The only one...

Last night I took my first pregnancy exercise class after work.  I should have been doing this all along and maybe I wouldn’t have put on so much weight already, but I digress.  The class was at Riverside Wellness Center and it’s free for those who deliver there, so I figured why not!  The class had about 8 other girls in it, and besides the girl who is due in 2 weeks, we were all mostly due in November and December.  It was nice to “size” everyone up and know that I’m not bigger than I think I am and seem to be right on target for now!  (“For now” being the operative words here, since I’m definitely not done growing yet!).

 

During warm up, which finally got my blood pumping for the first time in months, we did introductions.  The girl who was due in two weeks started, and we went around the room saying when we were due, whether or not this was our first child, and the gender of the baby.  As the girls went around, each and every one of them was able to say “This is a…” and spill the gender while proudly rubbing their protruding belly.  Finally, it became my turn to introduce myself (I was the newbie), and I said “I’m Leah, this is my first, I’m due December 12^th – and we don’t know what we’re having.”  I said it almost sheepishly because in that moment I felt like the ONLY person in the whole world who wasn’t able to proudly tell the gender of their child.  I got a resounding “I don’t know how you do it!” and, “I need to know what kind of clothes to buy!” to which I replied, “This isn’t my doing!  If it were up to me, I would know already!  It’s my husband’s fault!  He doesn’t want to know.” 

 

It’s funny how there’s more people out there now who couldn’t do the whole waiting thing.  I hardly ever get a pat on the back, but sometimes I will and it does help; however, I go through phases where I get so antsy and just want to know what this baby is so I can stop referring to my child as “IT”.  I’d love to rub my belly and talk to this little one by using their name.  I guess that’s the difference between me and Patrick – he can wait, and I can’t.

 

There is an envelope in our house right now that contains a slip of paper with the gender on it.  It was given to us by the ultrasound tech in Ludington after my spill in Meijer’s.  She sealed it, taped it and signed it so that if either of us were to open it, the other would know right away.  I think this is the cruelest form of punishment on the face of the earth.  I hate surprises and this thing is staring me in the face every day.  Some days I swear I think I hear it calling to me.  “Mommmmmmmmmmmmmy…don’t you want to know what color clothes to buy me?”  “Mommmmmmmmmmmy, don’t you want to know what name you’re going to use”.  It’s awful. 

 

Some days I don’t think that December is going to get here fast enough!