Today on my due date… I did not water ski like my mom did on her due date with me… but I did garage-sale. Mom and I hit five garage sales this morning. At each one someone asked, “When is your baby due?” And each time I enjoyed the reaction to my answer: “Today.”
At one of the sales (where we scored a baby swing for $15) the woman asked, “Are we going to have to fly you off the island?” That’s when I noticed that she was wearing an EMS t-shirt. “I’m an EMT,” she said and then told us about a woman who gave birth at the medical center on-island in the winter and another woman who made it over to Anacortes only to give birth in the ambulance on the way from the landing strip to the hospital.
Lots of people gave me looks as though I were crazy not to be off-island already. And I can get that. I thought that’s exactly what I would do. Go to the mainland early and wait. But the thought of that now is horrid. Waiting is not easy. Laurie (my doula) told me today that this is often the hardest part. The part where you’re ready to have the baby, but the baby is not yet ready to be born.
Talk about a serious lack of patience. It’s my due date and already I’m frustrated that he’s not here yet. But… I guess I have been waiting patiently for 40 weeks. He’ll come when he’s ready. Right? Right.
So back to the day. After the garage sales, we hit the farmer’s market for some grub. And then went to the Friday Harbor airport to look at the pretty planes. Today was the “Fly-In” and Open House. There were all sorts of pretty Cessnas and bi-planes. I considered taking a ride in a bi-plane until I saw the price ($65 per person.) It was a blast. Until my eyes suddenly rolled back into my head and I almost fainted. Bob saw me sway and caught me.
It came out of nowhere. Home it was. I put my feet up and proceeded to chug water. The combination of the heat, not enough water and my low blood pressure is what did it. I was done for the day. Mom and Bob took care of me. I drank lots of water and napped. That’s what was needed. Which meant we had to unfortunately miss the most exciting event of the day- the box car derby races. Yes. It was either that or the “Kiss the Pig/ Relay for Life” Fundraiser.
So to sum up… unfortunately there was no derby race watching, kissing of pigs or birthing of baby today.
Feels like it won’t happen for a few days.
Monday, by the way, is the full moon. I wouldn’t be shocked if it happened then. Any bets?
About the photo–
These are all of the baby/pregnancy books on my bedside table. My favorite book to read is Spiritual Midwifery. It’s amazing. So fascinating and inspiring. And the pictures from the 70s are awesome.
I often feel buried by this huge stack of books and all that I still have to read. Then I remember Laurie’s mantra: “Your baby will still come out.” As in, your baby will still come out even if you don’t read another book.
two years on an island 