Her Birth Story!

Today was my first official day on maternity leave. I happened to talk to Kim yesterday and learned she had an appointment this morning with her midwife so I kinda invited myself along and offered to help keep her company. I woke up with great energy and was excited to see what the day would bring for Kim and me. Like, maybe a little baby girl?

I picked Kim up from their apartment near the Galleria and every new day I get to see her while she's pregnant, I'm wowed by how stunningly beautiful she continues to be. She really is one of the most lovely women you'll ever meet in your life and pregnancy makes her about a thousand times more beautiful. Anytime we're together, we make each other laugh almost nonstop and we definitely bring out the goofiest parts of each other. She's such a wonderful friend to have :)

As we neared the doctor's office (we go to different doctors but both are located in the Medical Center) I joked about how if she went into labor while I was in labor, they could easily wheel her down Fannin to her hospital in time for her to deliver. She looked at me joking/seriously out of the corner of her eye and said "Oh, I plan on arriving by helicopter."

We cracked up at the thought and went on talking about how amazing that would be and how one day Baby Spec would beg her over and over again "Mom, tell me the story about the day I was born!" Armed with that story alone, he/she would be the coolest kid in elementary school, heck yeah.

Lately I've been thinking about how I'm spending every moment in the days nearing THE day Baby K finally arrives. I imagine myself telling her how the day unfolded, what I ate, who I saw, what I talked about, what music was on the radio, how was the weather, the funny things her dad said to make me laugh, or how we came home to find Orson covered in mud again.

I guess it all started Sunday morning when I woke up earlier than usual and felt very strongly for the first time that "Today could really be the day." Dad and Mary came over to check out the (98%) completed nursery and from there we went to have breakfast at Baby Barnaby's. I thought to myself as we sat outside in my old neighborhood at the best breakfast joint on earth, "I wonder if breakfast at Baby Barnaby's will be part of her birth story?" At the church service after that, I was asked to offer up the invocation prayer at the beginning of the service and it was so special to me, I wondered again "Will this be part of what I get to tell her?" The other night DK and I watched Charade with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and I thought to myself how fun it would be to incorporate some Audrey into the story, had I gone into labor during the movie.

Then last night, DK got home late after shooting Boomin' By The Bay and was excited to put together the handmade cradle that arrived earlier by freight from Pennsylvania. I was already in bed reading by that point but as I went to get up to meet him in the living room, I found myself bent over from excruciating pain in my lower abdomen. "OWWWWWWWWW!!!" DK came running and asked me what kind of "OW" exactly this was. It was surely a Braxton Hicks contraction and was the most painful and consistent so far!

Soon my natural need to yell and holler about the pain I was feeling began to stir with the elated excitement I was experiencing about possibly being in labor and I think I fell into some kind of natural high as I could NOT. STOP. LAUGHING. I would yell with everything I had and then hearing how dramatic I sounded, would spill over into more hysterical laughter which would then cause more pain and more hollering. DK was highly entertained by all this and stood close by helping me walk around while laughing with me. I will never forget the grin on his face and can't imagine what he too was feeling, wondering if this was IT.

But it wasn't time yet. After we put together the cradle (more on that to come!) he put me back to bed and all the contractions subsided. But that sure would have been a hilarious story to tell her about the day she was born! We'd probably even consider changing the name we've chosen to something that bears the meaning "laughter" ... or as DK just pointed out, maybe just a new nickname for me.

Right now, I'm sitting in The Cutting Room (DK's studio space) on my blue couch while he edits and I write. DK is joking about how she's probably frustrated to hear the same fragments of music over and over again as he edits and imagines her in there saying "Come on! Move the song along! I can't get into it if you keep stopping and replaying!" She'll get used to it soon enough. I know I have :)

Kinda random, but on the subject of laughter, I love this photo I found on Pinterest.

Tomorrow the plan is to utilize free museum day to get some labor inducing walking done while staying out of the heat. Later on we have dinner plans with our good friends the Kankelfritz's and from there, who knows! David and Kim are officially moving into their home on Friday so there will be plenty to celebrate there as well. I'm so excited for them and for me too, since they are less than a mile away now!

Thank you for praying so much, DK and I truly feel a great peace and excitement and I credit that solely to all of your prayers. Thank you thank you thank you.

Baby Mama,