week 27

Some sources call this week the first week of the third-trimester, but most pregnancy websites say that the second tri-mester still has two weeks left.
Maya's eyes might be opening now, and her auditory nerve is now developed. I have noticed in the last few days that she seems to be responding more consistently to sounds...especially our voices.
You may argue that she has no idea what our words mean, but we are certain that her listening skills and ability to follow directions are exceptionally advanced. Ryan asked her to kick...three times in a row, and each time she did! Clearly, she is a genius.
And she seems to be very compliant... we're hoping.

Only 99 days...

...until Maya is scheduled to arrive.

The time is passing so quickly. She hasn't even been born, and I already feel like these experiences are slipping away...Sooner than we can imagine, she'll squirm too much to be held like a baby. Then she won't need a crib anymore. We'll send her to kindergarten. Elementary school will be a rapid blurr, and then she'll be a teenager...a college freshman...an independent woman...a wife? a mother?

What is that like? To be so incredibly wrapped up in another life? To measure your own life cycles and seasons by another person. My identity is already altered...so that people, even strangers, immediately ask questions like...
"how far along are you?" "when are you due?" "do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Instead of..."what is your name?" "what do you do?" "where do you work?"

And I don't mind. I'd rather answer their questions than talk about my 'other' life. I love telling them that I'm 26 weeks...almost to the third trimester...due May 9th. That I have a little girl named Maya.


Maya,
I can't wait to see you.
It is so hard to think of anything but your birth.
Your dad and I love this anticipation.
We talk to you all time and try to imagine what you will really be like.
But we don't want to rush you.
We'll try to savour every moment of our life before you join us more tangibly..
..and we'll try to remember how this wonderful ache feels.
Don't grow up too fast.
I love you.
your mom

is this real?

Today, as I opened the closet door to our extra bedroom, I was stunned by its contents.
There were two racks of baby clothes.

I own diapers!
Tiny socks, bibs, baby toys.

For a moment, I was in a daze. I guess I put these things here. But...I have...baby things. weird.

I think I have no idea how life is about to change.

growing...

January 1, 2006

January 22, 2006

Maya continues to make us aware of her presence. Every night she kicks more....enough for Ryan to feel from the outside. Sometimes you can even *see* her sudden movements jolt my stomach. Even as I am typing, I can feel her changing positions...a lot.

My protruding belly button is often noticed. But my favorite comment about it came on Friday at the end of day. My kindergarteners were leaving my class room in a line, and one of them pointed to it and said "Look, Mrs. Corbin! You can see Maya's little finger sticking out!"

Up until a few weeks ago, I've been used to hearing people say...."how far along are you? you don't even look pregnant!"
They don't say that any more. So I've been feeling a little big lately. But for once in my life, that's an okay feeling. I could probably wear clothes that 'hide' my baby....but it's kind of fun to show her off.
(hm...after looking at that picture, maybe I can't hide it as much I think...that's getting pretty big:)

maya's daddy loves her

In less than three days (two of which have been full work days), Ryan has cleared out the office (now nursery), painted two coats in the nursery (with help from Grandma and Grandpa Corbin), cleaned out the closet, built closet organizers, painted stripes on the walls, and put together Maya's crib!



It is so fun to see it all together. We keep imagining her.... How she will sleep (or probably *not* sleep sometimes) in her crib...how we will spend afternoons rocking her...what it will be like to see her look up at us and smile when she wakes up.

The room is still pretty bare, but it is a lot easier to imagine it finished!

Once again, I should be in bed.
Maya is wiggling more than ever....a sure sign that I should be sleeping.

maya's favorite time of day...

...or maybe it's her least favorite. I'll probably never know what her rolling around and kicking is meant to express. But this time of night is always exciting. As I begin to seriously contemplate sleep (which I've been casually contemplating all day), Maya becomes strangely alert and active. She's twisting and turning inside of me. Sometimes it feels like she's kicking or punching (though still without too much muscle)..and occasionally, I wonder if her tiny fingers are actually tickling me.

Maya is now in her sixth month of life. Her tiny lungs are beginning to develop more quickly. Her coordination is improving and she is becoming more deliberate with her movements...she can even tell the difference between being upside down and right side up! I wish I could see her again...I wonder if she still keeps her arms up in front of her face. Does she feel as crowded as I do? My skin hurts sometimes...as if I have just gorged myself with a mountain of food. You know that feeling after you've eaten too much? when you vow to never eat again? and you wonder if you might actually explode...split open...or pop? It's strange to feel that way without eating a thing.

too late.

So, before I started hand sewing all of Maya's crib bedding, I searched and searched the internet for something I liked. I really wanted red....and I was picturing this...



...exactly.

But I never found it...until tonight.

It's perfect...exactly what I had in mind. It is actually scary, how much it looks like the set I designed. And on eBay, the set is actually cheaper than what I am spending making it myself.
My home-made version will never be as straight and perfectly cut, but hopefully it will be special somehow...that I spent hours making it just for her...even with a few crooked stitches.

So when I finish, and post a picture of Maya's crib set, you will all have to ease my frustration and reaffirm that hers is better.

Maya has a crib!

Her Grandma and Grandpa Corbin gave it to her on Friday.
There is no room to put it anywhere in our house yet...so it sits in the box in our living room, waiting for the office to become a nursery.

The dust ruffle and the quilt are finished (no, her bedding is not the catastrophic, world-wide flood scene in the picture). All that the crib needs now are the bumper pads, a sheet, and....Maya.

This morning when I woke up, she had somehow transferred all of her weight to one side of my belly. There was a big solid bump on my just right side.

My once deep 'innie' belly button is now officially an 'outie.' It looks like a cheerio.

for friends and family far away...

...yes, I am now 'showing.'

and as you have requested, here is how Maya has affected my shape so far...



Tonight, a young parent of a student asked if I needed any maternity clothes, and only an hour later brought two enormous boxes full of clothes to my door (probably more clothes than I even own) for me to borrow. So many of them are the perfect size and style. It feels like Christmas...again! If I wore them all, I probably would never have to wear the same thing twice until Maya is born. Seriously. This woman has a *lot* of clothes. I am so excited and grateful. Though the process of sorting and trying things on was exhausting....for me AND for my consultant (Ryan tried to be interested as I modeled each shirt, sweater, dress...quickly responding with a "sure" or "um...no.").

I can feel Maya kicking me right now. As her bones and muscles grow, her gentle attempts to get my attention are becoming much more distinct. I've been telling my students that Maya can hear them, so they need to make sure that they are setting good examples for her. I think she will already know "Twinkle Twinkle" by the time she is born. I hope the squeaky, beginner violin playing she is forced to listen to daily isn't affecting her perfect pitch!
I just finished organizing all of our CD's this weekend...probably around 300-400 of them. They are now alphabetized and classified by genre: Classical, old Christian music that is seldom listened to but kept for posterity in 'the archives' notebook, and Current (almost 150 different artists ranging from Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, to Damien Rice, the Polyphonic Spree, U2, Iron and Wine, Norah Jones, Kurt Elling, Ben Folds, Miss Saigon, Godspell, Over the Rhine). We are working hard to give Maya a broad spectrum of music listening. She needs to hear a lot of really good music to balance out all the...other music she hears at school.

And now, what Maya needs most is...sleep.