A Day For ME  

Just when I thought I had it down, had gotten into a routine, had figured out what motherhood was all about...

My life got turned upside down.

I am 38 weeks pregnant, meaning it's been 36 weeks since we conceived Baby C. That means I've had roughly 34 weeks to get used to the idea of being the mother of two. Now, I have (roughly) two weeks left before the fantasies (and nightmares) I've concocted in my head become reality.

Two weeks... give or take, of course. As I've said time and again on this blog (so much so that I'm starting to feel like a broken record), I don't think the due date my OB gave me is worth crap. I know when sperm met egg, and I can tell you most assuredly it was not 36 weeks ago today. Combine that with the fact that G arrived a few days late (two or three, depending on whether you believe my doctor's estimated due date), and I don't think I'll be giving birth until the end of the first week of May.

In fact, I've been pretty adamant in my prediction that Baby C will be born exactly one month after my birthday -- May 6th.

Extrapolate that a few days, and it means that -- after the obligatory two night stay in the maternity ward -- C and I will be coming home on Sunday, May 8th... Mother's Day.

I have no doubt that -- whether C has arrived days before or is still tucked safely inside of me -- this Mother's Day will be a special one for me. There will be



Mother's Day Cards (as long as DH remembers to buy one on behalf of his children!); there may be a Mother's Day photobook (I've dropped hints to DH, and even left the Shutterfly website up on our desktop); and if I'm lucky, there will be some personalized gifts for mom... although I'm not holding my breath on that last one, DH's creativity and memory only go so far.

But there will also be hugs, kisses, breakfast in bed (again, not holding my breath on that last one). There will be the smell of a new baby, or at least the anticipation of a new life entering my world. There will be constant reminders of what it means to be a mother, and why -- more than anything in the world -- "mom" is the title I hold most dear.

Of course, there will probably be dirty diapers (courtesy of Baby C) and pee-soaked big-girl underpants (courtesy of G); there will probably be heavy doses of Vicodin and Preparation H (thanks, in part, to Baby C); there will be dirty dishes that no one thinks to clean and a house that looks like it's been torn apart by a spring storm known as my family.

I'm sure there will be time to clean up those messes, once the day is over. But this Mother's Day, I plan to revel in my growing family.