It is time for a ‘bump-date’

Kaity Holtman

(Bump-date? You know, an update on the baby bump …)

We’re rockin’ and rollin’ now.

Saturday marked 30 weeks into this pregnancy. Things are getting real now.

Not that they weren’t real before, but there’s no avoiding it all now — and I wouldn’t want to if you made me.

Less than 10 weeks. About 65 days, or so my online registry says.

The countdown to opening day of the Royals baseball season is a constant reminder too, since I’m due one day before the big 2015 World Series Champions ring and flag ceremony — inconvenient for my sports enthusiast husband, I’m aware.

Phil has kindly said he’ll let me off for the whole day I deliver, followed by recurring comments that he wouldn’t mind my bringing the little one to my desk with me every day.

I just smile and shake my head each time.

“I like babies, you can just bring the baby to work with you,” he told me.

“I do too, so I’ll be enjoying mine from home for a few weeks,” I replied.

Christmas was so wonderfully overwhelming — our families all got us gifts for Baby H. Opening those was my favorite part of Christmas.

For years, we watched nieces and nephews get so excited about opening gifts, and we imagined what it might be to watch our own little ones do the same and learn about the meaning of Christmas.

This year, we opened Christmas ornaments, adorable little onesies, some fun toys, and lots of other gifts. It was wonderfully overwhelming to be reminded of how loved our little one is already.

The nursery is coming along nicely.

Matt put up the crib — it’s a dad’s job, he says — and we inherited the rest of our nursery furniture from family.

A slight closet remodel gives us a lot more organized space, and to me, organization equals happiness.

I’ve been amazed at how many people just don’t understand how we can decorate the nursery without knowing the gender.

But it’s been so fun. I’ve never been a girly-pink type of person, so even if I knew it was a girl, I don’t know that the nursery would be pink or purple.

White and gray, yellow, and kind of an aqua-teal kind of color are taking over the tiny little room and I just love how it’s turning out. I just sit in the glider that we’ve been recovering and look at everything and smile.

I’m just so content, yet so very eager at the same time.

And yes, we’re still glad we did not find out the gender. Many of my friends due to have babies after us have found out, and that made me wish once or twice that I knew. But the surprise that we have in store has us both so excited.

But, no, I really don’t have any “gut feelings” if I have a little boy or girl kicking and rolling around. I almost feel guilty, like I should have some sort of motherly intuition that tells me what I’m having. But I don’t.

I go back and forth all the time, depending on who I’m talking to, when friends announce their genders, or when people look at my belly and guess.

I know I’m a control-freak and hate surprises, but this is one surprise I couldn’t be more excited about.

We’re narrowing down our names to a few of each gender. We love older, more traditional names, and family names for middle names. We’ve done a good job of keeping those a secret too. I’m actually very proud of us.

I haven’t really been reading many books or working out as much as I should be. I may regret both, we’ll see.

I’ve been looking up articles on Pinterest and reading advice for first-time moms, but I’m also planning to rely a little on what my nieces and nephews have taught me and a lot on what our mothers and sisters have taught and will teach us.

Yes, I’m aware that our lives are about to flip completely upside down. And we’ve never been more excited to never sleep the same again, to take longer to get anywhere we go, and to have our world revolve around a tiny, new little human who will dictate our every emotion and decision.

We’re three quarters of the way done, rounding the corner for our last lap of the mile. It seems to have flown by so far, but I’m afraid I’m just so excited that these last 10(ish) weeks might take a little longer than I’d like.

The countdown continues.