The Two-Week Wait Activity List:The Two-Week Wait Activity List: 14 Things to Do When 14 Days Seem Like Forever by Lynn Steen

The Two-Week Wait Activity List:
14 Things to Do When 14 Days Seem Like Forever
by Lynn Steen



As any woman who is trying to get pregnant can tell you, the two weeks from ovulation to the date of your next period are pure torture. You promise yourself you’ll wait it out calmly, you'll distract yourself with other activities and you won't even THINK about taking a pregnancy test until you're at least a day overdue. Then something happens -- your breasts start hurting in a slightly different way than they did before, you get a little bit nauseous, you have some spotting. Or nothing happens, but you find yourself waking up wishing you could go to sleep again so that it would be another day closer to knowing. You can’t think, you can’t sleep, you can't work. You start taking HPTs days before they can possibly be meaningful. You are deep in the abyss of THE TWO-WEEK WAIT!

In my opinion, it's no use advising women to stop obsessing. Instead, here's a list of productive ways to obsess. Please note, however, that there is a limit that each woman must define for herself, between indulging in some baby daydreaming and going overboard. I've included some examples below.

1. Take a walk around your neighborhood and figure out what will be the best route for strolls with the baby. Find areas with nice sidewalks and easy curbs. Go ahead and daydream. But do NOT buy a stroller for the dog.

2. Clean out your closet to make room for the maternity stuff you'll be buying soon. Try on anything you haven't worn for six months. Yes, if you wish, you may put a pillow in your undies to see what will work as maternity wear. But taking a picture of yourself like that is going too far.

3. Start a journal. Write down everything you're feeling. It will be a great opening chapter for your child's baby book. If you can't put your feelings into words, draw something, try to create a symbol that expresses the frustration you're feeling. Don't get that symbol tattooed on your ankle.

4. Plant a hope garden. Or a hope rosebush. Or a hope citrus tree. You want to grow something inside of you— start by growing something outside of you. Nurture it. Feed it. Give it water. Talk to it. But do not send birth announcements.

5. Get better at photography. Learn how to work all the buttons and settings on your camera. Experiment! If you have a digital camera, get all the downloading and editing stuff worked out. You'll be prepared once your baby arrives and will be able to get some great shots and get them emailed to your family before the child's graduation. Do not take photos of your cervical mucous, even if Toni Weschler begs you.

6. Make an appeal to the committee meeting going on inside you. Sperm, egg, uterus, corpus luteum, progesterone are all in there either making a baby or not. Treat them like any other unruly committee you’ve ever addressed. Yes that's right, go ahead and talk to them. Put your hands on your stomach and tell them how much you respect them. Make your best argument in favor of a baby, and then let them decide, it's out of your hands. Addressing the commit- tee within earshot of normal people is not recommended.

7. Paint your toenails. Imagine how difficult this will be when you're pregnant. Go shopping for the perfect pink and blue nail polish in preparation for a celebration pedicure. Alternate colors on the day you find out you're pregnant, then use a single color when you find out the baby's sex. Don't paint a cycle-day countdown on your big toes.

8. Make a cup of herbal tea. It’s a nice ritual: boiling the water, adding the tea leaves, pouring into a nice china cup, adding some milk or sugar, sipping peacefully. Ahhhh. There's nothing that a nice cup of tea won't help. Yeah, right. Well, it does kill a little bit of time.

9. Swim laps. Think about the sperm and how they need to swim to your egg. Imagine that you are a sperm, the end of the pool is the egg, then GO, GO, GO! Don't wear a tail or anything. Just imagine it quietly.

10. Make lists. List who you will tell when you get pregnant and in what order. List all the chores you need to get done. List all the healthy activities you intend to do this week. List all the girl and boy names you like. Lists are helpful for all sorts of things, most of all for passing time.

11. Choreograph a fertility dance. Choose whatever music speaks to your soul and make up a dance routine as a prayer to the universe for the growth of an embryo. Move your hips, rotate your belly, let your arms flow—but close the curtains.

12. Prepare a folic acid feast. Cream of broccoli soup appetizer, followed by spinach lasagna, enriched whole-grain garlic bread, and frozen orange juice sorbet for dessert. Dedicate the meal to your baby-to-be. Just don't set a high chair at the table.

13. Delegate the burden of the two-week wait. Clearly someone has to worry constantly during this time, but does it have to be you? Divide the days up among your best friends and closest family members. On their assigned day, they are required to think, wonder, and worry all day about whether you are pregnant. At the end of the day they have to call or send you email describing how agonizing it was. Also they have to report if they had any "symptom," such as, sore breasts, excessive urination, nausea, bleeding, fatigue. You'll be surprised how many people, male and female, have early pregnancy symptoms if they just look for them.

14. Write a list of 14 things to do during your own Two Week Wait and post it to the Baby Boards! For me, this activity killed nearly 3 hours. Now what? I’ve still got 9 days to go—aaaarrgrhhhh.