Last first day of class

Today was my last first class. Ever, maybe. But at least for a long time. I ended up sitting next to Meg, which was awesome, and then the rest of the row filled up with people from our 1L section. Maybe it's the hormones, or maybe it's just plain sentimentality, but I was a little bit affected by that. We all came into this together, and we're all leaving it together. It was sorta sappy, I know, but somehow fitting too.

My semester is going to be delightfully light, course-wise. I'm taking only two classes, which is awesome, and I just have one little 7-10 page paper to write (and I've already started gathering data for it) for another credit. My 3L paper is done, which is also awesome, so I'm just coasting to the end, hopefully. I have one last journal assignment, but it's going to be really fun (it's sort of tangentially related to my 3L paper topic, actually...). AND I managed to get aisle seats in both classes! Woo hoo! Ease of bathroom access is always important, but I think it's going to be very important come, say, end of March.

In my free time I'm going to be reading everything I can about babies. It's really daunting to realize that they're going to send us home with a little person, and we're supposed to know what to do with her. I'm trying to learn as much as I can ex ante. Currently I'm reading Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, but I'm open to other suggestions as well!

I'll also be sanding down the rocking chair we picked up today from Craigslist, in preparation for someone else (ahem - Meg) to paint it. And I'm going to recover the cushions. Again, I'm going to have plenty of time, and I seem to have pretty endless energy at this point (assuming I get about 10 - 12 hours of sleep every night, of course).

Any other suggestions on what to do with my time in preparation for Eden (or otherwise) are welcome!

Meet Eden

Say hello to Eden Elizabeth!


We think she has my feet (poor kid).

Grades

BTW, grades came out today. And in spite of my crazy worry about all three of my classes, it turned out totally fine. I love the HLS curve. I turned out to make the best grade in the class I was worried the most about, and the other two classes were exactly the same as each other. They're middle of the road grades for HLS, but I am totally fine with that. I'm actually a little surprised I passed, what with missing all of my classes several times and stressing out so much... and failing to get to one exam the first time...

Still no word on a grade for the 3L paper. I'll let you know. (I know you're biting your nails in anticipation).

It's a GIRL!!

We had our big ultrasound yesterday... and the baby was shy. Of course. Leave it to our child to be really uncooperative. ;) She had her hand up over her face at first, and the tech had to do some serious jostling to get her to move it. But she did, and we got a really cute profile view. (As soon as I scan those pictures in I'll post them). She was peacefully lying on her side (except when she was getting jabbed) and we got a really good view of her whole body. And we got to see her little heart beating, her hand opening and closing, and her little feet kicking the umbilical cord. It was totally amazing to think that that little thing is inside me! She's so amazing! It was one of the most profound experiences of my life so far. I can't imagine what her birth will be like.

Anyway, her legs were really close together and the cord was between them, so it was hard to see anything. The tech wouldn't give us a prediction, but she sent the doctor in and he said "Don't paint the whole house pink, but I think it's a girl." Bryan made him give a percentage of certainty, and he said 85%. So there's still a 15% chance that we'll be surprised in the end (which means we're not taking tags off of stuff until the baby comes), but we're planning on a little Eden Elizabeth. We can't wait to meet her! And we can't wait for all of you to meet her!

Bryan was so excited, he started immediately telling everyone. Of course we were on the phone right away but he also told the waitress at lunch, the people sitting behind us at the restaurant, and then when we had a meeting, he told all these people who we barely knew - and showed them the pictures!! He's a proud daddy. I love it! I can't wait to see him hold her. He already talks to her all the time, and kisses and hugs my belly. It's going to be great to have her here. 20 more weeks (or so... it's sort of up to her I guess...)!!

Here's the kicker

I finally felt the baby kick on the outside on Saturday, and we both felt some really strong kicks early on Wednesday morning (though Bryan hardly remembers it...). This is the summary version of what's below so you can skip it if you'd like.

Last Saturday I took the day off from studying, and worked on setting up my computer (just got it back from the shop - they had to replace almost everything, including the hard drive, so I had to re-load a whole bunch of stuff). As I was sitting at the table, the baby started kicking. I decided to see if we could feel it, so I went to the living room where Bryan was, laid down on the couch with my head in his lap, and we put our hands on my belly, and waited patiently. Bryan was working on something on his computer, and he lifted his hand for a moment to type something. I moved mine to where his was (he had the prime real estate, low and center), and I felt a kick! On the outside! Poor Bryan - he was disappointed.

Two nights ago I woke up for some reason at about 5:30 am, wide awake. I started wondering what woke me when I felt some really strong kicks. These didn't feel like bubbles or butterflies, but literally like someone was poking me from the inside. I put my hand over the area, and I could feel them really strong on the outside too! It was so amazing. I leaned over and shook Bryan. He turned toward me a bit, with his eyes closed, and held up his index finger. I said, "Babe, wake up." He said, "Hang on a second." Amused at this point, I waited. A few seconds later he half opened his eyes. "OK, what did you want?" I said, "What were you doing?" "Oh I was listening to a phone call." I laughed out loud, and then told him he'd better wake up totally because baby was seriously moving. He put his hand over the area, and baby kicked again. I was so excited for him! He was like, "Wow! Was that the baby?" "Yeah!" "Cool." And he promptly rolled back over, presumably going back to his phone call. I love that man. :)

It was an amazing feeling, though, feeling kicks that strong. It was the first time I could really picture actual body parts kicking me. I could picture the feet I'm going to be kissing like crazy soon, kicking my belly. It was pretty neat.

Exhausted

I feel like I blog a lot when I'm overwhelmed... but it's true today. I took the weekend off a bit so I could spend some time with Bryan (this winter term class is awesome but it's taking up a ton of my time). But now I'm paying for it. I've got journal stuff to do (though Meg's being awesome and taking care of a lot of it), a 7-page paper to write over an hour-long video I just made in class (which I returned home from at 9:00 pm), and two negotiations to prepare for. And all I want to do is sleep - my eyes are so heavy right now.

And yet, it's true, I'm blogging. Ugh.

Four more days of this class, and then I get a (hopefully) relaxing week, including a peek at baby and a whole day of hanging out with baby's daddy. :) I'm excited about that.

IT'S DONE!!

It took many days of doing pretty much nothing else, and my deadline for myself is now a week past, but I finally finished my 3L paper! One step closer to graduation.

AND this means I can only take 2 classes in the spring while we prepare for baby! Yipeeeee!