Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Speaking of Growing...WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!! TOMORROW!!!

Oh happiness!!!

Tomorrow, at 7am, my beautiful sweet brilliant shy niece is having a baby. This will make me a Grand Aunt, for the very first time.

I'm in such a tizzy I don't know where I put myself!

They don't know if it's a boy or a girl - they wanted to be surprised. The niece suspects a girl.

She's been doing bed rest for the last couple of weeks. Bear with me here, I know absolutely nothing of such things as pregnancy. What I've been told is that there's some stress test they give the baby, and it's not coming out quite like it should; then they do an ultrasound and everything seems fine. They were trying to hold out until January 7 or so, but they'd decided that if there was one more imperfect test, they'd go ahead and induce labor.

A couple weeks ago, they estimated the baby weighed 4.6 pounds. They're at 38 weeks now, so full term. Maybe the baby's gained some weight the last two weeks. With any luck, tomorrow we'll know.

Our family is made up of all small people. Me, I'm all of 5' 2" or so. Depending on the bun, of course. kmom is the tallest lady at 5' 4". kdad is, I think, 5'6? We all have tiny little ears and hands and feet. When I get dental work done, they have to use pediatric tools. Same with the niece. When I get my annual lady doc visit, they never tire of telling me with surprise and amusement: --Did you know your uterus is only 6 centimeters?!? As. If. HMPH!!! --Well it's a PERFECTLY good one-- I always tell them. --Good things come in small packages.

My birth weight was 6# 4 oz. Some might consider that low, but hey. For the k family it's perfectly normal.

Now: Only thing is, the nephew-in-law is this big giant guy, like maybe 7 feet tall. He's the only one I've ever known who can reach the top of the towel rack in our bathroom without a stool or anything. When he stayed for a visit a few years back, he was great to have around when I was putting away clean laundry and dishes.

OH!!! I can't stand it!!!

The excellent nephew and I have decided not to trouble our hearts over the baby's stress tests and the bed rest and all that. There's nothing we can possibly do to help, and since the doctors themselves can't really predict if it even means anything, all the googling and phone calling in the world won't give us the answer, either.

They induce labor at 7am. After that, it takes as long as Nature intends. The niece isn't having an epidural. She says she's more nervous about getting stuck that way than about the pain of labor.

Back when I lived in New Orleans, my close friends included a man, C, who fell in love with a little baby growing in the belly of...I always forget if it was his sister or sister-in-law. Anyway, they lived close by, and he loved talking to the little one as it grew. He'd put his mouth right up on mama's belly and talk to the baby inside, day after day.

A few hours after that child was born, when the family came into the room to visit and meet the new arrival, C talked to the baby again. And that little brand new baby recognized his voice.

All the docs and nurses, the staff in the room, and the visitors too, saw it. The baby moved its head toward C, and an expression of utter recognition came across its face. I heard this story told in front of others who were there, and they clearly meant it when they said they saw it too.

So tonight I called the lovely niece. I told her it was hard not to call her after I found out she was on bed rest, but I figured if she was supposed to rest, perhaps I better not be waking her up with phone calls, right? She said she was getting too many calls, she loved to talk to everyone but those several calls she got every day were too much. So I said I was glad I waited, then. She said, --Oh, but you can call anytime!-- You can see why I say she's very sweet, that girl.

She sounds happy and excited and calm, all at once. She sounds...ready. Perfectly ready.

And she told me she's been talking to that baby since the very beginning, and the father-to-be has too. I told her, Watch the face, then. See if that baby recognizes your voices.

And take a picture of your belly too. Ten or twenty or thirty years from now, you'll be so glad you did.

Oh dear God above. I don't know how in the world I can get to sleep tonight.

3 comments:

BoysMom said...

Oh, I pray all goes well.
Yes, they certainly do recognize voices. And 'cello music.
It's probably too late now, but if she has access to a tub or hot shower that will help with the pain of contractions.

6#4oz! You were tiny! Babies in both mine and my husband's families average much higher, like around nine.

Pretty Lady said...

I'm excited and happy for you!

k said...

boysmom, thank you! And welcome.

And, WOW! OUCH!!! I cannot imagine birthing babies that big! Good gracious.

I haven't heard yet if he recognized anyone. Knowing the niece and her husband, they did just about every fun thing pregnant people can do along those lines. We come from musical families, all, so I bet they were playing music for that kitten in utero.

I didn't know that about the contractions. Luckily, as I just found out, her labor was only 4 hours. That, coupled with the little one's size, hopefully made things easier for her.

PL, thank you! I had no idea I'd react this powerfully. It's pretty amazing. I'm bouncing off the walls!