39 Weeks, and a Mental To-Do List

Well, we are definitely in the home stretch. I am 39 weeks pregnant this week and baby is, at most, 2 weeks away (I hope). At the last ultrasound, a week and a half ago, baby weighed 7lbs, 7oz. For comparison, Jake was 8 lbs, 9oz when he was born - they induced me three days after his due date (this doctor has no plans to induce). The thought of 2 more weeks carrying this baby is a scary thought actually. I keep saying: "I'm done, I'm ready!", but then I remember when Jake was a newborn and it seemed so much easier when he was still tucked safely inside my belly.

But I am so tired of the constant exhaustion, not being able to breath, the heartburn, the intense sciatic nerve pain in my lower back, the laborious and painful hourly episodes of turning over in bed, and running to the ladies room 15 times a day. Now that baby is moving lower, that seems to be even more frequent. I had two or three contractions over the weekend, but not much progress. I'm not nearly as swollen as I was with Jake at this point. I have stopped wearing my wedding rings, but my feet are hardly swollen at all - they were massive and disgusting with Jake at this point. I weigh at least 10-15 pounds less now than I did when I was 39 weeks pregnant with Jake, but I think that may have been 10 extra pounds of fluid last time.


We are slowly but surely working our way through the extensive mental to-do list that comes with preparing for the baby. The co-sleeper (basinette) is put together and ready to go next to my side of the bed. The FLOR tiles are all installed in the new attic playroom and the toys are put in their storage bins. Tiny diapers and hundreds of baby wipes are in stock. We found the carseat and both bases in storage, and I cursed my former self for putting the carseat into storage without thoroughly washing it first. Dried milk and baby spit-up from three years ago is pretty nasty, but luckily it came out fresh and new after a trip through the laundry. I did two loads of laundry for her, so now all of her clothes are clean and ready to go. It made me laugh because before Jake was born, I had to do at least five loads of laundry for him. Poor neglected recession-born second child :(

I still need to install both car seat bases into our cars. I'm relatively skilled at that normally, but the bowling ball in my abdomen may make it a little more difficult than I remember. I also need to pack my hospital bag. This time I will be smart enough not to pack pre-pregnancy jeans as my coming home pants. Learned that lesson the hard way the first time around - ha! I have two possible coming-home outfits ready for her. We still need to wash out her (blue) bathtub and bring it down from the attic. I need to find the bottles and the sterilizer. I am prepared for Plan A (breast feeding) and Plan B (formula feeding), with supplies at the ready for both scenarios, or a mixture of the two. I need to find a pediatrician to check her out at the hospital before we leave, since Jake's pediatrician doesn't have hospital privileges where we are delivering (ugh). What else? So much to remember...and my memory is shot at this point. No blood flow going to my brain it seems.

I was sick late last week, but luckily no one else in the house caught it. It was not fun, but the worst of it was over in 24 hours. Jake did have his first ear infection and is just now finishing up his twice daily dose of the "pink medicine." We had to practically force him to drink it the first two days, but by day 8 or 9, he slurped it down and asked for more - ha!

I will keep you all posted on the latest news, and the laptop will accompany me to the hospital... once I get that bag packed of course.