4am-wake up to one kicking baby. Smile. Fall back asleep.

5:30am-wake up (again)-nature calls. Stumble into bathroom without turning on any lights as you have become so familiar with this path you might as well still be sleeping.

A few minutes later, stumble back to bed.

5:45am-alarm blares in your ear. Hit, not so gingerly, the snooze button.

5:53am-drag yourself out of bed. Stare in bathroom mirror and Thank God that your baby is still alive and well, and that another day has passed and you are still pregnant. Eventually,  shower, get dressed, wonder when the baby will kick you again. Pray that you won’t see any spotting today, which has plagued you off and on your whole pregnancy.

7:00am-Depart for work

7-8am-Drive in miserable traffic, adjusting your i-pod every few seconds as you can’t seem to find anything worth listening to at this ungodly hour of the morning. Wonder, again, when the baby will kick you.

8am-Arrive at work. Deal with patient complaints and dramas.

10am-Eat hummus, crackers, and chocolate covered raisins because that’s what happens to sound good at that particular moment. Marvel at how weird you have become since you have conceived (Who in their right mind eat’s hummus at 10am on a Monday morning?).

10:30am-start to panic that baby does not seem as active today as it has been the last few days. Google fetal movement. Laugh at yourself for worrying as you read that this early on, movement is not quite regularly felt yet. Wonder if you should call the M.D. just in case. Decide you are being a insane. Go back to working.

11am-eat more  chocolate raisins, yet again. Read work emails. Get aggravated at all the changing regulations you have to deal with (more on that in a later post). Wonder again, when you'll feel those kicks.

12pm-Finally, the baby wakes up and starts kicking up a storm. Feel like you are popping a bag of popcorn in your stomach. Feel joyful that you know your baby is still alive and well.

1pm-Eat more food and watch Law and Order on a rare break from work.

2pm-Find something else to panic about, because that’s how it goes with the pregnancy hormones.

2:30pm Begin wondering about whatever else you’ve decided to worry about it while continuing to deal with patients.

3pm-Eat more food. Probably fruit at this point as you feel guilty about all the chocolate covered goodness.

5pm-Finally, blissfully, get in your car and drive home. Continue to wonder about the worry of the hour, alternately laughing at yourself and telling yourself to calm the hell down, and wondering at what point you should call the M.D. just in case.

6pm-Arrive home, make dinner, watch mindless t.v. in an effort to distract yourself and/or spend time with your husband.

8:30ish pm-Fall asleep on couch in a exhausted stupor, while pretending to watch t.v.

10pm-Get woken up by husband and gingerly dragged upstairs to bed. Listen to husband read bed-time story to baby. Pray, even though you are not all too accustomed to doing it, that your baby will be born healthy. Collapse into exhausted sleep.

And rinse, recycle, and repeat each day, while also marking off every day as one day closer to your due date, always praying that your baby will be fine in the end.

1. charlie10/20/2008 09:04:14 PM

i loved this entry pauline. it is so the pauline i remember, only pregnant. your poor husband, just teasing.