone to laying in bed and staring at my exposed stomach for long periods of time (which I now do) and also for the obvious (because there’s rolling in my stomach for goodness sake).

Almost twenty-nine weeks in and it’s still hard to grasp that I have a human being inside my body. That’s such a crazy concept, right? I’ve never been an overly emotional person, never really thought about how it would feel to truly be responsible for the well-being of a baby – a sweet, innocent baby – and definitely sometimes feel like that perpetually 20-something year old whose greatest responsibility is cuddling with my dog.

I think even when he’s born I’ll wonder how this being came to be mine.

Nevertheless, I’m really looking forward to it. This entire experience is intensely private to me so details of my journey have been minimal and mostly kept between my husband and me. It’s just the way I am. But suffice it to say that it’s been wonderful. According to doctors, everything is perfect, the baby is measuring right where he should be, I’m doing everything 100% right and they couldn’t be happier with my progress. My only symptoms are slight backache and sometimes the inability to sleep through the night. The Max boy has been good to me, and I to him. And my husband, through simply being who he is, shows me daily why I’m lucky to share this life with him.