11 (??) Days and Counting

It was check-up time for Orange Seed today. No major news to report - she is head down, has a strong heartbeat, all mommy's levels and numbers and vitals are good and so...basically...ain't nothing happening. That said, we do have an ultrasound and internal exam scheduled for next Thursday. I never thought I would say this about an internal exam from the OBGYN (Ladies, are you with me?), but YAHOO! Even if the result is nothing more than "no progress", just knowing that someone has actually looked and the result is official will be nice. Though logically I understand that there is no reason for them to do an internal exam every time I'm in, especially when nothing is happening for me water-breaking/contraction/bleeding-wise, still...you do wind up sitting around at this point in a little bit of denial. Every appointment is the same. Every day feels pretty much the same. You can't help but sort of fade into this stage of thinking where you KNOW the big day is coming...but you don't really believe it. And I don't even mean that in a forlorn, woe is me kind of way. Though I am anxious and excited for Orange Seed to get here, this lessening sense of reality in relation to the birth hasn't made me feel sad. I just feel this sense of acceptance - things are still the way they've always been. Why would they change? That feeling is so strong, in fact, that the idea of Orange Seed showing up early hasn't even entered my head. I'm pretty darned convinced she's going to be late, if anything. Who knows though...maybe my lack of belief in her ability to be on time will work a jedi-mind trick on her - reverse psychology. If she is as strong-willed as we expect her to be, then maybe just knowing that we don't believe she will be here on time will encourage her to make a quicker entrance. Lord knows it is hard to believe that she needs anymore development time. She is a strong little lady who seems like she may come out ready to run, let alone to just be a typical little newborn.

On that note, our little Orange Seed, according to the books and the doc, is now about the size of a watermelon. A watermelon, people! Last night Chris and I were reminiscing about the days when she was her original little Orange Seed self. Hard to believe that was ever true. Hard to believe that I was ever unsure of her movements or her existence. Nowadays, she truly rules the roost and I am just along for the ride. And this is what the ride is looking like nowadays:



We took better pics with the other camera, but for some reason the computer doesn't want to recognize that card right now. We'll post those when we can get all our fancy equipment to start working together again.

You Don't Know How Lucky You Are

Oh, Orange Seed...you have no idea how lucky you are. Daddy and I may be far from perfect, but let me tell you...you could have done MUCH worse. For instance, today I had to go to LabCorp for some blood tests. First off, let me thank my OBGYN for sending me out for tests this time, rather than just drawing my blood themselves. There is nothing like sitting in a crowded waiting room for 2 hours (yup, you have to get there 1/2 hour early, then they make you drink heavy duty Gatorade and then you wait an hour to actually have your blood drawn - F, U, N, spells FUN!) surrounded by people who are variously hacking, snorting, spitting into the trash can (I kid you not), etc. Once again, thinking I reeeeally should have figured out how to get the Swine Flu vaccine before now. At any rate, as Orange Seed and I are sitting there waiting for our turn to get pricked, the waiting room is slowly emptying out and soon we are left with just one couple and their two kids. Let's start with the positive: cute kids, mom kisses them often, dad smiles at them...okay, I'm out. Now let's talk about the negative. The parents proceeded to fight LOUDLY for about 25 mins straight. It all started because they were sitting near the window and the mom glanced out at the same time that some man was walking by.

Dad: "What are you looking at?"
Mom: "What? What are you talking about?"
Dad: "You looked at him like 'mmmm', when I'm sitting right here. You think I don't see you? You're nasty, seriously."
Mom: "Please. I wasn't looking at him, you're crazy."
Dad: "What were you looking at then, huh?"
Mom: "None of your f*&$*ing business."
Dad: "Oh, now you're cursing. You do that in a place of public? That's nice. You need to learn how to act proper. Cursing like that in public. Nasty."
Mom: "You are so rude. Disrespectful. It isn't worth it."
Dad: "Oh please, you know where you'd be without me."
Mom: "Mmmhmm, I do. I certainly do." (This definitely in a tone of it would be someplace gooood).
Dad: "You're such a nasty person. Hood rat."
Mom: "Whatever. You think you're so great, but you aren't. You're just sad, sad, sad."

and on and on and on and on

Again, their two kids, who couldn't have been more than 2 and 4, are sitting right there. I am also sitting right there, feeling exceedingly awkward and focusing on my iPhone like it is telling me the secrets of the universe. The fighting went on and on and got louder and louder until FINALLY they were called back for their appointment. Unbelievable. So, see Orange Seed? It could be way worse. Your daddy, no matter how mad he has ever been at me, has never called me a "hood rat". Nor have I loudly thrown out the...um...choice words that Waiting Room Mommy was using to berate your dad in public. Who are these people and do their kids grow up thinking this is normal? I'm sure they do. And while I'm sure there are plenty of things we will do in front of you that we will later regret or that will reveal to you that we are, in fact, imperfect, there are some things that I can promise you will never have to deal with. I'm just glad that you were in utero for this one, kiddo. I'm not sure what I would have done if you had been there and able to understand those people. This is similar to a Washington, DC Zoo episode that your dad and I experienced once. I can't even relate that story here, but let's just say that it involved one man LOUDLY and VIVIDLY describing the poor elephant's bowel movement and then debating all of its pluses and minuses in terms worse than I could ever have fathomed might come out of someone's mouth in the middle of a crowd of anyone, let alone a bunch of little kids. See, you cringed just now, didn't you? And you weren't even there to hear it! Trust me, whatever you are imagining...it was worse! I don't consider myself much of a prude in terms of language use, etc.; however, there is a line when kids are around and apparently, someone needs to walk around whacking people with that line, to get it through their thick skulls. Where's the Sensitivity Bat when you need it?