these are texts, emails and anecdotes that anne has relayed to me since seeing her at the end of april, i haven't edited them at all, and my comments with be in elipses:
5.14.08 text: woke up at 2 this morning because plum baby had hiccups. you could SEE my belly twitching!
excerpt from an email the following day: plum baby is doing well. the hiccups incident the other night has left me bewildered. I have felt plum baby get the hiccups before, but the hiccups that woke me up were much stronger. i guess that can just be attributed to the baby growing, so that is good.
5.09.08 text: i had another dream the baby is a girl.
text2: ryan was matt damon and the baby was tiny, like 3lbs. we were out and didn't bring anything, i send ryan/matt home for diapers.
5.28.08 text: new development:my belly LOOKS lopsided when plum is on one side, and you can feel the head or butt against my belly.
text 2: (i must've asked how big plum was now) about 13 inches, almost 2lbs. i don't have a fruit comparison. (we decided on squash)
text 3: (responding to my question of how she's feeling) great. a little awkward standing from sitting on the couch and putting on pants/shoes is also more challenging.
6.03.08 text: doing great. went to dr. today, plum baby heartbeat is strong and i weigh 160. kind of gross.
text 2: got a bunch of baby gear from eric+colleen today + blue dog is FREAKED out by the bouncy chair.
6.06.08 text: latest baby dream:twins! boy+girl. the boy's arm FELL OFF when i picked him up. i woke up all unsettled.
6.09.08 text: latest pregnancy revelation:veiny boobs and braxton hicks contractions.
text2: not unpleasant, just werid like i am flexing my uterus. it gets tight then relaxes. feeling great, though.
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today is the 29th of june... it was some weeks ago that we spoke on the phone and she relayed these nuggets to me:
(this is paraphrased, of course, keep in mind)
i don't feel like my belly belongs to me anymore. people come up and politely ask if they can touch it and usually it's a delicate little pat pat pat, but this lady at work, who's about 50, kind of an 'earth mother' type asked 'can i touch your belly?' 'sure' and she rubbed it like she was shining a bowling ball. with both hands rubba rubba rubba. i was totally not expecting it.
ryan thinks it's funny seeing me get out of bedin the morning, and put on underwear and shoes. i'm physically unable to use my abdominal muscles so getting out of bed is kind of a rock, rock, roll on to my side and slide out of bed. you know where you bolt upright, like after a scary dream? that is NOT happening over here.
the other night, i did a double sneeze and peed a little.
have you heard about 'the pregnant brain'? like multi-tasking? yeah... i was making pasta the other night and thought 'what should i use to stir the pasta around? ooh. a SPATULA. ryan comes in, there's pasta everywhere, 'anne! where's the pasta spoon?!' 'um. it's right there.' then ryan went to the bathroom and came back with the pasta box.
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last week or so we talked and her revelation was that her boobs were leaking. ryan noticed a wet spot on her shirt right over her nipple and it must've been just a drop, but needless to say, they ARE leaking.
on thursday the 26th she called from new york city where she and ryan are for a wedding to tell me about her 'pregnancy melt-down day'. she wasn't able to walk as far as she wanted because she got too tired. she was sitting in central park, looking at her ankles which were so swollen. she didn't get to go eat sushi with everyone else because she can't and all the ladies are svelte and thin and anne felt fat. ryan was very supportive and realized that this was the first day that the pregnancy was hindering her and she didn't like it. when she called, she was alone in the hotel room while everyone else was out. i know she felt left out, but all of them aren't experiencing what she is, and most of them never will. she's a hero and a champion who was able to have some solitude and bond with plum baby. i'm not sure she saw it that way, but we'll see what she says.
I am very impressed by the quality of your writing. I think you should do something serious with it. You express yourself very well and it makes the reader feel like they are in the scene. Think about that.
ReplyDeletemy mom actually wrote that one. it stays logged in as me all the time, i guess. anyway, thanks, mom!
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