WEEK 35
At 35 weeks, your baby is considered full-term and she looks developed. The soft, fuzzy hairs that once covered her body begin to disappear. She continues to add fat layers, which will help her stay warm once she's out of the womb. During these last weeks, your baby is developed sleeping patterns (and they often have little to do with night and day!)
Kastle and Galinda had been co-conspiring between letters for about two months to plan Elphaba's baby shower, as both women had told Elphaba pointedly. It wasn't going to be a large gathering, only Elphaba, Nessa, Galinda, Kastle, Kasmira and Izanami for the most part. At Elphaba's request, Jewel, Rayen and Malea were also invited and all had accepted. Elphaba didn't really have any close friends in the Vinkus, something she hadn't really realised until now; but she was pleased the shower would be small.
She was officially eight months pregnant this week, which both thrilled and terrified her, they really didn't have long to go.
The shower was going to be held at Kastle's home on a Saturday afternoon, and Elphaba wasn't completely dreading it, although she was sure it would be a extravagant affair, given who had planned the party.
But she was looking forward to a chance to simply relax and not have to worry about anything-namely her father. Since their conversation a week ago, they had talked twice more, and although to an outsider, it would be nothing of significance, Elphaba was aware that it was a good sign.
The first time had simply been when Frex, Nessa and Halim had come over to see the nursery. It had pleased Elphaba to see Nessa looking genuinely excited about the room and everything they had done, and she had referred to herself for the first time as "Auntie Nessa", which had almost made Elphaba cry.
And then Frex had simply looked at Elphaba and asked "I suppose you haven't decided what the child will be calling me?"
Elphaba had been taken aback, but had replied simply. "That's up to you. Ibrahim already has 'Grandpa' but it's your choice."
Elphaba and Nessa had never known any of their grandparents. Frex's had died long before Elphaba was even born; and Melena's parents had distanced themselves from Frex after her death and died not long after. Elphaba couldn't recall ever meeting her maternal grandparents.
Frex cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I believe 'Opa' is the traditional Munchkin name."
Elphaba looked to her sister. "What do you think, Nessa?"
Nessa smiled. "I like it."
"Ok, then. That's settled."
The second time had been just two days ago, when at Nessa's request, she, Elphaba and Frex had come together for lunch, and Frex had surprised both his daughters by bringing up their mother. Melena was so rarely mentioned, it had fallen to Elphaba in their childhood to tell Nessa the little she remembered of their mother. But Frex, although quite stiltedly, told them of when she had been carrying both Elphaba and Nessa, and even some of the night of Elphaba's birth. He did not bring up the alleged fact that he had turned her away immediately after birth or the reaction upon seeing her green skin, but Elphaba still learned more about her birth than she had ever known.
She hadn't known that it had rained that night, or that she had been born after seven hours of labour. They were only small facts, but Elphaba devoured them and repeated them to Fiyero when she returned after lunch.
It was clear that although there was still much unsaid and hanging in the air, this was Frex's way of making an effort, which Elphaba could appreciate. And her dreams were lessening now, which relieved both Elphaba and Fiyero. They weren't completely gone yet, but they were happening far less frequently and severely.
So Elphaba was not exactly dreading, nor was she terribly enthusiastic about her baby shower. Fiyero, knowing what type of things his sister and Galinda were likely to have planned, and having heard stories of Kastle's baby shower before having Noak; was teasing her dreadfully about it. And then "karma", as Elphaba called it smugly, turned and "bit me on the ass," Fiyero described it unhappily. As no men were being allowed to the shower, it had been arranged that Fiyero, Ibrahim, Frex, Anton, Boq and Halim would spend the time together.
Fiyero was not excited about having to spend the afternoon with Frex, but Elphaba would have none of his complaining.
"We're in this together," she reminded him. "If I'm making an effort with my father, so are you."
"He hates me," Fiyero grumbled.
"He hates me too... I think," Elphaba countered. "And Yero, we eloped. With your reputation. Think about that."
Fiyero wasn't sure whether he should feel insulted or not.
So nevertheless, when the time came, Elphaba and Galinda bid the boys goodbye and headed over to Kastle's.
Kasmira and Nessa were already there when they arrived and Elphaba admired the decorations, which were all white and yellow.
"I figured because the nursery was yellow, it was a good choice," Kastle explained.
"I'm in shock Galinda planned a party with no pink," Elphaba teased her friend and Galinda laughed.
Kastle chuckled and handed Galinda a small card in an equally small envelope. Elphaba frowned in confusion as she saw that Nessa and Kasmira likewise had one.
"Oh, thanks," Galinda thanked Kastle, not seeming confused at all.
"For the door prize, Elphie. Don't worry about it," she assured Elphaba.
That didn't really clear too much up for Elphaba, but she decided just to go with it.
As each guest arrived, Kastle handed them their own card, with the instructions to write their name on the envelope and place it in a large bowl on the table. When everyone was assembled, Kastle looked to Elphaba.
"Well, shall we get started?"
Elphaba held up her hands. "Hey, this is yours and Galinda's big thing. I'm fairly certain I was told all I had to do was show up."
Galinda giggled. "Of course! Shall we play 'Guess the Girth' first?" she suggested to Kastle, who agreed.
Elphaba could tell just by the name that she wasn't going to be a fan of this.
"The girth of what?" she asked warily.
"You, silly!" Galinda replied, either not noticing or ignoring the look that crossed her friend's face.
Kastle addressed all the guests and Elphaba to explain the rules.
"I'm going to pass around a ball of string and a pair of scissors," she explained. "You all cut a length of string that you think would be needed to go around Elphaba's stomach. Once everyone has their string, we'll measure Elphaba's stomach and the person who's string is the closest length wins! Any questions?"
There were none, so Kastle handed the string and scissors to Jewel to go first.
"I feel like I should be offended," Elphaba murmured to Izanami, watching Galinda cut what seemed to Elphaba to be an incredibly long piece of string when it was her turn.
Izanami laughed. "Don't you worry," she reassured her. "I know your measurements and you're right on target."
"Hey, you do!" Kastle exclaimed suddenly. "Does that give you an unfair advantage?"
"Only if she's particularly adept at measuring out string without a ruler," Kasmira chimed in.
When everyone had their string, Kastle brought Elphaba to the front of the room and began to wrap string around her stomach. Elphaba had never really been incredibly body conscious before being pregnant, but she was relieved they weren't actually measuring her stomach. She knew she was right on target, but still felt incredibly fat most of the time.
"Ok, let's see who the winner is!" Galinda said excitedly.
They went around, comparing their own lengths of string to the one that had been measured about Elphaba's bump, and it was revealed that Rayen was the winner, her string being perhaps an inch shorter than Elphaba's.
She was given a small box of chocolates as a prize, as Kastle and Galinda decided upon the next game.
"Ok, we're going to do an easy one next," Galinda finally said. "This one's called 'Baby Picasso'. So, everyone but Elphaba needs to take a pencil and a sheet of paper," she added.
"So, all you have to do is draw a picture of a baby and Elphaba will pick the best one," Kastle explained.
"But," Galinda added with a grin. "The catch is, you have to draw the picture with your eyes closed."
Malea laughed. "Oh, this will be interesting. I didn't have much faith in my drawing skills when I thought my eyes could be open!"
Elphaba laughed too, she was rather enjoying just this sitting, watching and judging role.
"How long do you all get?" she asked Kastle.
"Two minutes?"
"Oh, no, three!" Nessa pleaded. Then she smiled. "I can't say what an extra minute will do, but it feels much better than two."
"Alright, three," Galinda agreed. "Elphie, you'll have to tell us when to go and stop. And make sure no one opens their eyes!"
Elphaba nodded. "Very well. Ok, time begins... now."
It was quite entertaining to watch, and Elphaba couldn't help but think this was an activity that even the men would enjoy, had they been allowed to attend.
When the three minutes was up, Elphaba called time and watched as the guests opened their eyes and began laughing at their own papers and those of the others.
"So, now I pick my favourite, right?" Elphaba confirmed with Kastle, who nodded.
Studying the sheets of paper, Elphaba just wanted to laugh. Most didn't even resemble anything that could be claimed was a baby, there were odd circle shapes and squiggly lines all over the paper.
"I'm going to have to pick Nessa," she finally announced. "Because at least with her's, I'm fairly certain those are eyes and they're actually inside the head."
"She's your sister, that's not fair!" Galinda protested.
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Glin, if we're using that logic, no one would win anything," she pointed out.
"True," the blonde agreed reluctantly.
For the next game, Galinda arranged everyone in a circle and handed Kasmira a wrapped parcel.
"This is called 'The Back and Forth Birth Story," she told them. "Elphaba will read a story out, which I am about to give her and when you hear either the words left or right, you pass the present in that direction. Whoever is holding the story at the end, wins! OK?"
Elphaba took the sheet of paper that Galinda gave her, and smiled slightly as she skimmed it.
"Come on, let's go," Izanami urged her.
"Alright," Elphaba nodded and cleared her throat.
"Mr. WRIGHT jumped into action. It was time to take Mrs. WRIGHT RIGHT to the hospital – she was in labour! He LEFT the house, got in the carriage, and turned RIGHT out of the driveway. But he had to go RIGHT back home because he'd LEFT Mrs. WRIGHT behind. They both got in the carriage on the LEFT side, as the RIGHT side door wouldn't open.
Mr. and Mrs. WRIGHT again LEFT for the hospital, turning RIGHT out of the driveway. They argued about the RIGHT turn, as Mrs. WRIGHT said that Mr. WRIGHT should have turned LEFT. Mr. WRIGHT kept insisting that he was absolutely RIGHT, but Mrs. WRIGHT kept insisting that the best way to the hospital was to the LEFT.
Two blocks away, after another LEFT turn, they discovered they had LEFT Mrs. WRIGHT's overnight bag at home. So they made a LEFT turn, then a RIGHT, to go back home where they had LEFT the bag. As they turned RIGHT on to their street, Mrs. WRIGHT said, "Let's just go RIGHT to the hospital and get someone else to pick up the bag we LEFT."
So they went LEFT at the next block and turned RIGHT back around. Finally arriving at the hospital, Mr. WRIGHT pulled up to the front where they LEFT the carriage and dashed RIGHT in. The hospital staff wheeled Mrs. WRIGHT away. "Where are they taking her?" yelled Mr. WRIGHT. A nurse rushed him RIGHT after her. They headed down the hall and made a LEFT turn, then a RIGHT, and a LEFT again.
Mr. WRIGHT found Mrs. WRIGHT already in delivery. Then he realized that he'd LEFT the camera in the carriage. He ran out of the room and RIGHT back where he'd come from. Not only had he LEFT the camera, he discovered, but he'd LEFT the horses untied, too.
Mr. WRIGHT wasted no time; he ran RIGHT back to his wife's room. As Mr. WRIGHT approached the room he could hear her screaming about how he'd LEFT and was nowhere in sight. When Mr. WRIGHT walked in, Mrs. WRIGHT was giving birth RIGHT then and there. Mr. WRIGHT passed out on the floor.
When he came to, he got another shock. There was Mrs. WRIGHT embracing their new little bundles of joy. With two babies on her LEFT side and one on the RIGHT, Mrs. WRIGHT turned to her husband and said, "There weren't just two. The midwife was wrong!"
There were times when Elphaba practically had to shout over the noise, everyone was laughing and trying to keep up with the directions in the story, frantically passing the parcel in the right direction. And it was difficult for Elphaba too, trying to read the story without laughing or stumbling over her words, in case it confused everyone.
But in the end, it was Jewel who was holding the parcel and she opened it excitedly to find a box of chocolates inside.
"We figured chocolate was a good prize for all the games," Kastle said in an undertone to Elphaba.
"It is, and I'm hoping you thought to get me some," Elphaba grinned and Kastle laughed.
"Of course we did!"
It was decided that they would take a break for food, and the next activity would take place as they ate.
"Everyone gets an envelope with a number on it," Kastle explained. "And whatever number yours is, you have to write a message on the card inside for Elphaba and Fiyero to give to the baby when it reaches that age. For example, if you have the number five, you write the message for the baby to get on its fifth birthday. Understood?"
Elphaba was touched by the idea of that one. "I love that idea," she told Galinda softly, who beamed.
"Kastle thought you would. It was her idea."
"Not technically," Kastle argued, overhearing Galinda's comment. "It was done at my baby shower, and it's turned out great. Noak's only been given one so far, when he turned five. I think the next one is when he's nine."
So as they ate and talked, all the guests wrote on the blank cards that were in their envelopes, although none would let Elphaba see what they were writing or let her read them.
"Admit it, you're having fun," Nessa said to her sister with a smile.
Elphaba laughed. "Yes, I am," she admitted. "Although I'm wondering what else Galinda and Kastle have planned."
"Not much," Galinda chirped up from Elphaba's other side.
"Another game, and then presents. And we'll have to draw the door prize before everyone leaves, but that's it."
"Sounds good," Elphaba agreed. "What's the last game?"
"It's called Daddy Knows Best," Galinda replied.
Elphaba and Nessa exchanged confused glances.
How it worked, Kastle explained to everyone when the time game, was that a few days prior, Kastle had asked Fiyero several baby-related questions. These questions would be asked to Elphaba, and Elphaba would have to respond with how she thought Fiyero would answer. The guests had to pick how many questions they thought Elphaba would answer correctly, and the closest one a prize.
"How many questions are there?" Malea asked.
"Nine," Kastle replied.
"I'm saying 'nine'," Galinda said immediately. "Elphaba's weird enough to get all of them right."
"Hey!" Elphaba protested.
The lowest number was five, from Jewel and both Kasmira and Galinda had guessed nine. Kastle wasn't playing, so that she could ask the questions.
"Ok, first question: How many diapers does a baby need each day?"
Elphaba grinned, Fiyero would have been completely stumped at that question. He'd been reading, although not as much as Elphaba, but all of his reading never covered the birth or what to actually do with a baby. Therefore, she guessed he would have tried to think back to when Noak and Aaylis were babies. And he would have been off. Fiyero was quite prone to hyperbole.
"20?" she guessed finally, but Kastle didn't tell her whether she was right or wrong, simply read the next question.
"How many diapers do you plan to change each day?"
Elphaba snorted. "He'd say 'all of them', but he won't," she predicted.
"How many hours does a baby sleep each day?"
Elphaba thought about that for a moment, trying to think what Fiyero would say. "Twelve hours," she said finally.
"At what age does a baby start sleeping through the night?"
"Three months."
"At what age does a child stop needing naps?"
"Never. Fiyero's twenty-eight and still has naps whenever he can," she pointed out.
"At what age does a baby start eating solid food?"
Elphaba couldn't decide on an answer for that, so she made a guess. "Six months."
"Do you think your baby will be born with a lot of hair?"
Elphaba could just imagine Fiyero's response to that question. "He'd say yes, and then make a comment about his own hair," she rolled her eyes.
Kastle supressed a smile, that was exactly what her brother had done. "How many kids do you want to have?"
"However many I'm willing to give," Elphaba grinned. She didn't even have to think about that one, Fiyero had told her that many times during the past eight months.
There was much laughter at that as Kastle asked the final question.
"Who'll be the firm parent, and who'll be the pushover?"
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "He thinks I'll be the firm parent. But he wouldn't call himself a 'pushover', he'd just say that he'll be more relaxed or the 'fun' parent or something."
There was more laughter and general agreement at that from those who knew Fiyero well.
"Ok," Kastle laughed. "Elphaba, you got seven right! Yero said that babies start sleeping through the night at two months- a bit of wishful thinking on his part, I think; and that they start eating solid food at eight months. So, who guessed seven?"
Izanami raised her hand in delight. "That would be me!"
Galinda shook her head in disappointment. "I can't believe this. You were a straight A- student at Shiz!" she wailed to Elphaba.
"Glin, none of our classes at Shiz involved me trying to get inside Fiyero's head," Elphaba pointed out patiently.
"True," Galinda admitted. "Ok, is it time for presents now?"
All the gifts were brought out and presented to Elphaba. Kasmira (and Ibrahim) presented her with a beautiful cradle, in a dark wood that would match the nursery furniture. Likewise, Kastle gave them a wooden baby swing from her, Anton and the children that would also match.
Malea and Jewel had gone in together and given her a few unisex outfits; Rayen gave her a basket filled with things for baby bath time; Izanami gave them a stroller that she promised would last for years; and Boq and Galinda's gift was a beautiful mobile, decorated with different coloured birds on it.
"Gee, I seem to remember someone telling me not to buy a mobile," Elphaba teased her friend. "Who was that again?"
Galinda just laughed.
The last gift was the gift from Nessarose.
"Halim and Father too," Nessa added before Elphaba opened it.
Elphaba opened it cautiously, and opened the box to lift out a simply gorgeous baby blanket.
"It's beautiful, Nessa. Thank you," she thanked her sister.
"Momma made it," Nessa said quietly and Elphaba froze.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Nessa explained softly. "I found it, in an old chest. I asked Father about it, and he said Momma had made it before you were born and it had been used for both of us. I thought it should be returned to you."
Elphaba didn't know what to say. To think that her child now had two blankets, one from each side of the family was more than enough to her; but to know that her mother had made this... Elphaba had never had anything of her mother's other than the small green bottle and a few hazy memories.
"Thank you, Nessa," she said quietly, hugging her sister tightly.
The other guests were watching in silence and it was Galinda who broke the silence, sounding suspiciously close to tears.
"Who wants more food?"
The rest of the afternoon was much lighter as those who had children told their birth stories as well as stories from their pregnancies. Elphaba and Jewel listened to these attentively, and even Nessa and Galinda enjoyed them.
Finally, as the party drew to a close, Elphaba was called upon by Kastle to draw the door prize.
"This way is pretty simple, and it means when you write thank you notes, all you have to do is write on the card and mail them," she explained. "Because the names are already on the envelopes!"
Elphaba chuckled. "That is handy," she admitted.
"Come on, just pick one!" Rayen called out.
Smiling, Elphaba did so, looking at the envelope she had drawn and smiling. "Galinda."
Galinda squealed excitedly. "Yay! I finally won something!"
"Given that Galinda helped plan the shower, should we be suspicious?" Kasmira asked teasingly and Elphaba laughed.
"Elphaba, are you going to say anything?" Nessa asked.
Elphaba faltered momentarily and looked around the room.
"Just thank you everyone for coming, and for the beautiful gifts," she said sincerely. "And I know both Fiyero and I are really glad that this baby is going to have such wonderful people in its life."
And she meant every word.
AN. I found the "left and right" game online. Please forgive a non-Ozian surname just this once!
Book recommendation: I just finished reading Jodi Picoult's new book "The Storyteller" and it is AMAZING.