Starting the final countdown!

In less than 24 hours- we will officially be single digit weeks away from meeting this little Squishy inside me. It’s so hard to believe it is that close already, and yet I am bracing myself for what I have been warned is the longest wait of all. I told dad that I think if he gets any lower he will be waving to passer-bys. I don’t know how him “dropping” is going to go because there just isn’t any more room down there!

With  his arrival so close, it is setting in all the things that I want to make sure are ready: we still haven’t picked a pediatrician, no mattress cover, no carseat, no glider- I haven’t made an appointment with the lactation specialist, a hospital bag isn’t packed yet, we haven’t discussed what will happen when I do go into labor: who will be there, when do we want to call people, who will be welcome when we get home, etc. I am of the personal belief that we don’t need to even call anyone until I am close to pushing. People hovering over me makes me nervous, and as hormonal as I am now- I can only imagine that even the best intentioned comments won’t go over well at that point in time. Also, since it is our first, I have no idea what to expect, and the last thing I need is twenty more family members being worried and asking fifty questions when I will be worried and nervous enough for everyone in the state!

Our last shower is next weekend, and I have told my psychotic organizing, list making self that I will resist packing Squishys bag or me & dads hospital bag until at least then. Our hospital tour/ what to expect class is a mere three weeks away, and it seems that the next few weekends have already been booked full: classes, wedding, meetings- it’s crazy! Somewhere in there I am hoping to sneak a last date  night HOORAH! in there- maybe dinner and a movie- despite dads aversion to movies. I’ve also decided that I need to break out a Cabbage Patch kid and play some baby cries from the internet to prep our other little baby for the new arrival. I am sure she will get the hint, but I don’t think it is nice to just bring home a squirming little bundle of cries and neediness without any preparation.

This weekend, I am also going to start reading to our little Squish- now I can see dad rolling his eyes as I let this thought go through my head- BUT the research shows that babies are more likely to be soothed by your voice, like reading later in life, and recognize and bond with you when you do this. I’m not talking War and Peace, we’ll start with some little board books, since our collection is growing so well , and keep it up until he arrives. My aunt did it with her son- they read to him each night before he was born, and then his first night in the hospital dad was in charge of getting a book to read him from home and brought a book that had no words! I always loved that story, and I think it will be good to encourage reading early on, and just to get in the habit of settling down before bed. I am not kidding myself that he won’t be anywhere near a normal sleeping pattern for a while, but it makes me feel like there is a sense of control- and let’s face it, he is in me, and if it makes me happy- he is happy too!

I’ve been prepping at work for my leave; it has been a long stressful journey! I got a (GINORMOUS) manual made of everything I do, and the upper powers that be keep switching their minds about what is going to happen while I am off, and who will do the things that I do, and it’s stressing me out. I can only imagine what I will be returning to next year. Not to mention there is no plan in place for (Heaven forbid, knock on wood) if I have to leave earlier than planned due to bed rest or an early arrival.  I am a planner, I have things in order, color coded and set to remind on a calendar! Not to mention that having the outlook of “no big deal, I’ll handle it” makes it seem like my job is insignificant enough that you don’t have to worry or plan for me being gone for two months. Again, hormones, I know but sometimes you just can’t help it.

Plans for the weekend- nap time, and more nap time. I need to switch out fall and summer clothes- which I am not too excited about, since I am well aware most of my stuff will not fit the next winter season… you just remember that little man! Maybe we will actually be able to watch the Lorax movie I got well over a month ago and we have yet to crack out of the box. I need to make a list of what I will be putting in everyones hospital bag for next weeks and try to get some of my “projects” completed: a Lightning McQueen cross-stitch that has been in the works for well over four years, daddy’s snoopy golf quilt (although I do think the tropical flannel Sesame Street fits him well), and if I am feeling very ambitious the white crochet afghan that I started the very first weeks we found out what happens when two people fall in love (insert Brad Paisley song here). 

AND I also have thank-you’s to write, and while I was holding off until I got some belly pics taken- I think I will start getting them written on cards I have and then just insert the pics when I get them…. I hate not being timely with such things and it is getting beyond the timely point- so my enlarging butt needs to get it into gear (and just for personal reference, like in Mean Girls- it is ONLY OK when I say that!)! A viewing of What To Expect When You Are Expecting may also be in the cards with a much needed rub down, popcorn and nail painting. So much going on and so little time before he arrives!

 NINE WEEKS!!!