Saturday, April 23, 2011

You say it's your birthday, plus Extreme Nesting

Well, folks, I am officially 35 years old.


This is me living it up on my last day of being 34. You'd better believe I made the servers sing to me. For Mikko, who insisted, and then was a tad overwhelmed by the attention.

Yesterday is when I realized — holy crap! The baby could be here in just a little over TWO WEEKS.

(Did I emphasize "two weeks" enough? I'm not sure.)

I don't even believe in due dates, and yet I've been thinking "late May" as to when the baby will arrive, and kind of assumed it would be either around or after the due date. But it just occurred to me — it could be before. Oh, dear.

So! We have a lot to do. We've basically dismantled all our storage, are renovating our kitchen and downstairs bathroom, are trying to set up our bedroom as a birth space, are figuring out how to move our business detritus to a new location, and so on. I'm a little bit scared to list it all, actually.

And this is in addition to all the bloggy tasks I've set for myself: getting guest posts ready (or, frankly, read), putting up the CarNatPar call for submissions (whoops! Um…May 3, Growing in the Outdoors, 'k?), editing chapters for a book (huh, wha?), hurrying along giveaways, etc. Which, in retrospect, was a little silly.

Today, I'm celebrating. And I'm even buying fabric while I'm out to work on another baby carrier (seriously, somebody, stop me!). But from now on, I also need to get ready, in my home, in my real life, in connection with this little one inside me. So I can be not so frantic. So I can chill a little before the big day.

I'm not sure what that means for my posting frequency and when I'll get around to the extras like Sunday Surf. I think I'll have to play it by ear, and I appreciate your patience as I pre-babymoon even though I have nothing to show for it save a bigger and bigger tummy.



I'm curious — is running around like a chicken with its head cut off normal for the ninth month of pregnancy? How many big nesting projects did you tackle inordinately late in your pregnancy? Or did you take it easy and rest in the weeks leading up to birth?

19 comments:

Gauri Ma said...

Yep my 9th month was nutty... but then baby was breech and a large part of the running around was doing EVERYTHING know to man (in any culture) to try and help her turn, if she was up for it (which she was not). But yes, many things only really dawned on me in that last month, when I had finally let go of work and allowed time just for me and baby to be...

Good luck. Looove reading your blog. It is somehow like keeping up with 'old friends'. Cheers,
Gauri of www.lovingearthmama.com
xx

Kelly said...

You look gorgeous mama! :D

I was doing all kinds of stuff in my last month before birth too (though maybe not quite as much as you've got on your list :). I think my real nesting instinct didn't come in until after the baby was born though...and I was kinda sad, cause I was hoping I'd get all motivated pre-baby to clean the house amazingly or something. Oh well...maybe next time.

Wishing you the best and hoping you get your time to chill! :D

Sybil Runs Things said...

Happy Birthday! Your belly is fantastic :)

E came 10 days early so there went my crazy late window of nesting! Lol

Becky said...

Happy Birthday!
Good luck with your to-do list. Hopefully everything will get done to your satisfaction before the big day! It's definitely better to get things done earlier than later. I don't remember nesting because I was working full-time during the 9th month. I am glad that I got "ready" for the baby three weeks before the due date because she came two weeks early.

Don't worry about Sunday Surf and such, the blog will still be here when you have more time.

Jenny said...

You look great! I nested like crazy for the last couple months of pregnancy. It's a good thing I did, because after the baby was born I spent a week doing nothing but sitting around breastfeeding and changing a few diapers. Now the house is getting messy again, despite my husband's best efforts, and I CAN'T WAIT to be 100% again so I can put the baby in the wrap and get a few things done! I am hoping my cleaning habits improved permanently during the pregnancy.

The Happy Hippie Homemaker said...

So funny you just blogged about "Extreme Nesting"... posting my "Extreme Nesting" pics is on my to-do list for today! A little over 2 weeks ago we decided to have our contractor neighbor install the wood floors that had been stacked in our guest room for over a year. Well, because we were re-doing the floors, we had to re-do the trim... and that led to installing crown moulding, repairing our paneling, painting, remodeling our upstairs bathroom, moving the office downstairs and girls room upstairs... which, of course, meant repainting those rooms. Oh, and we decided last week that we want to have a homebirth (even though it will cost us 2 - 4 times more than a hospital birth!)! Everything is taking twice as long as it was supposed to and I'm crossing my fingers (and my legs) for the remodeling to be done before the baby gets here. I think our due dates must be within days of each other... I should have about 4.5 weeks left, but if this little one comes as early as my first, she could be here next Friday! YIKES!!! Anyway, good luck to you!

Inder-ific said...

Yes, I think it's normal to run around like a chicken with its head cut off at the end of pregnancy!

I love everything about that photo. you look so beautiful. Dare I say it ... glowing? Hee hee.

Unknown said...

Happy birthday! You look so beautiful...and I love that shirt!

I, sadly, was on bed rest for the last month or so of my pregnancy (until the prodromal labor started) but I can totally relate to the urge to nest and GET THINGS DONE FAST! =)

Kat said...

Happy Birthday!!!

I also got the nesting bug in my last couple months...but it didn't all get done and that's OK!

Don't worry about your blog we will still be here and totally understand :-)

nerdmafia said...

YAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! and welcome to the club: i've been enjoying my 35th year immensely so far (it's only been two weeks, but a good two weeks)...warm-fuzzies to you and your impending chubby springtime baby! (with a little luck and a lot of planning, i'll have a chubby wee one of my own this time next year ;-)) here's to an awesome 35th!

Anonymous said...

I remember trying to sew Peanut a quilt when I was enormously pregnant. Tons of hand sewing involved. Lots of time. I just about finished when she was born. Now the quilt sits in my crafting area still waiting for the trim to be sewn on. :-P

Also, happy birthday!

Amber @ Au Coeur said...

I never set down, except at work! On my due date, I processed and canned peaches we had picked a few days before at an orchard...and baked a pie. Obviously she didn't come that day. :)

Momma Jorje said...

You look beautiful, Lauren. I'm glad you had a good birthday, even if you didn't get to be comfortable all day like I'd wished for you. :-)

Jake Aryeh Marcus said...

OMG, I have a picture of myself looking EXACTLY like that on *my* 35th birthday.

Melodie said...

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday and you look fabulous Lauren!

Megan said...

I think we're due about the same time, cause I just had the same freakout about potentially only 2 weeks to go. My first was 2 weeks early, so it's a definite possibility. I have soooo much to do: projects to finish, prepping my 2 year old a bit more, finishing a few books and my birth plan, and prepping emotionally. Plus, my little one is not in optimum position, so I'm desperately working on that too. And we still haven't decided on names!!!!! My goodness...I'm kind of afraid that the more I work to get all of these things done, the more likely it is that I'll have the baby early. Is it possible to accomplish everything and still rest enough to not actually induce labor early???

On a less stressful note, you look amazing and Happy Birthday!!!

Birth Routes said...

You look radiant!!

Getting close!

I Thought I Knew Mama said...

You look gorgeous!
I did crazy tasks leading up to Jac's birth. We moved into a house and I unpacked the entire house by myself in two days. I decided that Jac could not be born without a beautiful hardcover copy of Velveteen Rabbit and obsessed over buying just the right one. I was teaching and breaking up middle school fist fights days before Jac arrived.
Basically, I can relate!

mrs green @ littlegreenblog said...

Happy Birthday! In answer to your question about the last few weeks before birth - I slept, meditated and spent most of it in a hypnotic trance ;)

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