This isn’t how we imagined things would go. But it’s very very peaceful in the room and I love that we’re alone together; listening to Bill Evans; and waiting for our baby.

If I’ve learned anything in ten years of motherhood, it’s that the way our children are brought into the world means very little for how they live in the world. Nor do the intense hours in which we become mothers shape the months, years and decades of our actually being mothers. And if the experience of childbirth is in fact a crucial process, then let it be the process of teaching us that our children will emerge in ways varied and complicated, not necessarily in times or manners of our choosing, neither made in our image nor as proof of our prowess. Let birth remind us that, with children, so little goes according to even the most well-drawn plan.

Well said, no?

I like our hospital, Swedish Covenant, and not just because it has such a great name. It’s in a primarily immigrant neighborhood and Daniel and I are often the only English-speakers in the elevators and waiting rooms. They have four inpatient menus: “Regular”, Korean, Middle Eastern and Kosher. I also like that their motto is “Healing, Teaching, Preaching” and our pediatrician has a blog. The midwives are fantastic and I trust them to make this experience as smooth as possible. Also, our very favorite midwife is on call tomorrow and hopefully will deliver Birdie.

So we’re not completely certain how quickly things will happen but we’ll be sure to update the blog and keep you all in the loop.

Rugelach Update (EmJC)

Lucille was completely right.

P & V came over yesterday afternoon and we ate all 12 of the rugelach. And they’re delicious. Clearly, I’m favoring the mother-is-always-right slant these days. The 3/4 lbs of lox is also much less than that by now.

Rugelach Update (dmjg)

What Emily didn’t report was that when Lu found out all the rugelach had been eaten, she declaimed, “I told you. I will never listen to you again,” conveniently ignoring the fact that she didn’t listen to me the first time.

One advantage (the only advantage) to going late is that we got another ultrasound. And the .5-1.0 oz Birdie is gaining each day now is heading staight to his/her cheeks:

Emily has decided that Birdie obviously looks like her (wtf?). Those cheeks are so adorable. Just a few days until we get to see the real thing.

We continue in our heroic efforts to get things moving. Yesterday, for example, I tried accupuncture for the first time. Accupuncture was the only suggestion in my pregnancy books for “naturally” inducing labor I had not yet tried (and there is some small amount of research suggesting it may actually be effective). I actually really liked the practitioner and in addition to the needles I received a lovely massage. Of course, nothing happened *BUT* I slept 8 hours last night so am feeling well today.

Right now, we’re heading out in an effort to walk the baby out again. It’s a beautiful day in Chicago.

But everything is an opening act and we don’t know, as yet, when the main event will take center stage. Emily is doing the best she can to speed things along: she walked about 5 miles today.

[ps - I asked everyone in the picture to just keep on doing whatever it was they were doing, but my father would have none of it. When the camera was in my hands, he just stared at it and smiled (I took like 10 photos). The idea of taking a photo of people just doing their thing is totally foreign to him: they must stare at the camera and smile.]

Birdie and I had another “non stress test” which s/he aced again.

As for me, I’m tired and would likely fail any other test. My nights consist of what I’ve come to call “vampire contractions”: starting at 2am for the past 5-7 nights, I’ve had very exciting, very painful regular contractions that disappear completely come sunrise.

Behold my ennui:

Daniel, however, is hero husband and keeps my spirits up:

He’s also clearrly responsible for escalating health care costs.

]]> http://thefamilyroll.com/2009/05/still-waiting/feed/ 4 http://thefamilyroll.com/2009/05/the-quilt/ http://thefamilyroll.com/2009/05/the-quilt/#comments Sun, 24 May 2009 01:13:54 +0000 dmjg http://northfield17003.wordpress.com/?p=161 Several months ago, Dorothy asked me to help her coordinate the fantastic project of making a quilt for the baby composed of squares designed by the important women in Emily’s  life. In late December, when Dorothy was visiting Chicago, 20 packages of material and instructions made their way through USPS to Toronto, Israel, Vancouver, New York, Tuscon, L.A., and, of course, Chicago. The completed squares were then shipped to Costa Rica, often with various complications, where Dorothy’s artist friend assembled them into the quilt:

Last night, Dorothy gave the quilt to Emily, who was completely blown away. We are so grateful for everyone’s work and we cannot wait to put it on the wall in the baby’s room in Northfield.

You might notice, if you pay especially close attention, that Dorothy herself does not have a square on the quilt. That’s because she designed a custom, mini-quilt for us and the baby:

As you can see, Emily was very very moved (which is to say, she cried like a baby). And the scrabble theme, for those not in the know, comes from this (check out the bottom-right “word”):