Tuesday, August 15, 2006

nesting

In the past couple of days, I've been preoccupied by kitchen stuff. I pore over cookbooks obsessively, and I've spent several hours online trying to decide whether to upgrade my cake pans. Yesterday I spent the entire afternoon baking a chocolate torte with buttercream frosting (which originally was just supposed to be the filling, but I had enough to frost the entire torte, so I skipped the glaze and used the frosting). It's sinfully delicious and probably not good for me, but that's what I've been in the mood for, so I'm unapologetic. I keep telling the Lemmondrop, "This could be your birthday cake, if you come today! There's still plenty left!" Of course, he's getting his share of it anyway. He gets a bit kicky when I eat a lot of sweets. I can tell that he's going to take after his dad — a total sweet tooth.

When I'm not thinking about food or bakeware, I am reading. Sometimes it's baby books, but I've laid off those this week, perhaps to sooth my impatience. This morning, I finished the latest novel on my nightstand, which has prompted me to revisit Jane Austen, if I can decide which book. Emma, maybe. Or Mansfield Park. It's shorter. Meanwhile, I've redone the sidebar of this blog. Instead of listing all my favorite books (which feels so long and cumbersome and incomplete anyway), I'm listing all the books I've read this year. Books I don't finish, or use as reference, don't make the list. I feel like I've forgotten some from the beginning of the year, but it's a pretty good record of 2006 so far.

The thing is, I'm going to have little time to cook, bake or read Jane Austen once the Lemmondrop is born. I know that. I feel as if this week is my last chance to do these things for a long time, so I'm soaking it up. I feel like I'm in some strange limbo-land, on this giant, new threshhold of life — not going to work, yet not really on maternity leave. I don't know what to do with myself with all this time of waiting. It's hard to go for walks, and I have run out of errands. So there's cooking and reading, things I can do without leaving the house or even taking a shower. (Today is the Feast of the Assumption, and Steve and I will probably go to church tonight. Hooray — an outing!) The empty Pack & Play sits next to our bed, and it's hard for me to fathom that in a matter of days, I will be lying in the dark, listening to the breathing of another person, my world wrapped up in a whole new skill set of breastfeeding and diaper-changing and giving baths.

Last night, the Lemmondrop was unusually quiet, and I had a little emotional breakdown over it. Even a big glass of water, followed by cold milk, didn't rouse him like it usually does, and I lay on my side for what seemed like eternity waiting for him to wake up, like he always does. I poked him in the places where I think his knees or feet or butt are, which usually makes him squirm, but there was nothing. Finally, he seemed to stretch a little, and I was able to relax. (And, therefore, so was Steve, whose attempts to comfort me were mostly unsuccessful until then.) By the time I was falling asleep, he was moving around like crazy. I know this is not going to let up anytime soon. I am going to worry about this little boy all his life. I just hope I don't smother him!

The itching seems to have let up a little. I don't have the big white welts anymore. I have some lingering tiny red scabs, but even those are fading. I still scratch myself a lot, especially at night, when I notice it the most. Keeping busy helps. But maybe the worst of it is over.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Em, if it makes you feel better, I read somewhere that Jackie BKO was born weeks late after her expected due date. She was also her mother's first. And it's common for people to not always feel their baby move, this happened with my friend Vanessa. But I can understand your worry! I wish I could be there to taste some of your delicious creations :-)

Cynthia said...

I haven't read your entire post yet, but I saw that this was a new one and just wanted to say that I can't wait to see a post showing off the lemmondrop.
I am sorry for being off topic.
I'll read the cake post in its entirity later.
Hope you are having a much better day that I could ever dream of.

Monkeymama said...

My research group used to have treats at meetings. Near the end of my pregnancy I'd have something sweet at the beginning and about 30 minutes later Beck would be kicking like crazy. It was always hard to concentrate on anything else.

LutherLiz said...

Mmmm...nesting sounds delicious! :) I'm glad you are able to take some time and enjoy the peace and quiet.

LutherLiz said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Cynthia said...

Emilie, I should have read your post before posting.
I'm glad you are doing a lot of cooking, though. I don't remember your being that domestic during your Mississippi days. I do remember the homemade cranberry sauce you made with nuts one Thanksgiving. So I know you enjoy cooking. That torte sounds delicious. Okay, I'll show my ignorance. What's the difference between a cake and a layered cake? Is it the absent of an ingredient that would make it rise more?
Aside from that, it looked great.
Man, you have been making scones and really doing a lot of cooking.
I'm impressed, girl!! (Imagine me rolling my neck and snapping my fingers as I made the last statement. :o) )
I'm sorry that you had that bit of scare for a moment.
You are right, your days of worry are just beginning.
But your days of joy- joy filled days that you can't even imagine- are also about to begin.
I am so excited for you Emilie.
He's fine. You're fine. Your family will be fine.
You have such a supportive husband, Emilie. How wonderful.
You have such a supportive family. Hello Ellen and Sue.
You have such supportive parents.
And you have supportive friends - there with you and here via the web.
We all love you.

Now, enough of that. Share your torte recipe, girl.