Our munchkin has hit the size of the cantaloupe and honeydew melons (no, he's not a watermelon yet, even if I feel like my belly is!). He is definitely getting bigger, it's quite impressive to me how my belly still finds ways to grow. Rumor has it though he's about reached his length, so now he's just packing on the pounds of baby fat (gaining about a 1/2 pound a week for the next 4 weeks before delivery!). His lungs are still maturing, and so is that little brain of his (so I'm definitely taking my Omega 3 supplements these days to help his brain development out!) Otherwise he's pretty much ready to come join us! He's been practicing his sucking and swallowing reflexes in there, and his grasping reflex as he hangs onto the umbilical cord and sucks on his little fingers. His movements are much more stretching movements as opposed to the fluttering, kicking movements of a few weeks ago (he's no longer turning somersaults, he's running out of room in there!) And I think his favorite past time is to see how far he can stretch his feet in to his mommy's ribs and lungs. Yup, it's a really fun game we like to play now :) Just in this past week I've had the overwhelming urge to meet this little one. I understand why people say the last month is the longest. I'm perfectly content for him to stay put for a bit since his room isn't set up and it really is best for babies to make it to 38-39 weeks, so as anxious as I am to see him and hold him I can wait for his sake. But I understand now how people say that as scary as the thought of labor is, you're just ready to get this baby out by the time labor comes around. In the past week I've gone from "being pregnant is no big deal, this has been a piece of cake" to "ok, I'm officially sore, all over, all the time. I'm tired of not being able to breathe, and sleeping is getting to be almost impossible (turning over is a major cardio work out, especially when tangled in a night gown, sheets and five pillows!)" Being on my feet for long periods of time (ok, more then 20-30 minutes) is painful, and walking has become more of a waddle as the hormones have been softening up my hip joints in preparation for delivery. Oh yeah, and knots in my back muscles are a daily occurrence. I still LOVE feeling him move around and am so grateful for the relatively easy pregnancy, so I try not to complain much, but I definitely can see how, come January, I'll be VERY ready to get this baby out! I played hookey from youth group last night out of pure exhaustion. I just mentally couldn't engage with people, even though I wanted to be there. But thankfully I slept MUCH better last night and feel somewhat more awake today!We've been doing a LOT of getting ready for our little man in terms of learning. We're taking our child birth class, and have been to 2 of the 5 sessions so far. I'm learning how to focus and breathe (and am getting lots of time to practice as braxton hicks contractions are now a part of my day every day!), and Charles is learning how to time contractions, when it's time to head to the hospital, how to put pressure on various parts of my back to alleviate pain, and what to expect at the various stages of labor. I am SO grateful to be going through this with him, and even if the instructor isn't the best I think it's been helpful for both of us to at least be exposed to some of the events and vocabulary surrounding labor and delivery. Saturday morning we had a 3 hour class teaching us the basics of infant care. We learned all about swaddling, diapering, dressing, bathing, car seat safety, feeding, and sleeping safety. It was a good basic overview, a lot of the info I already knew from my years as a nanny of infants and from caring for nieces, but it was still helpful to be refreshed on some things, and to let Charles and I practice together. Tonight is our infant CPR and Safety class which is the one our doctor says is the most important to her that we take. She said she doesn't care if we ignore all the other classes, but she hates sending newborns home with parents who she knows aren't CPR certified. So that's what we're doing tonight! Our last class, a breastfeeding class, isn't until January 9th, so if this little one is early by a week then we'll be missing that one!
I think one of the reasons I've had such a tough time sleeping lately is because I think my mind has been a little stressed with a lot of things I need to remember to do. Except then when it's day time I'm too tired or unmotivated to do them. Which doesn't help the next night's sleep. We are super excited to have Charles' sister and kids coming this weekend to celebrate early Christmas with us, but that means Christmas is a week early (and we need to mail gifts to the east coast for other family--so time to get those purchased, wrapped and mailed!). (although now I'm down to presents for 2 people, so really Christmas shopping is all but done). I realized we haven't done some essential moving things like DMV stuff, renter's insurance etc and those things were mentally piling up. Then of course there's the baby room which isn't close to being ready. And silly things that were stressing me out, like cleaning out the car that is full of sand (or taking it to get cleaned!) and learning how to work our car seat and getting that installed and checked by the highway patrol office before baby comes. So last night I sat down and made a list of everything that needs to get done this week. I decided all baby related stuff can happen next week after company leaves :) I scheduled out my week, including times to rest/nap, prep meals, Christmas shop, and take care of paperwork around the house. I'm happy to report that it's 1 on Monday and I've had a crazy productive morning, getting everything done I wanted to by lunch time. It's amazing how much less stress I feel having things written down and planned out. So here's to a productive week!
People ask me if I'm getting worried about giving birth or getting nervous about baby arriving, and I think I was until I started taking these childbirth classes and reading more. I think I'll be okay, gaining information feels empowering, both my doctor and my husband are 100% on board with my plans to have some help with pain management, and I know Chuck will do a great job encouraging me and supporting me through it. What I do feel stressed about is the fact that we have no idea when he'll show up, when I'll go into labor, how long it will last, if my parents will be in town yet or if we'll be alone etc. So I was feeling stressed about all these things I can't control. Then I realized there are a lot of things i CAN do to prepare, and I'll just do my best with those things. We'll make sure the car seat is installed and double checked by the police department, we'll work on getting a crib next week, we'll pack the hospital bag around New Year's and make my playlist for my ipod of music that is super peaceful to me. For some reason I dreamed the other night that I was SUPER anxious about not finding the right going home outfit for Aidan in the pile of baby clothes I have, so I can choose that and put that aside and in some strange way that makes me feel less stressed. (Thank you Aunt Carolyn for the huge box of ridiculously adorable baby boy clothes...pretty sure his going home outfit is coming from you!! It is going to be impossible to pick which one though because they are all amazing!!) I think doing these little things are making me feel more prepared and helping me be more at ease.
I've rambled at you all enough! You're probably sick of pregnancy related posts, someday I'll have something theological and meaningful to reflect on again, but for right now, this is kind of the brain power I have at the moment! Have a great week everyone!
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