Those are the words spoken to me by my husband when we brought our first child home from the hospital. The sun was shining, and it was a beautiful winter day. We had our luggage (my hospital stay bag), some souvies (gifts from visitors), and now our little family was bigger.
I feel like my DH is right. In so many ways, getting prepared to go to the hospital and have a baby is similar to planning for your Disney trip.
Yesterday, I printed out a packing list. Today, I'll start getting the bag ready with the various things we'll need for the hospital. In the off chance that no one is available to watch DS, and my DH and he will be spending some time in the waiting room while I tough it out alone, I'm thinking a bag for DS is in order as well. Books, his Leapster, some snacks, just in case he gets stuck with us at the hospital, or even more worrisome, stuck with just me in the event that DH isn't able to get there right away.
Today, I dumped the memory card for our camera so that we have plenty of room on it for photos of the new baby. I've made my list of things to get at
Walmart to complete our preparedness for this "trip." Extra camera batteries, snacks, diapers. It's amazing to me how much this whole process resembles exactly what I'd do before we'd go on a trip.
I must say, however, that the end result of this little journey will be far more rewarding than any vacation I could ever plan.
I know I haven't really kept you all posted on the pregnancy like I'd intended to. I think the debacle on the community board left a bad taste in my mouth for a while, and that's okay. What will be will be.
But suffice it to say that it's been mostly good, with some hiccups here and there. Right around when my mom passed, my blood pressure spiked. Who's surprised? There was a lot of talk of putting me on bed rest, but fortunately, it evened out on its own. Honestly, I attribute that to my great therapist, whom I see once a week. She's been a godsend, and in general, I feel more relaxed about things.
Even though my blood pressure was okay, the doctor's office recommended that I do twice weekly non stress tests. So, for the past several weeks, I've been going once a week to the hospital (that I'll deliver in) and once a week to my doctor's office. Everything is looking good, and the baby is very healthy. This Wednesday, I have an ultrasound to check for growth, and I'm sure it'll be fine. I feel huge, and that's mostly because he's all out on the front...like a beach ball.
On Friday, my blood pressure went a little bit high again, but it wasn't high enough for the docs to be concerned. I decided, however, after a week of swollen hands and feet and general exhaustion that it was time for me to start my maternity leave. I worked on Saturday, finishing out the holiday weekend, and am now free to relax a little bit before the baby comes.
I'm really looking forward to spending some time with my son before the baby gets here, and doing things with him that I wouldn't have otherwise had the energy for. Although, how long I'll be able to do that is anybody's guess, because when I got checked at the doctor's office this Friday, I was already dilated 1 cm. Color me surprised.
That's something I wasn't expecting at all.
So, we'll see. If my blood pressure does go higher (to an unsafe number), my doctor's office will induce me before my due date. If it remains the same, I think they'll let me try to go into labor on my own. So now, instead of a countdown chart for vacation, we have a countdown chart to my due date, which DS loves. It gives him some concept of when his baby brother should be here, and he's really excited about that.
We've just had so many changes in such a short amount of time, with more to come. My mom's passing, the baby's impending birth, DS going to kindergarten. It's a time of change in the TK household, but whenever I get frustrated or nervous about it, I try to channel my newfound inner peace...and my inner Walt...and think there's a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day.
Sometimes, it's a little thought like that that gets me through.
So, there you have it. The state of affairs, so to speak.
"Happiness is a state of mind. It just depends on how you look at things." ~ Walt Disney
