Friday, August 28, 2009

Love/Hate @ 32 Weeks

32 weeks. Scary, really, that I have, at most, 10 more weeks of pregnancy to go. With all of my other babies I was already feeling done with pregnancy by now. I was eager to meet my baby, and be done with the whole pregnancy thing.

I don't feel that way this time. I wouldn't mind if I stayed pregnant another 12 weeks, or 14 weeks. I am savoring every moment of having my baby inside me, and trying to remember exactly how it feels to have a watermelon belly, because I know I won't ever do this again, so long as I live. I will never, ever, ever stare at two lines on a pregnancy test, or spend three months barfing my head off, or have a tiny bump in my lower belly, or feel those early flutters, or spend an evening with baby feet in my ribs and hiccups below my navel.



There are a few things I could do without, though. Heartburn, for one. I have the worst heartburn, and nothing helps it. Nothing I try prevents it, and I can't even reassure myself with "Maybe the baby will have hair," because my babies never have hair. They never have anything more than the tiniest peach fuzz. Even at two years old, my baby Beast has baby hair, short and wispy, with a few strawberry blonde curls in the back.



I wish I didn't have pelvic pain. It's terrible pain. It feels like my pubic bone is split in half and my legs are falling out of my hip sockets. Yolanda says this is good and normal for a multipara. She also said my abdominal muscle tone is phenomenal, especially since I'm having my fifth baby. (This is funny, because non-pregnant, I'm pretty sure I don't even have abdominal muscles.)



I hate the nosebleeds that always accompany pregnancy for me. They strike at the most inopportune times, usually when I don't have any tissue with me.



I would really like it if my cervix would cooperate. I haven't been checked, of course, but I can tell my cervix is ripening slowly, preparing for birth, and it doesn't feel good. It feels like the baby is sticking it's little finger through it, and it hurts. It's not an indicator of preterm labor for me, just my normal.



Otherwise, I love being pregnant. I love feeling all the baby's movements, and guessing about whether it will be a boy or a girl. I really like the way my belly looks - perfectly round and taut. I love the special bond the baby and I share. I don't understand women who want their pregnancies to be over as quickly as possible.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Stocking up for baby, and sleeping arrangements

I've been really stockpiling for the new baby. Just today I was able to pick up a yellow sleeper, brand new, at a sale for just seventy five cents. I also got five pairs of socks for a dollar, and two adorable little hats for a dollar. One hat is yellow and the other is deep blue and violet tie-dye.

But today I got the best deal of all - an Arm's Reach Co-sleeper, in brand new condition, for just $20. This exact same model is still in stores for $139.99 (ish) - can you believe the steal of a deal I got?

I've always wanted a co-sleeper but never bought one because my babies always sleep with me anyway. Plus, it was always a pretty steep expense for us. Our babies tend to come at the very least convenient time possible, money-wise, and I could never justify spending that amount of money on something that would be used so little.

This time, the co-sleeper is an absolute must for safety. The Babe is 11 months old, and still nursing and co-sleeping happily. He'll be 13 months when the new baby comes, big enough to smoosh the little bugger in the middle of the night, but still so much a baby himself. He is starting to sleep through the night once in awhile now, but generally he wakes up once or twice for a nurse. (I hate it, because nursing during pregnancy gives me wicked heebie jeebies. Its impossible to explain unless you've experienced it.) How can I deny one baby in order to care for another? Do you realize how much of a hassle it will be to have either of them in a separate room? The Babe will be inconsolable, I'm sure, because he is still a needy, dependent baby. And the new baby will be up thirty seven times a night to eat. If either of them is in a different room, I will be the one who gets no sleep and ends up wanting to jump out a window. (It's okay though. My new house is a one story.)

So obviously I need to make sure both babies are happy and safe, and I think the best way to do that is to keep The Babe in bed with me, and put the new baby in the co-sleeper right next to me. The Hub and I sleep in separate rooms, because he snores and I'm a bed hog. He was on third shift for the great majority of our marriage and now that he's not, we just can't get used to sleeping in the same room, let alone the same bed. Beastie sleeps in the same room as The Hub, on a pull out chair. In the new house, she'll share a room with Four, and will have her very own toddler bed. I'm even making her some Yo Gabba Gabba blankets to put on it. EJ gets to have a room of her own, because she's earned it. She's an awesome big sister and very responsible, and is desperate for some space of her own.

We do have a fourth bedroom in the new house, but it's quite a distance from the other bedrooms. This will be used for a guest room right now, and then in a few years, when my children are old enough to get themselves out of the house in case of fire, that will become a bedroom for one or two of the kids. It's a big room and could easily accommodate two.

The basement at the new house has egress windows and is framed in for three rooms. Each of the three rooms has an egress window, which means that these rooms could be finished and made into even more bedroom space. I wouldn't feel comfortable with any of my kids in the basement until they were teenagers though, for safety reasons.

I have to tell you, it is so nice to know that we can live in our new house forever. It is very difficult to have this many people in such a small space, but I do wonder if I will miss the closeness. I don't think so, because we're a very close family. I don't think our family dynamics will change just because our living situation has.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Meeting the Doula

I met my doula today. Her name is Kellie, and she is fantastic. She is very low-key and quiet, just the type of person you want with you when you're laboring. She's never had a chance to attend a homebirth, so she'll be providing my doula services for free. You can't get better than free folks, unless you can also figure out a way to get a cash rebate for something free. I haven't figured it out yet.

Today I'm 30 weeks pregnant. 30 weeks! Doesn't it seem like just yesterday I was staring at two pink lines on a pregnancy test? I can't believe thirty weeks have gone by so quickly. That means I have anywhere from 8-12 weeks left of pregnancy, but I'm going with ten and hoping I deliver around my due date.

We close on our house this coming up Thursday. That is a huge relief for me. I have been so worried about the closing date, because I need to get EJ and Four enrolled in school, and I can't enroll them without proof of residency. This means I can get them enrolled and get all the school supplies and clothes and shoes purchased and not have to worry about that on top of moving. What I should do is get a big huge plastic storage tote and put all the school stuff in that, so it doesn't get lost in the move.

I'm also geeked because it means I can really start planning the birth. It's hard to plan a birth when you don't have a place to plan it. I can get started scrubbing my new house, and picking out carpeting and paint and stuff.

So anyway, thirty weeks. They say the baby weighs about three pounds now, and will gain 1/2 pound a week from here on out. That would mean an 8 pound baby, but mine tend to be a little heavier than that. (Okay a lot heavier.)

I can't believe October is this close already...