9 Months

Wow, it has been a really long time since I have posted on my blog.  I haven't done a single post in all of 2013!  But I have found myself with lots of extra time right now as I am waiting on our baby's arrival (any day now!) and had some thoughts on my mind.

Today I was reflecting back on my pregnancy and thinking about all that has happened in the past 9 months.  At times the 9 months seemed to go by really slow and at other times it seemed to fly by. All in all, I think 9 months was the perfect amount of time for me to be pregnant.  At some points in the pregnancy I wanted to push back the due date because I felt like there was still so much to figure out before our baby came.  We didn't know where Samuel was going to go to med school yet and so had no idea where we would be living, we were really lost on what to do for insurance for the baby, and I felt like I still needed to learn so much more about labor and delivery because it seemed like everyone else knew so much more than I did.  I was completely okay with the due date still being pretty far off.

As my pregnancy got within a couple months of the end we had figured out a lot more and we knew where we would be living and had an apartment there (which was a really nice feeling), but there was still so much that needed to fall in to place first.  I didn't have a doctor lined up in Indianapolis yet, because we still didn't have things figured out with insurance.  And we were not even in the state I was planning to give birth in yet.  We hadn't bought the baby supplies yet since we didn't want to buy them all before moving, so we hadn't really done the things you often are doing at that point to prepare.  When people would ask if I was ready for the baby I kept saying that I really needed to move first before I felt ready.  About 6 weeks before the due date we made the big move to Indianapolis.  I was able to find and meet with a doctor a couple days after moving there and everything fell in to place really nicely to make me feel much more ready.  Samuel and I found out where we would be delivering the baby and took a birthing class at that hospital which included a tour.  That made things feel a lot more real and comforting.  I also took a lot of time during this time to study and learn a lot more about labor and the after stages (recovery, breastfeeding, etc) through books as well as manuals/handouts from the hospital.  I felt much more prepared and knowledgeable.  The combination of doing the physical things to prepare (meeting with the doctor who would actually be delivering me, buying and setting up baby stuff, etc) and the mental things through my studying brought me to the point of feeling ready and much more empowered to take on this new adventure.  I knew there would still be plenty of times to come with motherhood that I would have no idea what to do, but I felt much more capable and ready to face it.

I reached this point of feeling ready several weeks ago, but I knew that I still had weeks to wait until the baby actually came.  I felt fine with that though and felt patient and totally fine with waiting until my due date or a little after.  I enjoyed this time to explore the new area and to spend time with Samuel before he got busy with med school.  I also enjoyed having a relaxed schedule and being able to get plenty of rest and have some leisurely time.  After Samuel started going to school I didn't mind being at home alone during the days because I am pretty good at entertaining myself.  I tried to do a lot of productive things so that I wasn't wasting time and also enjoyed some fun things.  I don't get bored very easily so I was totally okay with the situation.  But then recently, within like the last week, I have started to get kind of bored and feeling like I am running out of productive things to do (there's only so many times you need to do laundry or clean the dishes).  Which is actually perfect, because now I am feeling very ready to be busier again and have things I need to accomplish, which a baby will definitely provide!  I feel like if the baby came a month ago I would have adjusted fine, but I probably would have wished I had a little more time to myself to relax or do other things.  But now I am feeling very ready to take on a new challenge!  

Basically the point of all that was that 9 months was the perfect amount of time for me to be pregnant- it got me right to the point of feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally ready for welcoming a baby to our family.

It's kind of crazy to look back on the last 9 months to see how much really happened over that time.  I realized that I lived in 3 different states throughout my pregnancy.  We had an especially full 9 months, including:
 
*Me completing an internship in Washington shadowing a therapist and living away from Samuel for about 6 weeks *Samuel deciding where to go to medical school *Samuel and I both finishing our last requirements of college and graduating with our Bachelor degrees* Two new nieces being born into my family* Moving across the country to Indiana where I had never even visited before and Samuel had only had one brief visit* Living in a brand new city and learning our way around and meeting new people* Samuel starting his first year of medical school*

It's amazing to see how much happened in our lives in that short amount of time as well as how much was happening inside my body during this time to form a little human being.  We are excited to get to meet him soon and welcome him in to our family!