Gratitude

As we close in on the final days before meeting our baby, I can’t help but find myself thinking a lot about how fortunate I am for so many things. (Maybe I’m just hyper-emotional these days, or maybe it’s the fact that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, that I feel the need to give thanks :-) So in a nutshell, here’s why I’m grateful:

• I’m thankful to have had a healthy and relatively positive nine months of pregnancy. With only about three weeks of nausea in the beginning, I consider myself pretty lucky on the morning sickness front.
• Prenatal yoga. Yes, I have definitely missed running during the second half of my pregnancy (especially catching up with friends during long weekend runs), but have enjoyed gathering with a community of other pregnant women each week at yoga. I also believe (hope?) that the breathing and stretching poses we practice will be useful during the marathon of labor.
• An incredible support network of family and friends – critical to a pregnant woman (and new mother's) sanity and general well-being.
• A wonderful husband. From working on myriad projects around the house (baby and non-baby related), to attending our various baby-classes (with nary a complaint), to simply being a sounding board for my pregnancy woes, Tom has really been a blessing – especially throughout these past nine months.
• Time. One of my worries was that the baby would come way early and we would feel stressed about not being “ready”. Fortunately, I’ve had some time off from work before my due date (more than I thought I would), allowing me to “nest” at home, cook, meet up with friends for walks and lunch dates, hang with the aforementioned Wonderful Husband, or just chill out and rest. For all of this, I am grateful.

Having said all this, I really MUST clarify that every day has not been rosy. Clearly, there have been emotional ups and downs and stresses (as evidenced by some of the past blog entries). I guess the bottom line is that in the grand scheme of life, I just feel fortunate for the many blessings that have come my way and can’t wait until the newest one enters our lives any day now. Here are some photos of the baby’s nursery, ready and waiting for its new inhabitant.

(Nat's 87 year-old grandmother, Jaroslava painted the lime green luna moth in the frame above the crib - part of the inspiration for color in the room)

Tom catching up on Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go read up on the best ways to naturally help bring on labor. :-)