#kidmaking stuff

I can't sleep, and I have to be up in three hours, but I'm happy and content. From the beginning I've mostly used this place as an angst vent and have gone silent when things were good, which is a shame. The good stuff is more worth recording than the bad. But especially now that I'm not working (gave away all but four of my billable hours to another freelancer this week, and will basically be off 'til the end of August), I've largely been away from the computer, and blogging on the phone, as I'm doing now (in bed, trying not to wake my wife), is a pain. But things are good. The place is coming together. We got a guy in to fasten all the furniture to the wall, which means we can finally start putting books in the bookshelves. I bought all the random baby gear we're gonna need (thermometer, sash carrier, changing pad, sink bath insert, all that exciting stuff), and it's been arriving piecemeal over the past few days. Today I found a pediatrician, at least for the first weigh-in visit a few days after he's born. We'll see if she cuts the mustard after that. We washed all the clothes people gave us as presents or hand-me-downs that were sized anywhere from zero to three months, though the dresser we ordered to store them in won't arrive 'til next week. The shower is Saturday. 12 old friends for lunch at a restaurant nearby, each bringing a book. The whole thing is being organized by our donor's wife, who is such a beautiful human being. It'll be really good to see them all. My wife is sweet and amazing. There are no words for how happy she makes me. The little blorper continues to blorp away. I lie with my hand on her belly while we watch The Americans in bed at night, feeling him push and slide and wriggle, and my heart fills with joy. We have no idea when this thing is gonna happen. Could be today, could be next week, could be any time from now 'til mid-August. She's drinking nettle and raspberry leaf tea and eating dates and sticking evening primrose where the sun don't shine, but he'll show up when he wants to. Nothing to do but put things in order and savor the sweet anticipation of what's to come.

Yesterday I had an hour of onsite work after 11 days off, which were mostly consumed by wrapping stuff up at the old place and continuing to set up the new place, but which still allowed for a ton of leisure and sleep and cooking and hanging out with friends (including my favorite five-year-old.) Today I have three hours of onsite work and then I go to the OB's office with my wife to talk about labor plans and stuff! She's at 36 weeks and two days! If she holds out 'til Monday, we'll be able to use the Birth Center! She's worried about going early but I'm worried about her going late. Dunno why except that she arrived a week early (as an only child) and I arrived two weeks late (as a third child), so who knows. I've got about four hours of work a week, mostly one hour a day, until mid-August, which my wife really wants me to find a sub for. I had one lined up, but then she dropped out, so I gotta find another one. The same schedule will probably go on in September, and I'd just as soon have the money and be able to take longer before going back to work full time, but my wife really wants me to take 3 to 5 months completely off. We'll see how it goes. She's uncomfortable from swollen feet, sciatica, and hip pain, but taking it easy helps, and she's in generally good spirits. Main thing we gotta do before the kid arrives is unpack all the boxes in his room (they're mostly tchotchkes from the old place that we're not sure we have room for, so we might have to do another big discard), get a handyman in to anchor all our furniture to the wall and swap the window guards around so we can get an AC in the living room, buy the kid a dresser and wash all the clothes people have given us so we can see what else if anything we need to buy, and then we're pretty much set, except for some minor decorating. I just spent half an hour naked on our new couch drinking Irish Breakfast tea out of a color-changing mug with whales on it while a fan blew on me, which was blissful, but now I'd better take a super quick shower and head out. It'll be nice to switch back to 90% remote work starting tomorrow.

He's extra blorpy this morning, which is v. reassuring. <3