Preparations

A week ago, we thought we'd have a one-day-old baby today. But we found out last Wednesday and Thursday that things had, in fact, changed--my uterus had grown in such a way that my placenta went from being .77 centimeters (too close) to my cervix to over 4 centimeters away, well outside the dangerous zone. As probably most of you know, this was a major relief. While I had accepted the need for the surgery and was excited to meet this new baby, I did experience a profound sense of relief to get to go back to the original plan and back to the midwives at Swedish Ballard.

With that came the funny feeling of having both more and less time--we suddenly didn't know when the baby would arrive and needed to start figuring out things like birth plans and contingency plans for how we'll juggle Stella and labor. It's also meant that we've had (hopefully only) a few more days since I officially finished up work for my maternity leave to finalize last minute details.


39 weeks! Stella fits snugly under my belly where she likes to "bonk heads" with the baby.

Like setting up the baby's space. As most of you know, we're in the process of remodeling. Someday we'll go from a 2-bedroom 1.25 bath house to four bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. But that day isn't going to be in the next week or so, so Baby #2 will be formally living in our room with us for the first 3-6 months. In reality, that's where Stella spent all of her early days as well, so we've just been making a more formal space for it. We have the changing station, clothes and the Moses basket ready to go!


I'm standing in the corner where the Moses basket is, but you can see the dresser and changing station. While Stella had a fully decorated room, I think this is cozy and practical and will work well for a few months at least!

And I'm pleased to say I finished the baby's quilt. I had a long period of procrastination but was able to finish it all up the week before the due date, so baby, like Stella, can have this as a special gift right away.


The pinwheel quilt! If I'd had more time, I might have been a little more ambitious with some of the quilting, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

We're still trying to prepare Stella. I think she knows and understands as well as a 2 1/2-year-old can. She'll talk about being a big sister and how when the baby is around she wants to hold it and burp it and kiss and hug it gently. But we'll see. I think it's going to be a pretty major adjustment...


Stella "hugging" the baby--she'll say "hi" to the baby when prompted, but she mostly still wants to be on my lap and the center of attention....


And now we're preparing for birth. I'm hoping that the experience is as good as it was with Stella--14 hours, no interventions necessary, everyone healthy and happy. Because of the c-section plan, we had cancelled our child birth class, but today we met with a friend we met when pregnant with Stella who has since become a doula and are really diving into thinking about the birth plan, how I'll cope, and how Tyler can again be an invaluable support to me during the process.

But mostly we're getting very excited to meet this new little person and get started on this adjustment to having a newborn again and a family of two little ones. I remember when Stella was born being overwhelmed by how much I loved her and how amazingly it didn't decrease the love for anyone else in my life. I know that will happen again, though knowing it intellectually is still different than really feeling it. I know this will open my heart up to people and the world again in a way that is such a gift. So even though I'm going into this whole baby venture with eyes wide open (which includes remembering that it's not always lovely and fun) I'm feeling thankful to have the opportunity to experience pregnancy and birth again and share this journey with Tyler.