Tomorrow I'll reach the 38 week mark. Even before I got pregnant, I thought 10/11/12 would be a cool birthday. Well, that day has come and gone, and despite my best efforts, Baby Buck #4 is still riding comfortably in the warmth (and quiet) of my belly. At this point, I've found it takes me twice as long to do anything away from home. Not because I'm so big and cumbersome, but because inevitably I'll run into several people that are very sweet to ask how I'm doing, when am I due, do I think I'll go early, etc. etc., and then they typically move into their own birth stories. I love that people are extra nice to me when I'm pregnant, but it does seem to put me in a time crunch. I've always found that strangers are extra friendly when I'm pregnant, and I wish we were that friendly to each other all the time. Somehow a big belly (or a newborn baby) break down a wall. On the other hand, sometimes a little bit of a wall is more appropriate. I've also found that strangers have no problem asking inappropriate questions, giving inappropriate advice, or sharing inappropriate stories. It's funny how those change from one child to the next. When I was pregnant with John and Eve, I just got the standard, "Congratulations", "Do you know what you're having?", etc. With Eve, they added, "Oh, a boy and a girl. That's perfect. Now you can stop." When I was pregnant with Ellie, however, it was uncanny how many people, friends and strangers alike, asked the very same question, "Was it planned?" Without fail, that's what everyone said to me. I always thought I should come up with the perfect clever quip, but it never came to me. For the record, yes, we very much wanted Ellie in our lives, even before we said our vows. With this pregnancy, again, without fail, friends and strangers have the same question, "Are you done?" Again, I haven't come up with the perfect response. I just think it's funny the difference. The other thing I've heard a lot has struck me as odd. Several people think they know what you're having just by looking at you. I've always had people guess with certainty. This pregnancy, however, every person that has guessed with certainty has said something like, "Oh! You're having another girl!" So much so, that it's made me a little nervous about the color of our take-home outfit.
Now, on to the giraffe. This pregnancy has been the easiest thus far, and still I'm not feeling like I'm "done". I am, however, so excited and emotionally ready to meet this little man. It just so happens, at this time, the giraffe at the Greenville Zoo is expecting as well. They have a live web cam on her to watch. She's due any day now, and has been pacing a lot, so they say the birth is "imminent". We've all found ourselves watching the video feed obsessively. I'm watching because I feel like we're in a race. Who knows, maybe we'll deliver on the same day. At any rate, in a few short days or weeks, I'll be holding my sweet baby, and fortunately, unlike the giraffe, he won't be 6 feet tall yet.
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