99 days to go

Here we are. Less than 100 days till the baby's due. I'm cruising toward the end of the second trimester, and I am really starting to feel it. Getting out of a chair is more than just an automatic movement now, and I am simultaneously thirsty and needing to pee all the time. The baby's pretty active, and Dan is able to put his hand on my belly and feel little kicks and punches whenever he wants. The baby and the dogs are already jealous of each other- Viking spends a lot of her evenings trying to squish the baby back into my spine to recreate the lap that was formerly hers, and hers alone, and the baby spends its evenings kicking Viking in the back for trying. Vandal has learned to lay on my legs.

Everyone wants to know if it's a boy or a girl. Everyone. Waiters, supermarket cashiers, family and friends, the women in the office I temped in yesterday (that's another story altogether). One woman even said, "Why don't you want to know? How are you going to know what clothes to buy it?" It's hard to keep an even tone of voice when people say that to me, but I suppose that a lot of people just don't understand or realize that gender is a cultural construction, and a problematic one, at that. The baby isn't going to be born pink or blue (probably more like a blotchy purple color). An old coworker of mine was complaining that it gets even more difficult to find neutral clothes after 6 months, especially for boys. Little girls can wear the robots/insects/puppies stuff, but the little boys can't usually pull off princess ruffled rumba pants. She also told me that a lot of people would ask her, "What is it?" when they saw her son in the stroller.

"Oh my god, it's a baby! Why, what do you see?"

Really, stranger- why do you need to know the sex organs of this random baby?

Fortunately, there are plenty of people who are willing to respect the fact that Dan and I don't want a princess- or sports-themed nursery (it doesn't suit us, even excepting the gendered connotations), and it's a relief to know that we can say no boy/girl stuff, and for the most part, it'll be okay. We also made a pact that if any of that stuff comes our way, we'll thank the giver graciously, and put in the Salvation Army bag (do not pass go, do not collect $200), so that some other child can use it.

I didn't intend for this to be a rant, but I feel pretty strongly about this. Also, I tend to feel pretty strongly about everything these days. :) It's been mostly awesome, but there have been a few bad days in there, too. At least the weather is turning around, and there will be sunny days AND thunderstorms (yay!) ahead.