This Sunday, I will be moving into my third trimester. I can hardly believe it. The time definitely goes faster the second pregnancy.
Like when I was pregnant with Caleb, I definitely have nesting instincts. I want to have my house clean and perfectly organized (however, with a toddler, a husband, and a cat, my hands are very much tied in some areas, and frankly, the cat is lucky he is still here). Some cleaning tasks are too early to take on, or simply will need to be redone. I just cleaned my fridge from top to bottom, but I will definitely be doing that again before the baby is born.
I have been working on cleaning my room (at least my stuff- Brian's on his own!). I have been going through all drawers and my closet and discarding many items. I am trying to make more room and just weed out the junk. I am almost done... not quite, but getting there.
Caleb's room will be my next task to undertake. I have started, and if you were to visit, you'd see some strange things on the floor. I am going through his things and seeing what I want to keep- going through newborn bibs and things (which were mainly neutral, by the way), and seeing which are not too stained to reuse for another.
Making room in there for another human being is not a problem, just the stuff that goes with that little human being. I need to buy more drawers because let's face it, one dresser will not be enough for the two of them. They will both be in cloth diapers, and Caleb's diapers take up one full drawer, so I'll have two drawers going to cloth diapers alone. Then newborns always have a drawer/bin for receiving blankets, burp cloths, etc. I simply need more storage! I'm planning to take most of the month of June to work on that room, and hopefully figure a few things out.
Once Brian is off this summer, we can focus on things like bringing up the bassinet from the garage (don't worry, it is covered, and the box is sealed like crazy at all possible openings with tape). We will take the time to simply get ready. Bring up the baby swing from the guest room. Get out the blue rocker chair. Wash all baby blankets, bibs, etc.
If I have time, I'd like to do a little cleaning downstairs. We really don't spend time down there, because in my mind, it is more like a basement. All of our main stuff is upstairs, and I don't have much need to be down there. But I'd like to put a few cleaning touches here and there before the baby comes and I won't have time again for another six years.
Of course, the most important item of all is planning for the care of Caleb when we go fifty minutes away to deliver our baby. This weighs heavily on my mind, and people might think I am crazy, but given our situation here, it is something I worry about a lot. Since we don't exactly have family that live fifteen minutes away (as my sister did), it is something of great concern. I have been praying that the baby doesn't arrive until at least 39 weeks, when my mom has taken off of work and will be heading up here. Once she is here, I will breathe a huge sigh of relief, though I do hope to have a couple of days, at least, to A) have Caleb adjust to her a bit, and B) get her familiar with Caleb's routine. Caleb is pretty structured and particular, so knowing his needs ahead of time will be an enormous blessing. Leaving him will be hard, and honestly, I would never leave him at this young age except for giving birth to our next child. I have no idea how he'll do. In some ways, he might be fine, and in others, it will be hard. Since my mom could never do the routine as we do it, he might have a hard time going down at night. I pray he does better than I think.
I look forward to having my mom here, too, in those last few days (hopefully!), because she knows how I tick. My mom, sister, and I are all the same. We are rarely idle and we love getting things done. Sure, we'd rather put our feet up and relax- who wouldn't??? But we are doers for sure. My mom will help me in those last days get any odds and ends done that I missed.
The normal stay in a hospital when giving birth is two nights. (I had three last time because I was induced the first night.) If all is going well and we are able to do so, we may cut out early and just stay one night. No matter what, Caleb won't understand why we are gone and why in the world this woman is with him (whom he has no idea is his mother's mother), and we hope to get back to him as soon as possible.
Pregnancy has definitely been harder this time around. I am much more tired- no doubt due to a toddler that is up early every single day. Brian is always under the mistaken belief that I can simply go lie down and sleep during Caleb's nap- no sir, I have plenty to do and have to take advantage of the very little time I have to actually get things done without being interrupted by a toddler. It isn't easy, nor will it be easy when our new little one is here, and I am once again up all hours of the night. Caleb is also at a very draining/demanding stage, so I already am and will continue to be, exhausted as I pour myself out for my children.
Just thinking about it all makes me want to go to sleep right now.
So, ready or not, third trimester, here I come!
