the big 3-0

And by 3-0 I mean I’m at 30 weeks (well, almost)! 10 and counting…

Excited, excited, excited. For lack of a better word, that’s where Brian and I are at this point. We’re not nervous or scared or anything like that (well I'm not at least) – we’re just stoked and ready. The only time I’ve ever been more excited in my life is the day Brian and I got married, and a close second to all of this might be that one time in college…oh never mind. I digress.

I’ve made the decision not to go to any childbirth classes. My body knows the instruction manual verbatim (er, I'm assuming) and that’s enough for me. It's that whole planning thing I'm just not wired for. *shudder* So in my opinion, good or bad, ignorance is bliss and that baby will be coming out one way or another, someway somehow. It’s kind of like ROTC field training – prep classes? Laughable. So hello Epidural, meet my back, not my eyes - I don’t want to see you or know how you work. Just do what you do. (I love surprises!)

Adeline is growing! (yay!) Although I would not say I look ridiculously pregnant yet. (yay?) However, it is getting a bit insulting when someone still tells me they didn’t know I was pregnant at all – seriously? Yikes people. At least be a good friend and tell me to lay off the beer; I mean, I don’t exactly have a bikini weather tummy at this point. Sheesh. Anyway, I’m feeling really good still. I do have some trouble sleeping at night at times; perhaps this is my body’s way of getting me ready for sleepless nights when the baby comes. I don’t really know. But I do know one thing – it affects Brian more than me, poor dude, as he usually wakes up tired, but I feel fine. I’ve also had to take a few days off from running due to a sore hip. With the uneven distribution of weight and things shifting around in there, combined with third trimester loosening ligaments to get you ready for childbirth, it’s not surprising that my body is yelling at me during high impact exercise that this is just not right. But that doesn’t mean I am happy about it – I was running, or waddling, so well. So I’ve reluctantly switched over to swimming for awhile, hoping the inflammation will go down sooner rather than later (as not being able to take ibuprofen for it doesn’t help either, grrr) so that I can get back to running.

Otherwise, it’s just waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. I wonder what she will be like. Although my sister and I are identical twins, we couldn’t be more different, and even our emergence from the womb was probably the first indication of this. Caitlin, being much more bossy of the leader and tomboy, came out first somewhat cool and collected, whereas I followed 8 minutes later and couldn't stop screaming my head off. I’d like to argue this was the first indication of my feisty, spirited personality.

Yes, that's totally it.

But anyway, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be fun to watch Adeline grow and learn and change, and for me to do everything different with her than what my parents did with me, so that Adeline can swear to do everything different as a parent than what I did with her. Kidding for the most part, but oh the joy of parent-child relationships...

For as long as I can remember, my mom has had a short newspaper clipping on the fridge in which a woman sums up her experience on having children. My mom photocopied the clipping for my sister and myself, now that we both have families of our own, and the clipping now rests on our respective refrigerators as well. It says:

"If I hadn't had children, I probably would have had more money and material things. I probably would have gone more places, gotten more sleep, pampered myself more. My life would have been much more boring and predictable. As a result of being a parent, I have laughed harder, cried more often. I have worried more and hurried more. I've had less sleep, but somehow I've had more fun.  I've learned more, grown more. My heart has ached harder, and I've loved to a capacity beyond my imagination. I've given more of myself, but I've derived more meaning from life." - Marianne Neifert, M.D.

I absolutely love this quote.

This is exactly why I've always wanted kids, and because I've read it so often on my family's refrigerator when I was a child, it reminds me of growing up as well.

Now, because of this unique joy and fulfillment that only raising children brings, Mom also always kept a certain card on the counter that she’s had since the beginning of time. She also gave my sister and I a copy of this card to have as well. It has a creepy little preacher character on it and some mischevious children in the background up to no good. It says:

“Lord, grant me the strength to endure my blessings.”

AMEN!