Week 68: Christmas in May! (week 37 of pregnancy)

These past few days I have had a lot of reason to feel like it´s Christmas time. For one, it´s cold here in Ecuador, or at least it was until today, which it shouldn´t be because technically we are in the hot season. Apparently the weather did not get the memo. I don´t mind the cold too much, especially since I´m mostly indoors nowadays, but the rain that goes along with it every day makes doing laundry a frustrating job. We, like most Ecuadorian households, do not have a dryer, so we hang our clothes out on the line to dry. My mom asked me the other day what we do when it rains every day like it has been this week. My answer? We wait.

But there are many more reasons to feel like it´s Christmas time, and they are much more fun. At the end of last week (I was way too tired to blog about it) I had my baby shower via Skype. It was pretty neat to get to see everyone and talk to them, although we got disconnected a few times. Still, when you´re a whole continent away, that´s not too shabby! Baby showers are always fun, what with the adorable tiny things and the games, not to mention the friends who I had not seen in over a year...and some that I had not seen in even longer than that. My aunt threw the shower and had the idea that people could either bring smaller gifts like baby clothes, which my parents will bring to me when they come here in just a few weeks, or if they wanted to get us a bigger item they could give a gift of money with a card telling how they would like us to use it. The majority of people just said to use the money however we most needed it, although a few did have me get specific things from my registry. I think it was a great idea considering the fact that logistically presents are just so difficult to transport to us. I wasn´t expecting a lot of money or gifts, mostly I was just excited to see everyone and get to share our excitement with them. Nonetheless we got quite a few really adorable gifts (like a tutu and a homemade quilt) and quite a bit of money, too. I felt incredibly blessed that so many people wanted to be a part of our daughter´s life and also amazed once again at God´s provision...I shouldn´t be so surprised every time God comes through for us for this baby since that was part of the bargain I made with Him about this little one, but I´m only human, I suppose.

Well, these days following the shower Jairo and I have done some shopping for the baby, picking up the essentials that we were missing and a few fun non-essentials as well. I´m trying not to buy too many clothes because my mom is bringing a bunch with her and also I don´t know how big this baby is going to be! Plus, there´s always the off-chance that those ultrasounds were mistaken and then what will we do with all of these girl clothes? Jairo assures me that we will have plenty of opportunity to buy anything else we might need once the baby arrives. So close to the end of the pregnancy, it´s really just nerve-wracking when you have everything pretty much done and there´s nothing to do but wait. Still, these little shopping trips have been fun and have given me a distraction to get through these last days!

So as if that were not enough, today we went to the post office (an uncommon adventure for us...and an all-day event, unfortunately) and were rewarded for our efforts with four packages!! One was a package for Jairo´s birthday, two were packages of baby related items, and one was a package from a dear friend of mine for me and baby. It really did feel like Christmas! Jairo and I were especially impressed by the tiny little baby socks that came in one package from my parents. I can´t even imagine a foot that small...but I suppose very soon I will be intimately familiar with two of them.

I spent the rest of the evening washing all the new baby clothes we got in the mail (and I am still amazed that such tiny clothes can fill up my line so quickly!), putting away the few baby things we bought while out and about, ironing the crib sheet and blanket (I had just washed them and they were beyond wrinkled), cooking burritos for my husband who had never tried them before, and clearing out the memory cards so that there is plenty of room for baby pictures. I was hoping to finish up my hospital bag and baby´s hospital bag, but there are only so many hours in a day.

Pregnancy-wise I have been okay, not great, but I´m not sure if it´s the pregnancy that is getting me down or if it´s the flu my husband gave me. The beauty of marriage is sharing, right? I´m pretty sure the immense swelling of my feet and hands is purely pregnancy, though. We´re getting that checked out tomorrow, just in case. Baby is as active as ever and, although I have frequent contractions, I have trouble believing that she´s going to come out. I feel like I´ve been pregnant forever, and I don´t see any real progress towards labor. I suppose it will come like a theif in the night. Or something like that.

Other than that, life is moving forward and I am trying to imagine how different this scene will be just a few weeks from now. Jairo and I are so happy lately that I can only hope that baby´s transition into our family is made easier by our happiness, and not that our happiness is made less happy by the transition. Selfish, I know. Until now we have never really been inclined to share much of ourselves as a couple with others, being a fairly private couple. Even the things I put on this blog are generally surface-level kinds of things, and my own thoughts which I tend to not ever keep to myself. What will it be like to let a third party into our little world? For now I can only wonder. Still, it will be nice to have my figure back...or at least normal-sized feet for starters.