Bean in Winter

Bean in Winter
Originally uploaded by chrisbreitenbach.

Baby, It’s Time

No, she’s still not here. Well, she’s here, of course, but she’s still veiled by the belly and clearly content to remain there biding her time. There’s been an abundance of “warm-up” contractions and other signs of impending parturition but such manifestations can coast along for days, sometimes weeks without advancing. So we’ve waited. Her due date has come and gone, and like most babies and their respective due dates, she decided to skip it. We talk to her and tell her it’s time. “Come on out, don’t worry, you don’t have to celebrate your birthday on Christmas!” We get anxious and don’t quite know what to do. “It’s time,” we say, and “Soon.”

So, tonight, in a couple of hours, we’re checking in to St. Francis. For the sake of the mom-to-be we’ll spare you the details of our current birth plan, but needless to say, chances are good that our daughter will be with us in a day or two—the very thought of which causes me to feel something justifiably hyperbolic.

Term

The baby is full term as of today. If labor comes, labor stays.

We gave her a name tonight. It has three syllables.