35 weeks gone, 35 days to go

I just realized that my counter is actually a day off. The baby is due on March 27th, not the 28th as our last test results indicated that we were off by a day. So, that makes me 35 weeks pregnant with only 35 days remaining. For those of you who measure time in a non-baby world way, March 27th is Easter Sunday. Or, if I want to be the optimist, that means the baby could come anytime after two weeks! Wow, the time is going by fast.

I'm not sure if we are prepared yet for just how much our lives are going to change when the baby gets here but I don't think we have much choice at this point. I'm getting pretty excited. For the first time in my life, the day-to-day things going on at work just seem less significant. I still get the job done but nothing seems as captivating as it did a few months ago so I guess I'm going to really enjoy the bit of time I will have off with the baby.

It bothers me a bit that I am less driven - I suspect I have let a few opportunities pass me by where I would have jumped at them before I had the baby to consider. I think that there is still the perception out there about the different roles of the mother and father. I've noticed it a bit with Don and I lately. We are both going to have this little bundle in our lives soon but for him the perception of it, at least to others, is much different. Nobody seems to be expecting him to take time off from work, or thinks that his priorities will change after the baby comes. He's actually been given more work to do. People seem surprised when I tell them that I am only planning on taking a little time off from work. I guess that it bothers me the most because although Don and I have agreed that having the baby meant that each of us would participate equally in raising it while still allowing ourselves the opportunity to have our careers, that's certainly not what is considered the norm. On the otherhand, maybe I'm just a bit more sensitive to these things right now as I get closer to having to step away from it all for a couple of months.

In pregnancy related news, the little kicker has been active this weekend. It's getting harder to bend over because I am very conscious of where his head is now and I try not to squish him. I'm still not sleeping all that well. I wake up often and sometimes find my hands are tingling or my leg is cramped or I just need to change position to work out some of the aches and pains. Unfortunately, I can only really sleep on one side so even if I do turn over, it is only a brief respite until I have to turn back again to try to get more sleep. Luckily, Don can fall asleep faster than anyone I know and doesn't wake up everytime I toss and turn. He will get his turn of sleepless nights soon enough. Speaking of sleep, I think I had better head that way now. The kids are down for the count and Don probably is too.