That, in a nutshell, is how I'm feeling about this baby. I'm not saying this is the most rational emotion I've ever experienced, but hello, I'm huge and eight and a half months pregnant, no one expects me to be rational.
Joe wants everyone we know to show up at the hospital after I deliver so that he can play the proud papa and show off the little one to everyone. I am having trouble sleeping at night as I imagine my mother-in-law coming into the room and immediately trying to take the sleeping baby from my arms as I instinctually hug my child closer. Am I nuts here? I'm sure that I'll be just as enthralled with our perfect tiny baby and want all of our family and friends to come and behold! For I have borne a child on this day.
But honestly, I feel like unless you were there to make this child, or carried the baby for nine months, why should you have any claim to the spoils?
Anyone want to gain 35 pounds in 8 months?
How do constipation and hemorrhoids sound to everyone? No?
What about not being able to take the train for 12 weeks because it's the one thing that will make you sick? Anyone?
Blinding headaches? Backaches? Hips feeling like they're going to shatter? No one, really?
Spotty sleep, clothes that don't fit, constant thirst, frequent urination? Seriously, no takers?
Want to come cuddle a brand new baby and only give it up when it needs something? We-e-ellll, then, I see how it is.
I mean, honestly, if I'm completely nuts here please tell me, because I feel like I'm being a bit, shall we say, melodramatic? Overprotective? Possessive?
But at the same time, I'm a first time mom about to have this precious child for which I've been solely responsible these past nine months cast out into the big bad world and in danger of God knows what. I think I should have first dibs on cuddling my baby until I'm so exhausted I feel like handing it off to someone else for a bit, you know?
So that's basically where I've been the past few weeks. Over thinking things that hopefully won't matter at all, sitting on my couch ingesting numerous tubs of ice cream, and generally waiting to meet my offspring. Seventeen days til my due date people, (17!) and I'm still holding out hope that this kid is born in February. I'm excited, and exhausted, and enormous, and really, I just want to be done with this. I'm ready to see my baby now, kthanx.
2 comments:
You know, I've never thought about it like that before, and I think I'm going to give new parents some time alone with their baby before I go rushing to visit them at the hospital. Thanks for this post!
Only 17 more days??? Wow.
Here's my take: you're really in the hospital very briefly. You're disoriented, you know have a tiny being utterly dependent on you, you will be spending (I'm assuming here) an obscene amount of time trying to get your baby to latch and figure out breastfeeding, and frankly, I think visitors are overrrated. It's just too much going on at once, it's all so new and a little terrifying and you're just trying to figure out your new family dynamic. I say let them come later when you're at home, but ONLY IF they bring food of some kind so you don't even have to think about cooking.
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