By Thirty-six weeks. Full term in one week. The hospital is moving faster on COVID preparation—that's what we're calling it now, COVID, the shorthand has crystallized—and there are daily updates, revised protocols, new PPE inventory reports. The floor has the particular focused energy of a place preparing for something unknown, which is different from the focused energy of the normal work. You can feel the difference.
I've been telling myself I'll stop working at thirty-eight weeks but the floor is short-staffed already—two nurses out on personal leave that wasn't expected to overlap—and I have a supervisor who isn't pressuring me to stay but who has the look of someone who's doing the staffing math. I'm doing the math too. The math is: I can do another two weeks. The baby can do another two weeks. We'll see what the math says on March 9.
Liam's birthday party was Saturday—the family version, at my parents'—and he had his dinosaur cake and blew out the candles on the first try and ate two pieces with the satisfaction of a person who has been anticipating this event for approximately eleven months. Both grandmothers. My father, who brought Liam a toy construction vehicle with the knowledge that Liam's interest in construction vehicles now reflects both his grandfather and his father. Liam drove it around the kitchen floor for forty minutes without interruption.
Two years old. He talks in full sentences, runs everywhere, has opinions about everything, says "I love you" in the mornings when he wakes up and finds me in the kitchen. I say it back. Every morning. It's the beginning of the day.
Watching Liam blow out those candles on his first try—that look of pure, earned satisfaction on his face—reminded me that the cake matters. Not in a complicated way, but in the way that soft, sweet things mark the passage of time for small people who are paying very close attention. I’ve made this sour cream pudding cake two years running now, and I plan to keep making it: it’s the kind of forgiving, reliably wonderful recipe you reach for when you’re thirty-six weeks pregnant and still pulling shifts and you need the birthday to feel like a birthday anyway.
Sour Cream Pudding Cake
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 1 box (15.25 oz) yellow cake mix
- 1 box (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Powdered sugar or frosting of choice, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan or a Bundt pan, tapping out any excess flour.
- Mix the batter. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, instant pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, vegetable oil, warm water, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until the batter is smooth and well combined.
- Pour and bake. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 35–42 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is lightly golden.
- Cool. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. If using a Bundt pan, invert onto the rack and cool completely before finishing.
- Finish and serve. Dust with powdered sugar for a simple presentation, or frost as desired. For a birthday, a simple buttercream and a handful of sprinkles go a long way.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 320 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 43g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 390mg