Scarfing a Wagamama Feast While Waiting to Give Birth

How do you spend your time when you’re nine months pregnant, Maternity Leave has started, and you could give birth ANY MINUTE?

1) The number one answer is: EAT. The baby needs nutrients to enter the world powerfully, right? Right. Happily, my husband Colin and I were just invited to the grand opening of the Lynnfiend, Massachusetts location of the delicious pan-Asian restaurant, Wagamama.

Wagamama restaurants are already famous in the UK (which boasts 98 stores), but are now headed into my dear Massachusetts. The Lynnfield location which just opened makes restaurant number four for the United States… two of which are dangerously close to my house.

Now sit back and soak in the photos of the Japanese-inspired Wagamama cuisine we scarfed, as I continue my list of things to do while waiting to give birth…

2) Take belly photos. When you could give birth ANY MINUTE, there’s both temptation and pressure to constantly document what could be the LAST picture before going into labor. Every time I snap a photo now, I think: will I someday show our son and gush, “That was you, the day before you came into the world!”?

3) Splurge on body treatments. Thus far I have sprung for a professional prenatal massage and my first ever acupuncture treatment. Both were unbelievably amazing, and so worth it! I felt relaxed, special, and taken care of, and even saw a fascinating light show of purple and yellow in my mind’s eye during acupuncture! Was it my Chi??? I haven’t really gotten massaged since I took a Thai massage training course in northern Thailand in 2009, so it feels yummy to get back into bodywork.

4) Cultivate community. I’ve tried to have lunch or dinner with friends and family every day for the past month, plus talk on the phone with those who don’t live in Boston. Not only does it give me joy and comfort to connect with loved ones, but when our baby comes, it will be so important for him (and his sleep-deprived parents, for that matter) to have an extended community.

5) Walk (or try to). There is currently a bowling-ball baby head in my pelvis, so getting around is shockingly difficult, but when I am able to muster the energy to take even a short walk, I feel energized, calmer… and also sense that gravity is helping things move in the right direction.

6) Give thanks for your partner. My husband, Colin, has been SO GREAT in baby prep and final-days-of-pregnancy support. He has even revealed a stunning talent for folding tiny baby clothes, which is essential since I’m so big that I can’t bend over to take things out of the dryer anymore.

7) Revel in the Internet and iPhone games. I’m too mentally distracted now to dive into heavy novels or nonfiction, but awesome shows like “Scandal” and brainless smartphone games hit the spot!

8) Nap. People keep screaming at me, “Rest up now, because you won’t be able to when the baby comes!” Ok, no problem. Zzzz…

9) Barrage the Twitter community with pregnancy updates. Since hitting 10,000 Twitter followers last week (YAY!) now even more people can read posts such as: “I have just eaten a very large amount of (pasteurized) brie. #PregnantLife.” Woo hoo!

10) Write and share. When my doctor asked me, “What’s your pain management technique, given that you’re planning on giving birth without drugs or an epidural?” I replied: “Over-sharing.” It has been incredibly therapeutic these past nine months of pregnancy to be able to share experiences and thoughts with over 1,000 a day from around the world… including YOU!

Thank you all for being on this journey together, and stay tuned for some exciting updates very soon!

So what about you? Which of these waiting-for-birth tactics are most appealing to you? Which of the Wagamama dishes featured here make you want to leap into the screen and scarf them? Now if you’ll excuse me, writing this has made me decidedly hungry again…

We were guests of Wagamama, Lynnfield, but all opinions and baby dance while feasting are my own.