The belly is growing, the brain shrinking

If you’ve emailed or otherwise tried to communicate with me during the last ten days and I haven’t gotten back to you, my sincere apologies. If it’s any consolation, you’re not the only one. Just in the last 24 hours, three of my friends have had to hassle me to furnish them with needed information. It seems that my brain and mental bandwidth is shrinking in inverse proportion to my still-expanding belly. And if you’re wondering how big that belly might be now (and, consequently, how small my brain)… an octogenarian with a walking stick offered to get up off a public bench today so that I could sit down. It would appear that I am beginning to look as uncomfortable as I am feeling.

Disclaimer: Everyone who is harboring serious concerns about my lack of maternal instincts skip everything below until you see a line like this ****. (Bobbie, this means you.)

Speaking of being uncomfortable – yesterday was a shocker. Not only was I in significant pain most of the day, but I was hanging out with family friends who have children and was repeatedly confronted with concrete evidence of just how much work children are. Not just the babies, but the toddlers, little kids, big kids, and teenagers too… All of a sudden it just seemed like too much, and when my brother rang later that night to check in I asked him whether he’d like my baby. You know, to have. Permanently.

In addition to asking me whether I’d cleared this proposal with Mike (uh, no) my brother and sister-in-law politely declined this offer. When I asked why, they said that when they consider this baby’s lineage they are forced to conclude that the little guy will probably be too active for them to handle comfortably.

“But you might get a little boy with Mike’s sweet and sunny extraversion and my less active temperament,” I argued.

“Yeah, but…” my brother said. He didn’t need to finish. I knew what he was thinking – that they might get a little boy with my “less sweet and sunny and much more obstinate” personality and Mike’s energizer bunny temperament.

“Fine,” I said crossly. “I don’t think that’s very family-minded of you. I expected more, frankly, but if you’re not going to take the baby can you at least help me fix my latest computer problem?”

****

Today, however, things are feeling much better. I even saw a tiny baby in a stroller in Target (where I was actually shopping for baby things!) and had an “aww isn’t that baby just so adorable, I wonder what our baby will look like?” inner-gooey moment. I suspect we’ll keep our little guy after all. After all, it would be a shame to waste all the natural aptitude Mike and I display for caring for baby mammals.

Woops. How did the dog get hold of the baby goat's bottle?

Woops. Who knew that baby goats liked kisses?

So, if I haven’t been answering emails and returning phone calls, what have I been doing during the last week? In no particular order: hanging out with a good friend who was up here visiting, toasting marshmallows over an evening fire, filing insurance paperwork, drafting an essay I plan to submit to the New York Times, napping, talking to Mike on skype, learning about stage 3 labour and breastfeeding in childbirth classes, sitting in my obstetrician’s waiting room, reading, and generally trying to stay away from email for a while. All in all, it’s been high on the “lovely and relaxing” end of the scale.

However, in the midst of my inability to engage with all things internet last week I also missed more than a couple of emails I needed to answer… I missed writing about the anniversary of my arrival with Mike in Laos on June 28^th. And Mike had even reminded me about it a couple of days previously.

“We’re coming up on one year since we arrived in Laos together,” Mike said, smiling over skype. “Remember how you wanted to drown yourself in the Mekong that first day?”

“Oh, I remember,” I said.

“I’m glad you didn’t drown yourself in the Mekong,” Mike said fondly.

“All things considered, me too,” I said.

What a year it’s been – one of ups and downs, of incredible adventures and some hardships. Tomorrow or the next day I’ll celebrate that year on the blog by taking a look back at some of my favorite posts and moments. And in the meantime, I might even answer some of my emails. I hope you’ve all had a great start to the week.

Thanks for dropping by.