Single Digits!

We're down to six days to go! Bags are (mostly) packed, the nursery is (mostly) ready to go, and we might even have a nanny lined up soon. The best news is that Asher's non-stress tests continue to look great. We had one final ultrasound yesterday to check his fluid and umbilical cord blood flow, and it was excellent. Phew! Seems like we might actually make it to term!

After nearly five weeks in bed, I am dying to get mobile again. There is only so much TV you can watch, and after the first few days, the antsiness takes over and precludes any sort of productive activity. I really wonder how anyone did this before the internet, TiVO, and Netflix. And online shopping has been a godsend--it's wonderful that Amazon has such great deals on those last-minute baby things (and free 2-day shipping if you register for Amazon Moms!).

The strange thing is that because I'm so anxious to get out of this bed, I forget a lot of the time that getting out of bed also means getting a new baby. I was thinking the other day that bedrest is a very good reason to find out a baby's gender. When you can't "enjoy" the last few weeks of pregnancy with all that nesting, baby showers, hanging out in the nursery, etc., it can be hard to feel connected to the baby. I can't imagine how much harder it would be if the baby were genderless and nameless. I've always hated calling fetuses "it" when my patients don't want to know the gender, and it really makes me wonder how you prepare emotionally when the gender is a surprise. I realize that for centuries women have survived pregnancy without knowing the gender, but given the situation, I feel very fortunate that Asher has been a real person to us for months already.

Of course, we have so many surprises waiting for us in a few days. Despite all the 3-D ultrasounds we have done (one of the advantages of having your own, brand-new ultrasound machine), we still wonder what Asher will look like. Around 28 weeks, he looked just like Crockett and our nephew Aldo. More lately, we're not so sure. He definitely has Dunn lips, but sometimes I think he might have a little Marki and Brown (my mom's side) in him after all. Probably the biggest question for me is what his hair will be like--Dunn babies are blond, ours are brunette. Like I said, we still have so much to learn about this little boy!

For now, fingers crossed for an uneventful six days and a safe and uneventful delivery on the 24th. Next post, maybe we'll have some new pictures to replace that 28-week ultrasound!