Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Countdown


Well, today's the big day.

Everything's ready.

Every THING is ready. Cot, pram, nappies. Lovergirl and I are not.

It's weird to have it all planned like this, rather than sitting around waiting to go into labour. At 4.30 this afternoon (Queensland time) I go under the knife and shortly afterwards, two babies will emerge. Through no effort of my own.

I don't like Ruth 0str0w's columns - too wet - but at the risk of sounding like her, I want to jot down some of the nicer things about being pregnant. I may never be pregnant again (let's see how it goes first, hey?).

I've got a lovely perspective on human nature from being pregnant. Maybe pregnant women 'glow' because everyone is so nice to them! People love pregnant women - infinitely more than they love women with children, from my observations! They smile, and nod, and ask, 'when are you due?' and shopkeepers give little bonuses - an extra bread roll in the half-dozen from the baker, or a few extra onions popped in the top of the bag by the grocer. I've found that male shopkeepers are more likely to do this than female shopkeepers. Women are more likely to want to stop and chat, and ask to feel the belly (although I haven't had as much of that as I expected), while men want to do some little practical thing. It feels a little bit like Christmas, when everyone is warm and smiling and exchanging greetings.

Being pregnant confers membership to a special club. A bit like being a dog walker - I remember feeling quite lonely after my dog died, because out walking I didn't have the same sorts of interactions with people. I still felt like a dog person but I didn't have dog person markers. In the same way, being pregnant elicits a certain acknowledgment - other pregnant women, new parents and elderly people smile and nod. It's a pleasant change from the invisibility of being an unaccompanied walker or jogger through the city's parks.

I've really enjoyed going to the prenatal classes - yoga on Tuesdays and aquarobics Thursdays. There's something gorgeous about a room full of fat-bellied women all glorying in their bodies and their babies-to-be. The majority of women who go to these classes are first timers - I suppose the others are at home chasing after their toddlers - so there's a very particular excitement and wonder about birth and the specialness of this baby.

Friends have been really delighted for us. Many of them have had their own issues with fertility and decision-making about having a child - more than you would think - but everyone has been gorgeous.

We really haven't bought much at all. Mothers have a secret little hand-me-down cycle going, and once you tap in to it, floods of stuff pass through your hands. The Multiple Birth Association even has a premmie clothing pool - take what you want then return it when you're done - so last week L and I went to pick out piles of the world's smallest clothes for the first few weeks.

I have loved not working. I've been unemployed before but this is the first time I've allowed myself to sink into having lots of time, moving slowly, taking naps and generally moving into a much more internal stage of my life. Blogging helps me remember there is a world out there.

Being pregnant has really changed the relationship between Lovergirl and I. How can I explain it? We have become much more interdependent - which almost feels like a dirty thing to say in this individualistic era. Being two independent, competent, working women who happen to be choosing to live together is quite different to being one competent woman and one vomiting, rapidly expanding, ravenous, immobile sloth on the couch. Pregnancy is good practice for parenting, I think. No longer can we ring each other up and say, 'So-and-so has invited me out, so I'll be home a bit later tonight.' Or, ' V1rg1n was having a sale so I'm popping down to Melbourne to visit the family for the weekend.' Or even, 'I've enrolled in a course in quilting so I won't be home on Thursdays.' No, for the next eighteen (at least) years our movements will be negotiated around what needs to happen for the children.

And of course, there are the babies themselves. Feeling them moving, having L talk and sing to them, having them stomp on my bladder and roll around under the skin - it's going to be odd to feel empty again. And really, there's nothing to this parenting business when they are snugly contained within my body.

10 comments:

Melanie said...

Blessings for you all today, my smile is wide thinking about how great that day was for me, and you get to experience it twice in one day. Enjoy it all especially the smell of them, I love inhaling them for the first time.
xxx

Unknown said...

It is odd to be empty after the delivery - it's the primal form of seperation anxiety, I found. But I was literally seperated which you won't be, hopefully, so you'll have the pleasure of seeing and feeling the babies on the outside.

Kelly & Sam Pilgrim-Byrne said...

Ooooh, how exciting! I can't wait to read the good news and see pics!!

Wait till you have the bubs in arms - then it's a club that you never thought existed!

Stegetronium said...

An hour to go until we leave for the hospital...(twiddling fingers)...repacked bags, had an unrelated adventure that passed a few hours, Lovergirl's making a big vat of spaghetti sauce to put in the freezer...thanks for all thoughts, I've given L training in posting blogs you may get an update in a day or so...

Kelly & Sam Pilgrim-Byrne said...

A day or so??!!! That won't do at all!!! L/girl... you get your butt back in here to post an update as soon as humanely possible.

;)

Anonymous said...

thinking of you today

Ally said...

I happened upon your blog today for the first time. After reading through your journey I see that today is THE day...your twins' birthday!! That day was so amazing for me (6-12-06). I am the (non-bio) mommy of 17 month old twins. My partner birthed them and she has been home with them ever since. CONGRATS to you and your partner. If you ever need any advice, let us know, we've been through it all...including successfully breastfeeding them.
Get lots of rest and remember to breathe in the sweet fragrance of your beautiful new emerging family.

~ CaliWonderTwinMama

Anonymous said...

Oh, good luck hun!!!! Can't wait to hear all about it. Hope everything goes smoothly for you, the babies, and "lovergirl". What an amazing thing this all is. :)

Jesse Blackadder said...

Hi readers of the blog - you probably all know by now, but the bubbies have been born and all are well! L and M are a bit overwhelmed at the hospital and not up to blogging this morning! but I've spoken to them both, bubbies both healthy and happy and everything is good.
Love Jesse xxx

Anonymous said...

Good luck -- and good post!

Waiting with baited breath for the next instalment ...