7 months

Where'd that month go?! At 31 weeks and a day, I'm embarking on month eight of this journey, and the closer I get to my estimated due date, the faster the time seems to pass. The non-pregnancy things keeping me from finishing up some lingering projects and getting the nursery together, however, are coming to an end next week, so I'm trying to calm myself with that knowledge when I can't sleep at night because I'm thinking about everything I'd like to do by about the end of May.

And taking the hospital tour yesterday definitely helped. Touring the maternity areas of the hospital where we'll deliver was a little like checking out your hotel room on Expedia. I worried I'd feel overwhelmed by the experience, but, on the contrary, I felt downright excited to have this baby by the time we were walking back to our car. The half-hour tour went over admitting and the waiting area for visitors before heading up to a labor & delivery room. I was surprised by how big the private rooms are, complete with a TV, reclining chair, and a private bathroom easily three times the size of our amenities at home. From there, we headed up a few more floors to a recovery room - a bit smaller than labor & delivery, but another private room with all the same amenities, as well as a small fridge. There's even room service for new moms and a 24-hour Au Bon Pain in the lobby of the hospital.

Full "rooming in" is the option we'll be aiming for, but there are nurseries on each of the three delivery floors. We got to take a peek at three newborns. One was under the jaundice lights, another I assumed must have been a preemie - tiny and bundled up - and the third, getting a bath, was displayed to us as if we were all the proud parents of this obviously new and a little annoyed baby. I almost cried.

Sticking with tradition, I'll end by noting that the top I'm wearing in this month's update is a new one from Gap Maternity. For some reason I didn't think I would, but I love the gathered sides of some of their tops. When I first wore this top earlier in the week, three people I see pretty regularly commented on how pregnant I looked. Especially from the front, I think the gathered sides make the belly look nice and round in a very flattering, I'm-pregnant-not-fat kind of way. Anyway, it's amazing how much better I've felt this week with a few new clothing items, including a pair of capri pants that I could have worn yesterday, had I anticipated just how warm the upper 60s would feel after six months of cold weather!