The Home Stretch

Wow, time flies and I guess it has been a while since I posted last. John and I had a busy semester, but once the semester ended, we were finally able to focus on getting ready for Zoe. As I write this, I am about a month away from her arrival, give or take!

We haven’t been able to make it back home to visit relatives. I just feel like I am too pregnant now. As the baby gets bigger it gets increasingly difficult to get around, and I run out of steam a lot faster. I had an ultrasound appointment on May 5th (supposedly I was about 31 weeks) and Zoe was already weighing in at 4lb 11oz. If I was really 31 weeks at the time, then that puts her in the 90th percentile weight wise. I read that at this stage of pregnancy the baby gains about 8oz a week. If that’s the case then as of tomorrow she’ll probably weigh somewhere around 6lb 3oz. It seems as if I can feel every ounce! I feel like she will probably get here a couple weeks before the due date. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part because I can’t wait until she gets here! Maybe it’s also a bit of trepidation at the thought of giving birth to a 10lb baby. Either way, we’re ready when she is. In the meantime, as she continues to grow, move around and rearrange my organs, John and I have been amusing ourselves with talking to her and playing name that body part as she contorts herself in my belly. :)

At the beginning of May, once finals were over, we finally made it to the birthing courses. They were somewhat informative, but most of the information I already knew from reading up on pregnancy. Some of the material covered only made me more nervous about labor. The doula teaching the course did a lovely demonstration with a baby doll and a pelvis from a display skeleton showing how the baby passes through the pelvic area during birth. As she explained possible complications and clumsily rammed the baby doll into the pelvis, all I could think about was “look how the baby doesn’t fit through there, ouch”. At the end of the course, she made sure to mention the doula services offered. I couldn’t help but wonder if the class was sort of a sales pitch to sign up for a doula, because by the end of the class the idea of having a doula was a lot more appealing. Can you say job security? Even though it’s a free service for me, I’m still on the fence about it.

In addition to the birthing classes, we found a new place to live, but we won’t be moving until about August, so we’ve had to do some work on the apartment to get it baby ready. We finally broke down and got a storage unit, and we moved a bunch of stuff out to make way for a nursery. At my last ultrasound appointment my doctor assured me that “she’s still a girl” so we have been confident about buying girl stuff. We decided to keep the strollers and such gender neutral, and decorate the nursery in pinks and greens (though I can’t really do much “decorating” until we get moved).

Only having a few baby clothes and a few baby basics, we finally went out and bought the big baby stuff. We ended up getting a crib that comes with the changing table, hamper and storage drawer. It’s a fixed crib so the railings are not adjustable, it’s solid wood, and seems very sturdy. I was afraid of getting a crib with the slide railings because of all the recalls, and I really liked this model because it converts into a toddler bed, and a regular full size bed. John is a total rock star for assembling the whole thing. Assembling baby stuff is complicated business, as I discovered when setting up some of the other baby items we got.

The professor that I have been doing research for the past couple of years had an end of the year party, which ended up being a surprise baby shower. They chipped in and got me a Pack N’ Play which is awesome because from the reviews I’ve read on baby products, moms rave about how much they love and use their Pack N’ Plays. We also got one of those stroller, baby carrier and car seat combos, and managed to get everything assembled and installed correctly. We even went to a car seat clinic to make sure the base was correctly installed because 3 out of 4 parents install them incorrectly. If you’ve ever seen the instructions that come with these you’d know why. The instructions for installing the car seat base are shamefully vague. Aside from that, we’ve also been buying smaller baby basics, a few toys, and of course, cloths. Baby clothes are just the cutest! I’ve also become quite the contest queen, trying to win baby items for the baby. The nicest items I’ve won so a far are some organic baby bath products from Little Twig. They smell fabulous and I can’t wait till Zoe’s here and I’m giving her baby baths with them.

John and I have had so much fun buying baby stuff and getting ready for her arrival. At least now I feel like I’m totally ready for her. Now we wait…