35 weeks

Dear A and B,

Hurray, we’ve made it to 35 weeks–this is a big milestone for your growth and development in utero! You’ll be even more developed if you can hang in there for another week at least, if not two. We’re hoping for two, obviously!

A, you’re really wedged in, head-down, like you’re trying to head-butt your way out. You’re like a baby Lord of the Dance though, because I feel a lot of movement of what must be your feet. We might have a dancer or soccer player on our hands! B, you’re still the quiet one; I don’t feel as much from you. Sometimes a few big slithers around the top half of my tummy.

This week we bought you a car. Not for you to drive; you can’t even hold your heads up, and you certainly can’t reach the pedals, even working together. 🙂 No, we got the car so that we’ll have something bigger to cart you and all your attendant stuff around. And it’s newer and more reliable, so we feel safer and more comfortable having you in there. We installed the car seats, too. (We tend to procrastinate on some things, can you tell? Maybe we’ll try to be better role models for you.)

I washed your clothes and started putting things aside to bring to the hospital for you to wear and come home in. I have no idea how big or small you’ll be, and most of those newborn clothes are impossibly tiny. It’s hard to imagine that anyone could wear it, or that it could even be too big for you! You’re both around 5 pounds already, so I hope that by the time you arrive you’re even bigger, which wouldn’t make you too much smaller than ‘regular’ babies.

That process made you start to seem more real to me. I won’t lie, for all these months, you’ve been more hypothetical in my mind than real. Part of that is self-preservation–there are so very many things that can go wrong in this process, and so I don’t want to plan too much just in case.

But I can now picture you two tiny babies in those tiny outfits. I hope you’ll be cute in them, and I hope that you arrive healthy so that we can bring you home in them as soon as possible.

We have a crib ready for you, and a swing, and two bouncy seats. We have some decor items to get on the walls, but I guess you won’t really care about any of that for awhile. You won’t even be able to see more than two feet for at least a few months. It’s more for us and for you in a year or two. Mostly we just need to get it done before you’re here, because you’ll no doubt keep us too busy to do pedestrian things like hang up a print.

I’ll be hanging out on the couch for the next couple weeks, taking it really easy to make sure you aren’t jostled out too soon. So both of you please also do lots of resting and growing for the next two weeks, and try not to arrive too soon yet!

Love,

Mommy