The waiting game

Still waiting....

And waiting......

Sigh.

It seems everyone I know who was due around this time has welcomed their new baby (and, in one case, babies), while ours continues to snuggle into her current home.  She's pushing her little foot up into my ribs at this very moment, in fact, as if to say, see, still have plenty of maneuvering capacity here, mom.

Well, you're welcome.  Motherhood is all about sacrifice, and I just found out this morning that my mom suffered from bronchitis both before, during, and after the C-section that resulted in moi.  The thought of having a body-wrenching cough while recovering from major abdominal surgery (and, mind you, back in those days, they just sliced you straight down the middle, no tiny little bikini-friendly incision or just moving abdominal muscles out of the way vs. splicing them -- thank heaven for today's growing population of female OBs) is enough to make a Navy Seal cry.  I'm counting my blessings that all I have is a sinus infection and a serious case of wish-this-were-over-s.

So anyhoo, while we wait, just like in the dr's office, we read just about anything we can get our paws on.  We've already sailed through the pregnancy and breast feeding books (well, Armando skipped the latter and did most of the former research on-line, where interactive features about baby's growth can prove to be a really satisfying time-suck).  The past few weeks we've been perusing the infant and childhood manuals  -- dismissing, of course, the chapters on colic and sleep problems and the like, because our baby will be absolutely perfect.  (Or, rather, skimming over them with horror and dread, hoping that ignorance proves bliss -- a dumb strategy, but one we're not alone in taking, I'm sure).

What we didn't know before we started this process, however, is that babies are born with a lot more than we give them credit for.  They may appear to be helpless eating, sleeping, pooing machines who can't even hold up their own head, but in reality there is a lot going on -- especially in terms of communication.  It turns out that babies do lots of practice for life outside the womb.  For instance:  babies can dream in utero.  Once capable of opening and closing their eyes, they can distinguish between night and day.  They practice movements and techniques that they'll use for survival and communication, including crying, sucking their thumb, and swallowing.  They recognize the smell of their mother and from the moment they're born, they prefer this smell to anything else (goodbye, Dolce & Gabbana perfume -- there is no way I'm going to confuse my daughter's brilliant olfactory instincts).  They recognize sounds and movements that are familiar (in our baby's case, for example, my clumsy attempts at prenatal yoga and the rhythms from Pandora's Salsa y Sabor channel or voices on NPR) and react with kicks and turns when their environment changes (feeling the lurches and sways of the metro, for example, or the roar of the vacuum cleaner).  Babies know both mom's and dad's voices, and can distinguish them from the voices of people to whom they're not related.

And this is really cool, especially since Armando and I plan to raise our baby in a bilingual household:  babies are born with intrinsic language skills.  A recent study with French and German babies found that days-old babies can recognize differences between these two disparate languages.  The French babies cried in a way that matched the timbre and rhythm of the Gallic language, while the German babies' cries reflected those of the Germanic language.

I'd say that all of this knowledge and practice is well worth the wait.  So, baby, take your time.  We'll be waiting for you -- and your baby brilliance -- as patiently as we can.