March 7, 2007
So, here we are in the third trimester. I vacillate between being excited that we're going to have a newborn again, and being terrified of having a newborn again. I was just telling Keith last night that I can't believe we willingly decided to set ourselves up for going through the waking-every-two-hours stage, the throwing-food-on-the-floor stage, and the eating-everything-off-the-carpet stage again.
I can't remember if I felt this nervous before Stazi was born. I probably did, and that worked out just fine, so I should probably just quit fretting so much.
I have been happily throwing myself into baby preparations, as this is the first time that we have been expecting a baby while also 1) married, 2) living in our own house that we do not expect to move out of within a year, and 3) gainfully employed. It's really different, and quite nice. I need to go through our drifts of saved baby clothes and start putting them away where they belong. I've been accumulating a few things here and there from the consignment stores and ebay, and those have gone in the dresser (a Craigslist find) already. We also have a changing table (Freecycle) this time around. We never had one before, but I decided that at the ripe old age of 30 (well, I turn 30 this month) I am tired of changing the baby on the floor all the damn time. So we will have a changing table, complete with shelves on which to store all the diapering supplies, so they won't be strewn all over the house.
Oh, who am I trying to kid? They'll still be strewn all over the house. But at least I'll have somewhere to put them back temporarily when I get the bug to organize the place.
I also still need to find and launder both baby slings, make sure the swing is in operational order, and locate all the parts of the breast pump. And I have to pre-wash all the new cloth diapers we ordered. (I foolishly gave away/sold a bunch of our cloth diapers, around the time Stazi turned 2. In retrospect this was a big mistake, but it was kind of fun to get all new ones this time around.)
We decided to hire a doula for this go-round also. I never really felt the need for one before, because Keith provides excellent labor support, but our hospital experience with Stazi left a little to be desired, and because we will be delivering at the same hospital this time, I felt that perhaps additional labor support was in order. We found a doula that thinks highly of my OB and is supportive of what she refers to as "the medical model," so I am optimistic about this. I don't want to march into the hospital being antagonistic and making demands, but I do want to make sure that some of our wishes (i.e., avoiding the #$*(#)ing transition nursery) are respected.
Things are going well on the blood sugar front. I am currently going through about 2000 units of insulin every month, which seems just alarmingly high to me, but as my OB reassured me at my last appointment, it's normal to have increasing insulin needs as pregnancy progresses. Which I know, and have experienced in both prior pregnancies, but it still freaks me out to go through a 180-unit insulin reservoir in like 2.5 days. That having been said, my blood sugar has been pretty good lately, so I can't complain too much.
We are in the last throes of winter here. We got about an inch of snow this morning, but I expect it will melt pretty soon, and there are 50-degree days in the forecast. This will be the first time I've brought a baby home in warm weather. It is a new, and frankly, welcome experience.
Posted at March 7, 2007 10:43 AM
Posted by: Heidi at March 7, 2007 5:56 PM
what the heck is a transition nursery????? I was thinking that obviously because now I am 30 and all people won't feel like they can just push me around in the hospital? hehe
Posted by: Lori Fowlkes at March 19, 2007 4:27 PM
The transition nursery was new to me too. They didn't give us this crap when I delivered Zeke. Basically, it is a nursery where they take babies for the first few hours after birth to "transition" (from what to what, I want to know). Basically all they do is put them in the warming thingy and check their vitals every hour or so. I don't know if it's for all babies or just the ones born to high-risk moms or what, but I think it's ridiculous and we're trying to avoid it this time. They don't do anything in the nursery that they couldn't do in my room just as easily.
Posted by: Jan at March 19, 2007 5:50 PM
Wow, time is flying! I'm interested to hear how it goes with #3. It seems like by the time #3 rolls around, parents are pretty relaxed and take it in stride. I'm sure you'll figure it all out! I think of you often, even if I don't always comment! If you make it out to Seattle again perhaps we can set up a playdate with all our kidlets!