Twenty-Twenty-Twenty Four Hours to Go-Oh-Oh

Next you hear from me, I’ll officially be a mom. I can’t believe it’s finally happening! I am so excited. So, so, SO damn excited.

It’s been taking me a while to get back to sleep at night every time I wake up to pee. It’s not the physical discomfort that’s keeping me up as much as all that’s racing through my mind—all of the last minute things to do, and of course all of the unknowns around this birth. I hope it’s not a brutal process getting the baby out, and that the baby and I both make it through labor and delivery safely. I’m crossing my fingers that we both get the hang of breastfeeding without any boob infections or cracked, bleeding nipples (got nipple cream on the recommendation of a friend, for extra measure), that the baby doesn’t develop colic, and that Aaron and I can handle the sleep deprivation. That’s a lot, right? And the list, of course, goes on.

I’m confident on the health and safety front, and I know that even if breastfeeding does suck—no pun intended-- at first, or if our baby does develop colic, we can handle it. We will handle it. Same goes for the sleep deprivation. We know that things are about to get a little wild around here. It’s almost show time, and we’re as ready as we’re gonna get.

I want to turn the attention to all of you for a moment. I knew I’d enjoy blogging about this experience, but I had no idea what an amazing community I’d encounter along the way. Your comments have made me laugh (a lot), and have made me aware of new ideas, approaches, and a huge variety of perspectives that wouldn’t have otherwise crossed my radar. You’ve reassured me, encouraged me, and inspired me. You have truly contributed to making this pregnancy special and unique.

As I said in my first post, Aaron and I are among the first of our friends to have a baby. My mom also never experienced pregnancy (she’s not my biological mom), so while it’s been super exciting for her to witness mine, she couldn’t tell me if something was normal or not when I found myself wondering. Through your comments, I’ve been privy to a huge wealth of information, anecdotes, and fantastic personalities, every step of the way. I’m sure your comments have been as valuable to each other as they have been to me, too.

I thank each of you from the bottom of my heart. Big round of applause comin' at ya.

SO. I’ll catch you on the flip side, with photos, of course. Of the baby (!). Outside of my belly (!). I’ll let you know how it all goes down.

I’ll also be moving over to The Parenting Post, after a week or two of rest… (“rest”). I’m looking forward to it, and will see you there.

Love,

Taylor

Here I am relaxing at home, getting ready to get this baby out: