Preparations

My due date is 6 weeks from yesterday. My baby daughter in the making has been flexing her legs and arms, and I'm pretty sure over the last few days she's dropped even farther down into my pelvic area. I think she's gotten bigger too-- I can feel her head and shoulders move now, and not just the adjustment from side to side of her booty and legs.

I wonder how I'll feel when she's not in here anymore. She is so literally close to my heart, and consideration of her well-being is ingrained in every move I make, however conscious or subconscious. Even the shape of my hugs have gone from a sturdy H to an A-frame. On the one hand, I've grown very accustomed to having a person occupying my body, and on the other hand still find it so alien. What my body has done and is doing and will do completely amazes me.

I'm in this phase of arming myself with stuff-- reading books and taking birth classes and trying to demystify the whole thing so that I can approach the birth without fear. I'm hoping that the more I know about what's going on with my body, the less I'll associate the pain with fear, and the more smoothly it will all go. Given that we don't even know what hospital we'll be delivering at, and thanks to the closing of St. Vincent's, won't really know till it's time to deliver, all of this preparation is helping as much as can be expected.