Dropping the baby.

So I think Nanook may have dropped. Here's my evidence:

1. My belly has changed shape. More as a whole than usual. When she moves, it changes shape in specific, definable, temporary ways. Right now my belly is oblong, and up until a day or two ago it was very much round and spherical. All the stuff from up top seems lower. Except when I sit. Everything still gets pushed up when I sit.
2. Other people are noticing. And telling me that I'm going to have her any day because I've dropped. People I've never met before. I'm not sure how they know that something's changed.
3. I have to go to the bathroom a LOT more. Again, I'm baffled by how this is possible, but lo and behold the impossible made real.
4. My bump seems to tie in much lower than it used to. [side note: I'm not sure any one uses the term 'tie in' in this context outside of horse judging. It refers to the way one part of a body meets the other part. As in: "that horses neck ties in really high" meaning the horse's neck should meet the chest further down than it does.]

What would this mean if the dropping has happened? Well, it would mean that Nanook is going to be born. At some point. Not news. For some women, this happens during labor or just before, for first time moms it usually means I have some time left. Maybe 2-4 weeks. I hope we have at least 2 weeks left. As much as I'd like to be done with the itching, she's not fully cooked yet, and the longer she stays in there, the bigger her brain will get, the fatter her little arms and legs will get, and the better her chances of being strong and healthy.

She's currently pushing her buns up against and past my ribs to show me how strong she is. Apparently, she's got all the muscle tone she needs.


Also, an activity equally interesting and sad is to go to a neighborhood park and listen to kids talk to each other. You'll learn so much about the home life of each child. Kids in low income neighborhoods (like where we're living, a public housing complex is a block away) get yelled at. A lot. "If you do that I'll kill you" came up more than once. And I don't believe for a second that kids model language from movies more than the language from their parents. Unless their parents aren't speaking to them, in which case they have no choice. Maybe it's good for me though. Reminds me what I'm going to be working on. What's so important. Loving my kid, and proving it.