I’m excited for little things, like day trips to Bodega Bay for fish and chips and walks on the beach, baby in her carrier, dogs on their leashes. A drive down the coast to the aquarium in Monterrey, where she’ll see another world underwater. I’m excited for long walks through our neighborhood, first in her stroller, later on a tricycle. Her first Christmas trip to San Francisco with our big, loud family.
I can’t wait to be able to lie on my back again when I sleep, to drink a whole glass of wine or a pint of beer, to go to yoga and bend my body any way I’d like. I can’t wait to move again, in a normal way. I fantasize about putting on my running shoes and running full force down the street, as though I ever liked to run in the first place. I can feel it though, the exhilaration of full exertion, the bounce of a good pair of shoes.
I’m curious about the sensations, the rushes or the pain, depending on who you ask or what you read. I want to know what it feels like. I’m expecting sleepless days and nights, exhaustion beyond anything I can imagine. I’m expecting the hardest thing I ever do, because that is how people describe it.
Mostly, though, I am imagining her in my arms, or beside me in the sleeper next to our bed, or sitting in the swing next to our television, or crawling across our floor with toys strewn everywhere. She is both real and imagined, all there is left to do is wait.
Each day of waiting is a strange balance of rest and preparation, a little writing mixed in for fun. Somehow middle grade fiction is pouring out of my fingers without the promise of enough time to finish before she is here. The change in genre is refreshing, the lower word count a goal I might be able to reach before everything changes. Each non-labor contraction brings it all back home again.
Change is near and I’m excited.
Even the dogs seem to know it is almost time.
oliviaobryon 
We’re excited with you!
Thanks Pat! She’s a lucky girl to have such a wonderful family waiting for her 🙂
Speaking as a Mommy already. We just need our little pumpkin to meet the world
Yes, in due time 😉
Chills! I can feel your excitement all the way in Florida. Fingers crossed for an easy delivery.
That makes me smile Kitt! Thanks for the well wishes!!
Beautifully written. You will experience all those things and more — little moments you never imagined or thought possible.
Thanks Mark, I’m definitely ready for an adventure! 😀
So beautifully written, Liv! I can feel the excitement and at the same time your serenity. I just imagined her reading this years away and feeling touched. Can’t wait to meet her and introduce her to the beach 😀
Your words made me teary 🙂 Looking forward to our summer adventure!!
Lovely, Olivia. I don’t know what it feels like to give birth, but I know many of those other feelings you yearn for, and they’re just as good as you think! Good luck the rest of the way.
Yes, I’m sure dads must have many of the same feelings! Happy to hear it is wonderful on the other side 🙂
This was the fastest pregnancy ever!! I’m so excited for you!! You are going to be an amazing momma!
Haha, thank you friend. I really can’t believe it is March already… Things are getting REAL!! 😀