How You Durian?

If you're like me, you may have no actual experience with a durian fruit.  Apparently it is very popular in Asia and the odor it gives off is considered to be fragrant over there, whereas most Americans I've overhead discussing durians find the odor to be foul.  So why in the world they chose a durian as one of the fruits and vegetables of gestation, I have no idea.  But, Durian she is this week.

Durian is still riding high, hanging out in my ribs, and I'm pretty sure she has completed displaced my stomach - I mean, my actual stomach organ, not my general belly region.  I informed Seth that starting this week I am going to no longer eat actual meals (of course I said this after we went to Chuy's where I probably ate more than I should have anyway, but still...).  I seem to be less and less able to eat any real quantity of food without feeling like I might pop.  And my lung capacity is totally shot.  I got winded singing in church last Sunday.  So, in some ways, I'm ready for Durian to drop so I can regain use of my respiratory and digestive organs.  But I'm sure that as soon as she does drop, I'll be wishing she were up higher again because I've heard about the not-so-pleasant pains that come with a dropped baby too.  And, I think I will probably miss the little tickles and jabs in my ribs.

Seth and I went on a tour of the hospital this evening, and I feel pretty comfortable with everything.  For the c-section itself, I'll be allowed only one person in the room and I could have one person waiting outside the room if I wanted to - or I guess, if they wanted to.  I don't know why you would want to wait outside the room instead of in the nice waiting area they have, but to each his own.  They'll keep me in a recovery room for 2 hours after the birth, with Durian in the room too unless there's anything wrong, and then move me to the post-partum floor, so we'll probably have a room and the ability to have visitors around 11am or so.  We'll have the same room for all 3 days I'm there, and their post-partum rooms are actually pretty nice, with a long seating area that can be a bed.  I'm very glad that they encourage keeping the baby and mom together as much as possible.  Not that I can't send the baby to the nursery if I need to, but I love the idea of being able to room-in with her from the get-go, including while they're still stitching me up.  Or, I guess, stapling me up.  Whatever.  I try not to think about that part so much.

Mind you, I'm not saying I'm going to be a crazy mother who doesn't let anyone else hold the baby.  (At least, that's not my plan... you never know what those hormones will do to you.)  But, I'm glad I can have her with me as much as I want to from the beginning.  I would imagine for moms of days gone by, it had to be weird to have spent 9 months sharing a body with a baby and then having the baby taken away from you and only brought to you when the baby needed something, like milk.  I know I don't know her yet, but I've grown pretty attached to our little Durian, and I'm looking forward to our first days together being actually together and not in separate parts of a labor ward.