ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS!!!! That feels absolutely crazy! We are OFFICIALLY full term!!! 😭 I feel SO prepared in so many ways, with her cradle all ready, bottles washed, clothes laundered, etc. Yet I still haven’t packed a hospital bag for myself or Bambina, nor has Brady. I swear, its like I’ve NEVER packed one before! How in the world do people pack that thing in advance?? I wear the clothes I want to bring! I brush my teeth with the toothbrush I’ll pack! We use the electronics daily that we’ll bring to the hospital! How in the world do people pack a hospital bag?? I have a list, but literally ALL I can pack off of it is a pair of socks and chapstick. I can’t even pack Bambina’s things because some of it will depend on the weather. Maybe I have some sample sized toiletries kicking around that I could use instead of my everyday stuff….. 🤔
Size Comparison: Apparently the baby is the size of a skunk…. 😒 Or a BABY! I’d love to ballpark the baby’s size this week but really, while they’ve all been big, they haven’t all been the same. Dekker was over 10 lbs and he was two days past his due date. Solly was about the same size and was eight days before. So really, who knows. Not I!
Appointments: Oh my gosh, WHAT a debacle!!! Lol! TOTAL pregnancy brain moment at my appointment on Friday! I got there a bit early, as I try to do. My appointments are always at 1:30pm, and I tend to get there 15 minutes early. I went to the desk and greeted the receptionist. We’ve known her since we had Dekker, as she’s worked at both clinics my doctor has in that time. When I got to her, she commented something along the lines of “You’re here! Is everything ok?” I was a bit lost, and said everything was fine. She went on to tell me that my appointment was at 11:15 this morning 😮 WHAT?! They’re never in the morning! But then I remembered 🤦♀️ At my appointment LAST week, someone new had walked me back to the exam room, and she had presented me with a paper listing all of my upcoming appointments. I noticed that one or two had changed times, and she had added a couple of appointments in there that I knew I wouldn’t need. I figured I’d run it by someone familiar before marking it down in my own information. Aaaaand then I forgot. 😔 I tried to be super understanding and asked if I was out of luck. I took all the responsibility, and expected to go home. She said she’d call back and ask Dr. Guselle if I could still be seen. As she was waiting for the call to go through, Dr. Guselle showed up at the front desk. She saw me and burst out laughing right away. She told me they were surprised when I missed my morning appointment, as I’m not a flaky patient and try hard to be on time. Their first thought was that I was in labour! She called the hospital, but I wasn’t there. She and my student doctor settled on “She probably forgot, and she’ll come for 1:30.” And that is exactly what happened!! I can’t believe no one called me or anything!! But they were all SO understanding and we all just had good laugh. So, that aside, I was allowed to stay and see my student doctor right away. He was also totally understand and made up some bizarre explanation that made it sound like I was early 😂 I have great health care providers. Beyond that whole debacle of even getting seen, I’ve gained one pound, my swab from the other week was negative (woot!) and baby remains in the optimal position for delivery! Can’t complain about that!
How am I feeling emotionally: We are in the stretch before delivery where baby’s heart rate starts dropping juuust a touch, and its freaking me out more than usual this time around, for obvious reasons :/ For this reason and many others, I’ve caught myself saying something I NEVER thought I’d say! I would give up my beautiful, scheduled, controlled induction and accept a scary, fast, unmedicated, unplanned “Laela” delivery if it meant I could have Bambina today. I’m so ready, and like I said last week, I’m so tired of worrying. I just want her. No more of this waiting and wondering business.
How am I feeling physically: I am feeling LARGE and IN CHARGE. I feel overdue. My body is resorting to hibernation mode. I nap most days, almost always by accident. My few food aversions are back, so coffee is tricky, and eggs are risky. I’m often nauseous, and my bowels are iffy. Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t be more happy to be pregnant!! But, in all honesty, I’m in a constant state of discomfort at this point. Take sitting, for instance. I can’t lean back because I can’t breathe. I can’t lean to one side or another because my pelvis crunches out of place. And I can try to lean forward but she’s still so high up that its next to impossible. Oh and sitting straight up is HARD with the lack of core muscles. Sooooo thats a fun thing to figure out.
Wish Lish/Purchases: We have a few things coming, yup! We ordered that new cradle mattress a while ago, and it was shipping from the UK with no way to track it. We were told it could come anytime between June 16-July 22. The old mattress we have in our cradle is ok and everything, just old and has been vomited on a LOT, so it would be useable if the new one didn’t come in time. Well, it did! It magically showed up on June 15th!! So we have that, along with surprisingly soft little pink sheets. Perfect!! We also found a way to order the soothers we’ve been wanting, so thats a win too! They’re on their way, just not here yet. There may be more I’m forgetting…
Pictures: My dear friend and photographer has suffered a HUGE hit recently, losing a second family member in a short period of time 💔 SO awful! Please send some prayers her way, if you think of it. That being said, these things come MILES before a belly picture! So my very sophisticated shot from the bathroom mirror will have to do!
I know. I’m a tank. There is a LOT of baby in there. But I’m so thankful that she continues to grow.
How are the kids feeling: Laela has been asking a lot of details about how babies grow. Lately, she’s been talking about how the baby eats. She understands that baby has a long belly cord (she calls it a rope) thats attached to a big hunk that feeds her. We’ve explained that Bambina gets aaaaall the good things I eat, aaaaall the vitamins, etc. If I eat too much bad stuff, that would be unhealthy for her, too, so we’re careful not to have too many treats, but that the baby is healthy and eating lots. She asked me the other day if Bambina likes bananas 🙂 I told her I thought she would eventually, but probably doesn’t recognize what a banana tastes like just yet. More conversations about Bambina not eating food with her mouth just yet. Disappointment that Laela won’t be able to feed her sticky buns at the lake. My favorite question was whether or not Bambina “has” to eat crusts 🥪 Lol! The things that make life hard when you’re little 😉 SO many questions!
Getting to know the baby: I know we all have different experienced in family building, so please don’t fault me when I say things like this, but I feel like its been AGES since I’ve had a new baby! I think getting to know Bambina is going to be a whole new ballgame!! I’m confident it’ll all come back in the blink of an eye, but I am SO enjoying looking back at baby pictures and videos of my children, and remembering how AMAZING those little stages are, and how EXCITING it is to watch them change and grow! And I feel like I’ve learned so much in the recent past, and will do a handful of things differently to encourage their development straight out of the gate. Not too much, but a bit 🙂 Basically, this category today is less about speculations about her and more about how excited I am to have the opportunity to get to know her at all. I am SO fortunate.
The BEST part of being pregnant: I LOVE THAT I’M FULL TERM! That feels victorious! I know its not over yet. The “hopefullys” and “what ifs” aren’t gone yet, but its coming! It finally feels like crunch time, and I’m SO thankful to have reached this point!
Favourite thing: I can pretty safely say my favorite thing this week is ice cream sandwiches! Even just the no name ones are sooooo good! I have to really limit myself to ONE when I have dessert because I could easily wolf down that whole box!
Folks, I feel like we are in the final stretch. My big ominous list is mostly taken care of. Much of the cleaning is done. I literally have ONE more thing to buy. I’m waiting for a few things to come in the mail. I have a bit of decor to make for her party. Have to pack hospital bags. Maybe bake something. And I’m pretty determined to get a pedicure in there. But guys, she’s coming. SOON! I’m beside myself with excitement and joy and sorrow and fear and readiness and newbiness and just ALL the emotions! The anticipation is HUGE!! Lucky for me, I have a handful of things to keep busy with until then 😉
But seriously, help me know how in the world you packed a hospital bag!! Apparently its been a while since I packed mine! What are your “ride or die” items for staying at the hospital? Mine are hair ties and chapstick, haha! What can I NOT forget?