Labor Watch 2009

With my due date coming up on Saturday, Andrew and I are officially on Labor Watch. There have been enough signs—I’ll spare everyone the details; those who have been pregnant can guess what they are—to suggest that labor is imminent. But the cruel irony is that none of those signs mean anything at all. Such things can occur weeks or days before labor. I could finish this blog post and go into labor. Or I could still be pregnant a week from today. No one knows.

So there’s nothing to do now but sit around and obsess about things. Last night I began obsessing about our bassinet, which we borrowed from one of Andrew’s co-workers. I was really gung-ho about borrowing this particular item, since the baby will use it for just a couple of months. But now the item is vexing me. First, I wanted to buy a new mattress and sheets for it. This attempt was unsuccessful; no sizes fit. Then I decided to just buy new sheets. Also unsuccessful. Nothing fit; the ones I bought that sort of fit shrunk to half their size in the wash and no longer fit at all. Plus, I see everything—every ripple in the fabric, every not-quite-perfect surface—as a terrifying suffocation risk. The baby could conceivably sleep on the mattress cover provided with the bassinet—but what happens when it becomes wet? Etc. etc. Then I looked up the model online and found out it was recalled a couple of years ago. It was recalled for complications from a function we weren't planning to use the bassinet for, but still. All I could think about was how I would feel if something happened to our baby because I didn't want to spend $100 on something brand-new. It's not in any way worth going down that path, so we ended up buying a new one at Target last night.

The bassinet thing made me just a bit crazy yesterday, and I’m fairly certain I made Andrew just a bit crazy as well. But we came home and prepared dinner, and in the course of making a fairly involved chicken-and-dumplings recipe from a recent Cook’s Illustrated, we both calmed down. And then we enjoyed the chicken-and-dumplings and chose a name.

Yes, that’s right—we finally chose a name. The big reveal will wait until the birthday. In the meantime, Labor Watch continues.

Comments

PletcherFamily said…
Your post made me chuckle. I used to be the same way! I was always worried about wrinkles in the sheets with Arlington. It even crossed my mind as an extra safety measure to pin the sheets under the mattress. (don't go getting any ideas).

She will be just fine. :)

Arlington spent 8 weeks in the bassient.

Finley - well, she spent 2 weeks in there. After that, she got booted to her own room so that I could have peace and quiet.

LOL.
Laura Ainsley said…
I was delighted to see the segment on CBS Sunday morning this weekend on the camel races featured in Skipping Town! Glad to see Skipping Town is well ahead of the major networks in its publishing cycle--and notably more colorful in its portrayal.
The Kovalls said…
I never used a bassinet! Your baby will be just fine regardless of where she sleeps. Get used to the constant worrying - it only gets worse when the baby is an actual human out of your tummy :-)
Michelle said…
nesting. another sign:)