Christmas Baby? Maybe?

The past few days I’ve been feeling like I have everything under control. I haven’t been stressing about Chet’s due date. I’m anxious to meet him, but I’ve been feeling confident that he will get here when he gets here. Our house is ready. His nursery is good enough. My hospital bags are packed. We have a car seat. The baby swing is in our living room.

And then I realized Christmas is next weekend….

And then I went to the doctor for my weekly check-up….

Last Friday I was 1cm dilated and only slightly effaced. Today I am 2cm dilated and my cervix has thinned out A LOT since my last appointment. The baby is also A LOT lower than last week. A LOT is in all caps on purpose. The doctor put A LOT of emphasis on those two words.  I didn’t ask for numbers or percentages because sometimes numbers can make me anxious. I almost considered not being checked today for that reason (and the fact that I didn’t feel like getting undressed). I went into the appointment expecting no progress. Yes. I’ve been experiencing pre-labor symptoms, but Chet has also been feeling very cozy in my belly. My pregnant body is not so cozy though.

When we were leaving our appointment, the doctor said to schedule for next Thursday BUT he didn’t think we would make it to that appointment. I know it’s just the opinion of one doctor, but it is enough information for me to transition back to the “must get stuff done” mode.

Baby to-do lists are done, but Christmas to-do lists need some work. I need to:

• Finish shopping (Hello online shopping. I love you! In-Store shopping is not a favorite of mine during anytime of the year)
• Bake. I normally spend an entire weekend baking cookies for the holidays – peanut butter balls, peanut butter cup cookies, Hersey kiss cookies, and vanilla shooter cookies. It’s been on my agenda for Saturday. I think we should be good.
• Wrapping

(Okay – maybe my list is more manageable than I originally anticipated. Thank goodness!)

If Chet does surprise us by showing up before Christmas, it would be absolutely wonderful to have a new baby in the house on Christmas morning.  Someone better run out and buy a Baby’s First Christmas ornament and Christmas outfit (hint! hint! Mom or Sister!).

Since we decorated our house for Christmas, I have had visions of laboring at home by the light of the Christmas tree. There is really something magical about the twinkle of Christmas lights.  Never in our wildest dreams did Christian and I anticipated getting pregnant one week after going off of the pill. We had hoped we would have a spring time baby. I’ve slowly fallen in love with the idea of a Christmas Baby. He may or may not like sharing his birthday with the holidays, but I love associating everything Christmas with the birth of my child.

Chet may or may not show up this week. He might stay cozy until is due date. He may even stay put until New Years. If he stays put until January, I might just have to leave my Christmas tree up so I can labor at home by Christmas lights anyways!