Okay! Last week, I didn’t finish the draft I had going for 33 weeks fast enough, and then lost track of time over the weekend. (And now it’s Saturday, and I still haven’t posted this update…) So I’m going a double-ish update this week. I’m probably just going to keep most of what I wrote for 33 weeks in here and then just add whatever else happened for 34 weeks.
I am 34 weeks. Holy shit, Batman!
Hindsight is 20/20—Nursery Drama-Rama
First, let’s talk about the nursery. My father, my husband, and my brother’s girlfriend stripped the wallpaper two weekends ago. It wasn’t fun, but it didn’t take as long as it could have nor was it as complicated as expected.
The snafu has to do with the drywall. Underneath ugly dark yellow paint is nothing but drywall. No sealant, no primer. They tried to sand and holes were getting punched in the wall. They tried to use the wallpaper remover to get the glue off and the wall bubbled. Guh. I wish I knew enough to even describe what was wrong, but I don’t. All I know is “not as easy as planned.” My husband worked on it all last week, though. Sanding and scrubbing. Trying to get it ready for primer and paint.
I’m anxious. The last few weeks or so, I’ve had an increasing desire to nest. At this point, I really want to get in the nursery and get started. I want to wash and fold tiny clothes. I want to set up his room, all the furniture, and see how it looks. I want it so badly, that I feel like I need it.
People keep telling me over and over: when he gets here, he won’t even see the nursery for weeks. I know. Of course, I know that. Not the problem. The problem is I want to do this shit now. I want to get everything set up. I think it would help my anxiety, help my nesting desire, and also—let’s be honest—who the hell wants to deal with setting up a nursery after the baby is born?! Who has time for that?!
So…nursery is in progress. I’ll keep you updated.
WARNING: Baby Shower Fast Approaching Came and Went!
First of all, check out the baby books my friend from my old job bought for me and had shipped to the house! So excited. Bummed that she was not able to make it to the shower, but thankful just the same.
[Written on Thursday of last week, at 33 weeks pregnant.] My baby shower is in two days. I’m really excited and really nervous. I know when we come home Saturday afternoon/evening, we will have a boatload of baby things. Shit is about to get real up in here. I’m excited to see people I haven’t seen in months, some in years. I’m terrified of the implications of the shower. That this is all real, that there’s an expectation for a baby at the end of this journey. I guess there are just some things you can’t shake no matter how far along you get in pregnancy after you’ve experienced miscarriages. Fear of losing the baby…is definitely still one of them.
[I am going to do a post on just the baby shower later…hopefully this weekend. In the meantime, I can let you all know that it went well and my husband, baby boy, and I were showered with love and I am so grateful for the effort put into it by the planners and the love and support we three received from family and friends!]
BIG Baby Steps to Report
Okay…in my last update from two weeks ago, I talked about how there were things I needed to start getting done. For instance, call the hospital and set up a tour, call my insurance about the breast pump…so on and so forth.
Well, well, well! Look at who’s just rocking this shit! First of all, I called the hospital and set up a tour time for this past Sunday. Holy shit anxiety, as my shower was Saturday and then tour on Sunday, big weekend, but I made it through. The tour was amazing—other than the construction going on in and around the two wards, I loved everything. The delivery room and the postpartum rooms were pretty spacious…private, with their own bathrooms/showers, and the postpartum rooms have windows (they look out at either a parking lot or another building, but hey, I’m not picky—sunlight is sunlight). I found out that they have a single room with a tub in it that is open for use by everyone in the delivery rooms. While I was disappointed that they didn’t have more than one, or inflatable ones that could be brought into the room or something, I am at least grateful they have one. I am hoping it is free if and when I decide I want to use it! The hospital is pro-everything-I-wanted-them-to-be-pro-about: immediate skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding right away, keeping the baby with the parents as much as is possible, allowing testing to be done in the room if the parents so wish, allowing the parents to give the baby’s first bath if the parents so wish, giving the parents a few hours alone (sans other support people) before moving up to the postpartum ward in order to bond and soak in the event, no pacifiers provided, free breastfeeding support during the stay and for as long as needed afterwards via support groups, and more. I am just so pleased. And, despite this ER having probably the worst reputation around (having been there several times, I would know), I’ve heard nothing but good things about maternity. Especially with their advanced NICU that cuts way down on the need to transfer out to Children’s Hospital in Boston.
Let’s see, what else…I haven’t called about the breast pump yet—but I promise I’ll get to it! I bought a couple of baby books, highly recommended by recent mommies in my online community, called The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Wonder Weeks. I haven’t started reading either yet, but I look forward to starting! I have gotten three chapters into the breastfeeding book I bought at Barnes & Noble several months ago (The Essential Guide to Breastfeeding)…I meant to read a chapter a day, but that’s proving to be difficult. If I read a few pages every day, I’m sure I’ll finish it (or read enough!) by the time baby boy is here. I also finally got my power-of-attorney for the hospital sorted (I needed my primary—my husband—and secondary—my father—people to sign it, and two witnesses to sign it). I will be bringing that, along with the maternal care informed consent packet, to my next appointment so it can be sent to the hospital for their records.
Though I have not actually picked out a bag to bring to the hospital, I have started setting aside some things (one of them being a dress I bought for the shower that I decided I looked like a COW in on the morning of the shower, and therefore have set aside for the trip to the hospital). Since I received both diaper bags from my registry at the shower this past weekend, I have set aside the smaller of the two to pack for baby boy (and have even started putting things in it…like a rattle, some breastfeeding supplies, and a small blanket). I’ve been filling my Amazon cart with essentials I needed that I didn’t receive at the shower, so once I put that order in, I’ll have more things to pack for the hospital.
Getting there, right?!
I’ve got more to talk about but if I try to fit it in this post, I won’t publish it until 35 weeks and then I’ll need a triple-week post! Oi! See you again later next week…
Motherhood & Everything Else 