May, 2009:

Don’t Pat the Belly is taking a little break. We honestly started this blog so that it would be easier for us to keep many people informed in one venue. While we’ve really enjoyed sharing this process with you, we’re shutting down the blog until the baby’s been born and we are home from the hospitial. We’re in a holding pattern of sorts. There is nothing wrong with the baby, but since last Wednesday G has been in a sort of non-progressive labor and may stay that way for quite a while. We know that many of you are anxious for updates, but here’s what we really need at the moment.

• We need you to not be offended when we don’t answer the phone. All of the ringers on our phones are turned off at the moment. We may return your call right away or it may be a few days. It doesn’t mean there is a problem with the baby or that G’s in labor. It probably just means that we’re tired or busy or need some space.

• We need you to trust the judgment of our doctor; we do because she has had schooling in medicine. She isn’t trying to make more money or make things more convenient for her schedule. She may induce G at some point, but the greatest concern is for the health of the baby and G.

• We need you to respect our boundaries. We’ll let you know when there has been a change that you need to know about. If we don’t tell you something right away please trust our judgment and assume that we have a good reason. If we do give you an update and ask you to not tell anyone yet, please honor this request (this includes other relatives and prayer lists).

• We don’t need you to tell us when it would it would fit best with your schedule for G to have the baby. Likewise, please don’t ask us when we think that baby will be born. Even if this is meant as a joke, the idea of two weeks of labor is really exhausting at this point and even jokes make this more difficult.

• We need you to not make analogies between having labor strength contractions for several days to things you are going through. We know that you are trying to be supportive, but even joking about being exhausted because you are waiting for news or have been at work all day is really upsetting right now.

• We need you to skip the labor and delivery stories. Please don’t tell us that you had a really quick/painless/easy labor was because you prayed/exercised/walked/etc.

• We need you to help answer questions for us. If someone asks you what we need in terms of baby gear, please direct them to our registries or encourage them to do diaper gift certificates.

We realize this list sounds very negative, but if you want to be helpful and supportive, these are things we need right now. We won’t be updating the blog again until after the baby’s born. Additionally, we are taking down all of the old posts, including comments which, will return when we do. We appreciate all of your support and concern, but given the fact that we haven’t gotten much sleep lately, we would appreciate it if you would keep these things in mind.