Tick Tock, Tick Tock

It is going to be a sad sad day for the Duck mailbox when Orange Seed is born.

I know that sounds weird but, honestly, this mailbox has gotten used to getting daily cards, gifts, deliveries, etc. I think it is going to be a little jealous when the baby arrives and suddenly she is the one getting showered with attention rather than the mailbox. I dread to think what it might do to exact revenge...If we don't pay bills for a few months, it is not our fault. I am sure the mailbox ate them as payback.

According to the latest reports, Orange Seed is weighing in at almost 4lbs these days. She is definitely getting more squished in there as the bigger kicks and punches, though still happening occasionally, have given way to more squirming and rolling. It is hard to believe that we only have 59 days to go. That said, the last week has dragged by at a snail's pace. After feeling like the first 6 months flew by at warp speed, it is hard to settle into this new slowpoke progression. Knowing that we are in the final stretch has definitely made us ever more eager to finally have this little girl out here with us, rather than in my belly, and yearning for her arrival has caused a permanent change in the procession of time. Now time just mocks us as it sits there, occasionally letting a minute tick by, often refusing to budge...We've gone from "Only 9 weeks!" to "A whole 9 WEEKS!" and we're having to use those Lamaze breathing techniques to slow ourselves down and deal with the pain of all this waiting. This must be how you feel as a kid when you are waiting and waiting for Santa to come and your parents keep telling you, "But Johnny, Santa just came 2 weeks ago. He won't be back for another year." AHHHHHHHHH!!! Not that we want Orange Seed to come out too early mind you. We want her to stay in there and bake for as long as she needs to, but still...8 WEEKS...
By 8 weeks from now, I will likely have reorganized all her little belongings approximately 7,543 times. That has become my new way of distracting myself from the fact that she's not here. We've set up the crib, the rocker, the changing table. I even put sheets on the crib the other night, just to prepare. I moved her diapers (yes, she already has diapers) from the closet to the shelf below the changing pad. I hung most of her little clothes on little tiny hangers in the closet (tiny hangers, by the way, are the cutest thing EVER). I set up her Gentle Giraffe near her crib (Thank you, Suzanne and Tim!!!) and I've folded the 6 changing pads (yes, 6) that I've won through Big City Moms into a perfect stack in the closet. I've placed orders for a few things we are still missing and I've started to put together a list of drugstore items that we'll need to pick up before she gets here. If I don't have our hospital bags packed and ready to go 6 weeks prior to her arrival, I'll be amazed. It is just so hard not to have anything left to do but wait. We're finishing up our Childbirth classes, I have a breastfeeding class coming up, we have the two baby showers these next two weekends (yay!!!!!!), but otherwise...tick tock, tick tock. Even having friends in to visit and spending copious amounts of time at the gym are not helping distract from the sludge-o-time. Oh, Orange Seed, you can't possibly know how anxious we are to finally meet you. Thoughts of you occupy our days and nights and mornings and evenings and all other -ings in between. As we keep telling you, definitely don't come out before you are 100% ready and safe to do so; however, if we got to say 38/39 weeks and you WERE ready...we would take you a little early. Just sayin...