The Birth of Lucy (Prequel) : Signs of Early Labor

A recent prenatal appointment confirmed Lucy had indeed dropped (something I was suspicious of since quite suddenly I had an increase in appetite, the ability to breathe more easily, a more pronounced “waddle,” and the urgent need to urinate...like...every 5 seconds).

I also had many of the other signs of early labor, from increased pelvic pressure, to mild cramping, to frequent loose stool. Additionally, and on more than one occasion, random strangers took it upon themselves to inform me I was going to have my baby that weekend due to the “blood moon”?

But my favorite early labor symptom, and perhaps most annoying to my husband, was nesting. On Wednesday (four days before she arrived) I had an absolutely insatiable urge to assemble the bookshelf for her nursery. That morning, I heaved an IKEA box into the trunk of my car, drove back to the store, wrestled it into a cart, and returned it - because after hours of obsessing over my choices “it just wasn’t right.” Then I came back home and began assembly on the (extraordinarily similar) Target shelf I had purchased the night prior.

I successfully (albeit awkwardly) squatted and screwed and glued and puzzled until it was nearly complete, when suddenly the particle board cracked.

You would think that might be enough to cause me to stop. But I COULD NOT BE STOPPED.

So, hugely pregnant and sweating, I man-handled the 80% assembled shelf down the stairs and into the back of Justin’s CRV (it was now too large for my own vehicle).

As my belly jostled over the speed bumps in the Target parking lot, I remember thinking, "Natalie, you are not in your right mind. You should turn around and wait just a few more hours for Justin to wake up. He can take care of this for you."

But, like I said, I couldn't be stopped. After so many months of dependence on others to do things for me, I was determined to finish this project for myself. Plus, what if Justin decided it could wait his next off-stretch? WE DIDN’T HAVE THAT KIND OF TIME!

Also, you might think the cracked particle board would have convinced me this thing was, indeed, a piece of junk. But reason was a lost cause at this point. I simply exchanged one project fail for another unassembled box and returned home.

When Justin greeted me as I pulled into the garage, I was sheepish...but still determined. The bookshelf must be completed!

Thankfully, he had listened during our childbirth education class and knew his role as my birth partner was to find creative ways to assuage my nesting urges while still encouraging my body to rest, so he vowed to assemble the shelf himself and sent me to happy hour with my mutually hugely pregnant friend Jackie.

This is just one of the thousands of examples of how Justin so lovingly and sacrificially supported me during our pregnancy and labor experience. Assembling boxed furniture is maddening enough, but I had the audacity to bring in the cheapest of cheap crap into our home and he didn’t so much as argue once.

Sigh, he's so dreamy.