Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Pink is the New Baby


Fourteen. That is how many pregnancies this fellow Arkansan has chosen to endure. As I sit here in the final weeks of pregnancy number two ---with absolutely no plans to experience the joy of twelve more pregnancies to catch up with Mrs. Duggar--- I have decided that this lady must be part alien to want to be pregnant the majority of the time over the past two decades.

Yes, I have entered that long phase of pregnancy called the third trimester where I am incredibly uncomfortable and just a tad grouchy. Baby girl enjoys "cuddling" up against my ribs, causing significant discomfort. Isaac enjoys using my tummy as a pillow or an arm rest, which makes Evelyn angry and causes her to do a jig inside my stomach. She is not even here yet and they are already having some power struggles. I have also entered the stage of pregnancy where strangers feel quite confident that I am indeed with child and not simply fat and must comment on my mommy-to-be state. Being slightly reserved around people I don't know (this is an amusing thought to people who know me really well and wonder why I talk all the time), I am not comfortable with such conversations at all. Here is a sampling of things total strangers have said to me over the past few days:

1. "What are we having and when are we due?" (This one was at the QT beverage center and the lady seemed quite excited that "we" were having a girl. I wanted to tell her that "we" were not having a baby, that I was....and if she felt the need to use "we" then she could also feel the need to chip in some money for the hospital bill or at the very least buy a package of diapers.)

2. "You poor thing..." (This was the response by the cashier at Lowes when she heard that I was expecting my second child and my first child was only 19 months old. Thanks. I wanted to tell her there wasn't much I could do to remedy the situation unless I let this pregnancy have the gestation period of an elephant, which I believe is about 24 months. The cashier also kept calling me "Mom" and informed me my shoes were not practical for pregnancy. Nice.)

3. "Boy, right? I know its a boy." (This was said to me by another cashier at Lowes ---I was at Lowes a lot this weekend--who looked very disappointed when I had to tell him he was wrong about the gender of the child.)

4. "Table for six.....or how about seven?" (This was said by the host at Olive Garden last night. We were only with a party of six people, but he thought his joke about needing an extra seat for the baby was hilarious. However, I didn't think it was humorous to imply that I needed seating for two. This host also would not leave Isaac alone and made Tobe and myself quite uncomfortable. If I ever bump into this man in our local Target, I am running the other direction.)

So there you go---Lynley is a bit testy these days. Last week at my doctor's appointment I was relaying some experiences I have been having with contractions to my doctor. She told me what to notify her about and said once I hit a certain point, she won't do anything to stop the contractions. Uh, that certain point is in two weeks! Oh my! Until that point I am to cut my physical activity level in half (no three mile walks) and stay hydrated (which means I might as well live in the bathroom. Poor Isaac is ready to be potty-trained partly because he sees me going to the bathroom all the time and has started talking about "pee-peeing in the potty" whenever he sees a toilet.) I am hoping to make it to my birthday--which is mid-April--without an appearance of this sweet baby. However, I do relish the thought of wearing normal jeans and my ribs not aching as though I were a participant in a boxing match....


This weekend was "Make Room for Baby" weekend, meaning that all the grandparents, plus Tobe and my little brother, pulled together and transformed our old study into the nursery. Here are some preliminary pictures. Before you comment, yes, the nursery is pink and yes about four months ago I rebuked all things pink. What can I say, I am a hypocrite.

(Work done: Walls painted pink; bead board, trim and molding installed and painted; new blinds installed; new fan installed; new outlets installed--including a phone jack that connects to one in the garage--don't ask, the former owners of our house were quite eccentric; crib assembled, though not pictured; curtains hung)




In closing, here are the latest Isaac tricks, in no particular order:

*He says a pig says "ink, ink" rather than "oink, oink." Precious.

*He will sing the "E-I-E-I-O" portion of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" which is hilarious

*He is finally acknowledging the fact that he does indeed know how to count

*When asked, he can tell you the new room is for the "baby"

*This morning I handed him a package of pacifiers (pink) and asked him to put them in the baby's room. He hugged them close and said, "nigh-nighs, baby" and then put them in Evelyn's crib. We aren't sure how he made the connection between pacifier and sleep, considering he only took a pacifier the first two weeks of life, but it was precious anyway.

Yes, Bunny is still alive and still hops frantically in the opposite direction of Isaac.

5 comments:

Jennifer said...

I love reading your posts! You are so funny. I hope you are able to survive these last few weeks before baby girl gets here. Don't take those comments to heart, you are a tiny pregnant person. I love what you have done so far with the nursery. The pink looks so funny to me- I stare at boy rooms all day!!!

Amy C said...

Enjoy your pink! Isaac is adorable as usual. You guys are going to have a wonderful time with the new baby.

Amy said...

The room is adorable! I am a big fan of beadboard wainscot - we also installed it in our nursery. I am just guffawing over your pregnancy incidents at Lowe's and Olive Garden. The worst I experienced was a stranger invading my personal space to touch my belly - Ugh! People can get really weird. And I can relate - strange men taking an interest in my children makes me want to run in the opposite direction. I hope you are able to get the rest you need before the big day.

The Binkley Family said...

I remember those days...I distinctly remember, after being on bed rest for four weeks, asking Gary to get a knife from the kitchen and cut Zach out. Luckily for all of us, he knew it was pregnancy induced insanity!

Shanta said...

Lynley- one of my favorite posts! I like it when you are testy. I can't believe the Olive Garden waiter... or the other people for that matter... Hmmm, do I comment to people I don't know? Probably. I did tell a complete stranger (girl) while we were waiting to go through airport security to please pull up her pants so I didn't have to look at her thong. What can I say? I'm testy too.

Good luck in the next few weeks. I hope all goes as smooth as possible. Congrats on the great bones for the nursery! We can't wait to hear the news!