This is the Boy letting everyone know that Mateo was born at 12 : 12 am on June 13.
Mama is resting up but feeling pretty good, all things considered, and shell give you the full details upon her return.
For now, the basics :
Weight : 3.53 kg
Height : 52 cm
Custeness Factor : Insane
Today, June 11, my horoscope reads: "It appears that an ambition is imminently attainable. Tactically speaking, you should endeavor to make your move sooner rather than later - sooner being defined as anytime today and tomorrow."
Fitting, eh?
Romulus is really stubborn, you know?
I went to the maternité and the little guy is not making it seem like he's even thinking of saying hello anytime soon. Goodness. I have been having very mild and mellow contractions for days, my parents and I have covered the entire city on foot, and still -- NADA.
They tested my amniotic fluid and the levels are a little lower than they would like them to be, so if nothing happens between now and Tuesday, I iwll most likely be induced. I know all of the tricks and old wive's tales concerning ways to bring on the labor, some of which I'm willing to test and others not so much. Regardless, I haven't got much time.
Thanks to everybody who has been emailing/calling/whatevering. Hopefully I'll have more exciting news soon!
Oh man, I was such a ditz at my oral exam yesterday. I am not sure why I revert to blond-o-rama when I get flustered, but that's what I do. Not only did I block on the EASIEST verb conjugation of them all, but I also tried to say this sentence:
"The doctor thinks that the Arab world will reunite once again in the future."
and instead said:
"The doctor thinks that the Arab world will reunite once again in the library."
Awesome.
But hey, it's done. I think I passed, and the only downer is that I have to someday have a normal conversation with my professor again -- I'm afraid I've been permanently branded in a not-so-positive light. He's intimidating as it is, so now I'm just uber terrified of him.
Still. It's over and I can forget about it until they post results at the end of the month. On to bigger and better things.
After the exam, I met up with my parents and some of their friends from home who happen to be on vacation in Paris, and the five of us had a great time visiting the city. The weather was beautiful and I was happy because of the end of exams. And we did a LOT of walking, so hopefully gravity will start doing a little somethin'. I can definetly feel the weight of Romulus more now than ever, and last night, after all that walking, I felt like he might just drop right out. If only it were so easy...
So now I'm heading out for one more trip to the Social Security place (grrrr...) and then off to the foot massage. Not a bad idea after all that walking: bring the baby down but keep the feet happy. I like it!
Still no Romulus.
We've got a five-day window here before the medical people are going to start contemplating my options. I've got my last Arabic exam tomorrow, so if he would like to wait to make his debut Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, I would be very, very happy with the timing.
Granted, it would probably mark the last time he'll do anything according to my own schedule, but I would be grateful for the gesture.
My parents arrived today, and they are staying in town for a few weeks. They have rented a wonderful studio apartment near my old stomping grounds, so they spent the day getting settled in, checking out the joint, and trying to keep their eyes open. They did a remarkable job -- it's almost nine and I just left them at the metro downstairs. Hopefully they'll snooze their way through the night and feel like human beings again in the morning.
And I'm still trucking, but ready for things to get moving. It feels funny to not be able to plan anything concrete for the next few days... who knows what will happen and when.
Soon. Soon.
If nothing happens by Thursday, I'm getting an hour-long foot massage that I received as a shower gift. I read somewhere that massaging the big toe -- and maybe the ankle area? -- can release oxytocin which then leads to labor (in an ideal world). I know there are all kinds of methods of inducing labor, but this seems like a particularly delicious one. If I have to tough it out until then, I won't complain.
Beyond Saturday, however, would be a different story...
No baby yet. Just thought I'd clarify, as I have had more than one friend call and say, "Oh my God, you answered!" They just assumed that since I hadn't emailed/phoned back in my usual 24-hour delay, I must be at the hospital. This makes me feel good, as it's proof that I am usually a dependable "resonder" to various forms of communication.
Meanwhile, here is an actual conversation I had with a guy in my class:
Me: Didn't our prof say that if we needed to change around the date of the oral exam, we could talk to him about it?
Him: Yeah, I remember that.
Me: RIght -- you were the one who asked him about it during lab.
Him: Yes. I clearly remember him saying something about contacting him to change exam dates.
Me: So I asked him last week if I could still change around the exam date, and he said, "I don't understand... " and then said he had never suggested we could change dates with him if necessary.
Him: Weird. Do you need to take the exam early or something?
Me: Ideally, yeah. But I'm not sure I need to, but I'd like to get it out of the way.
Him: Why do you want to take it early?
Me: Because I'm thinking I might give birth next week, so it just seems better to take it as soon as possible, you know?
Him: Oh... um... yeeeeaaahhh. I can see how that would be a more practical way to go.
But helas. That exam will be Tuesday or Wednesday, TBD on Monday.
In the meantime, I am going to study my tail off for Monday's test. Our prof virtually told us exactly what we'll be tested on, so it's just a question of memorization, memorization, memorization. I don't have much of an excuse for not rocking it (besides being pregnant, of course), so I'm going to do my best to do so.
And in other news: I have a bit of an unhealthy love for "America's Next Top Model." It's Nigel Barker's fault. Please tell me somebody can relate.
