Locomotion

So Baby is here. Now the question is, what to blog? Or, what not to blog? My brain is a blur of thoughts, questions, curiousities, fascinations, and mush.

Nevertheless, I am content. Baby is so darling - okay, she's got a good set of pipes on her, but that just endears me to her more. I like the idea of her cry indicating strong feelings or emotions (instead of drama, of course).

My mind is swirling about, sometimes just lazily coping with wee sleep shifts, but most of the time, in awe of the way in which our world has been completely transformed. I got really emotional on Day 3 (was it that long ago?) about how I will cope with loving her more than I do already. I can hardly bear the thought of loving both A and Baby so much that my heart just does crazy kicks and fits to comprehend it all. Can I be capable of that much love?

Baby is seemingly getting used to us - as we are to her. I sometimes look at her and think that she knows more than she lets on and is just really gracious, letting us fumble our way to help her out. Yeah, I love her but I like her a lot too.

And, two weeks late (according to a silly due date) but arrived precisely at 3:00 pm on August 8th, 2007 is... Imogene Finch. We're doing well, at home, being spoiled by family and friends and sleeping when it works...

More details to come, for now, pictures.


3 days old, dressed up to me Grandma and Grandpa Eidse.

Shortly after she was born, Daddy gets to hold her for the first time.



Me, a mom, at home on IF's second day. Thanks for the yummy pink roses, Mom.

Being 41 weeks 6 days pregnant now, it's fair to say that due dates are completely arbitrary. In my humble opinion, a new definition of full-term pregnancy should be promoted as a due 'month' versus a date. According to the books, full term pregnancy is 37 weeks to 42 weeks. Okay, I'm coming up on that week in one day and believe me... I'm feeling it.

What's interesting to me about this entire process is the mental challenge of pregnancy and imminent birth versus the physical one. As a runner, I felt the task I really had to prepare myself for was the physical endurance of labour. I'm confident that I have physically prepared myself for labour. And maybe, once I go through labour (it will happen, it will happen, it will happen) I'll feel that I've just amply prepared physically for it. But, the real battle of endurance for me is the mental battle of labour itself.

Let me explain further, I've had two full days of early labour. Meaning, contractions occuring five minutes apart for a full eight hours and then stopping outright. In between these eight hour shifts, was 32 hours of nada. So, I'm actually in a labour stage even though I'm not labouring. My brain hurts at trying to comprehend the mental stamina of this situation. This, I was not prepared for.

In addition to these quirky nuances of labour and an ongoing pregnancy, there is the mental battle of due date obsession - and not necessarily by me but everyone who knows it. Those that are expectant of this baby's arrival are evidently as concerned and obsessed about this situation as I am, making for some unecessary tension between me and them and each other. People fear for picking up the phone to say hello and I must admit, rightfully so. I'm sooooo bored of telling about my status. It's really all very boring in the scheme of the globe.

Then, there's the battle of letting nature do what it will (which apparently my body is doing, at a very slow pace, mind you) and what medical practitioners from all points of view believe should be happening. "Cut it out!", "Leave it in!", "Induce", "You're normal!", "Monitor every day at the hospital!". *Damn*

Having this mental mess to stir myself up in, *ohh, the drama*, I wonder if the real curse of labour placed upon Eve was the mental curse of labour and not the physical one we all believe the story to mean. Hopefully in short order, I'll eat my words and say that it's definitely the physical one and not the mental one.

With all this leisure time on my hands, I have finally been able to dig in to this massive book given to me by the Eidse' family at Christmas. I have been itching to read it and to soak up the tons of previously unseen (to me) pictures of my Irish boys. The book is a really interesting format, written like a conversation between the four, that intermittently includes cameos by heavily involved U2ers such as their manager Paul McGuinness. It is laid out chronologically and I'm at the point now in which Boy was released, they've toured outside of Ireland and England to promote it, and are heading (with intrepidation) to the studio to record what will become October. I've decided that in order to fully enjoy the book, I must play the album they're relfecting on at that time during the read. This has been essential to establish the tone and spirit of their musings.