The End Is Near

Tuesday marked a very important stage in this pregnancy, at least to me.  That night, Patrick and I went to the hospital to have our “New Baby” tour of the Maternity wing.  We wandered around wide eyed and excited along with 12 other couples who were to also deliver there.

During the work day I could hardly focus on anything other than the fact that this was happening – and in less than 11 weeks!  I stared blankly at the computer screen in front of me and constantly rattled off an internal list of what, exactly, we hadn’t done yet in preparation for this baby.  I had several freak out sessions and even had to call my Mom to declare, “Oh my gosh…I’m going to have a baby!”  To which she replied, “I’m sorry, is this the FIRST time you’re realizing this?”  Yes, I have finally transitioned from just ‘being pregnant’ to ‘holy cow, I’m going to have to push a human being out of my hoo-ha’ and ‘I am going to be completely responsible for another person’s life’.  I can honestly tell you that the revelation of these facts is truly wonderful and terrifying all at the same time.

The maternity ward was clean, quiet and comfortable.  I’ll labor, deliver and recover all in my own private room, and then afterwards we will move into our own Mother/Baby suite – complete with fold out bed for Daddy to sleep on.  The most significant part of the tour for me, besides getting to see the rooms where we’ll be, was finding out about their steps towards the security of the baby.  Not only will the baby have two ID bands (one on the leg, one on the wrist), but Patrick and I will also have bands that will be checked to the match the baby every time it is placed with us in the room.  On top of that, each baby wears another security band that is hooked up to the central security of the hospital.  If a baby crosses certain areas of the floor, an alarm will go off and the entire hospital will shut down, including elevators and doorways.  We were told to be “very careful” where we go on the floor so as not to trip the alarm.  This brought a sense of relief to most of the mothers there given how many babies have been stolen from hospitals in the last 10 years. 

I am in the final weeks of this adventure and everything is becoming more and more real.  I believe the “nesting” part has started because all I can think about is getting home to clean my house.  I’ve become a clean freak – quite the opposite from lazy Leah.  Last night, we went out to Target and used one of our gift cards to purchase sleepers, onesies, and booties for the baby.  Patrick proudly held up the booties and said “Can you even believe that its feet are going to be THIS small?” 

I hope to never forget how it feels to have this baby move around inside me, kick me, punch me…it’s the most fantastic feeling in the whole world.  Even as I sit here I’m being poked and prodded by either a fist or an elbow…I’m not sure which one.  This is truly one of the most beautiful blessings God has bestowed on us humans and I’m extremely proud to be a part of the process.