One More Weekend

With any luck, this will be my last weekend before becoming a mom. Tonight I'll be camping in the yard with my niece, and tomorrow and Sunday are shaping up to be pretty nice.

Last May, my niece and I sort of started a new tradition. Our Memorial Day weekend family camping trip was canceled due to snowfall in the mountains, so we camped in my back yard instead. I pulled out my little grill and we cooked all our meals over fire, we slept outside the whole night, and in the morning we opened the little tent window and told each other all about the animals we could see in my backyard, including alligators and tigers. Throughout the afternoon, evening and next morning, she kept saying “This is going to be SO much fun!”  

This year will be different because she’s all grown up at 5 years old, but I’m sure it will be just as fun. On Sunday, we have a variety of Mother’s Day activities and I’ll need to pack the car and buy a couple of last-minute items. Our hospital check-in time is 11:30am on Monday…eeks! So exciting.

Careful What You Wish For

As we get closer and closer to the 14^th, I’m finding it necessary to keep myself very busy to help the time pass. I had a long list of things to do last Saturday and every hour was planned out perfectly, ending with Cinco de Mayo dinner reservations at 7 pm.

I did lots of work around the house and didn’t go outside till after 11 am, at which point I discovered my home had been vandalized. In addition to my doorknob and lock being covered in peanut butter and honey (sort of funny), there was spray paint all over my garage door (not funny.) It said “NUTE GINGRICH” (sort of funny.)

So much for Saturday’s plans! I spent the next few hours filing a police report, speaking with local media and painting over the former presidential candidate’s name. On the plus side, it was a thorough distraction from the waiting game, and I’ve met more neighbors than ever before. They’ve all been very friendly and supportive, and equally surprised someone would do this in our neighborhood.

10 Days

I have this set of tiny adorable onesies, but I doubt they'll fit!

I spoke with the infant coordinator yesterday and everything continues to go well. There’s a good chance the boy will be 9 lbs. or more, so I probably don’t need to pack any of those teensy onesies that were handed down from cousin Hayden. 

The birth mom’s blood pressure has been a little elevated, but so far the doctor doesn’t think it’s serious enough to move up the c-section date. Today we should hear if he wants to run any additional tests before making the final call.

This weekend I need to clean my garage, my fridge and my upstairs closet that’s bursting with comforters and other large items. I’m also going to pick up some bottles and get a bag packed, just in case he decides to come early. The coordinator has ultrasound pics from last week’s appointment for me, but she wasn’t able to email them so she snail-mailed them. Hoping they’re in my mailbox tonight after work!

Time is Flying

View of the Washington Monument from the Jefferson Memorial.

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post - and 16 days till he's due! On Wednesday I flew to DC (National Harbor, Maryland, to be exact) for a veterinary trade show. After a full day of travel, I spent Thursday setting up our booth and then trekking miles around Mount Vernon (George Washington's estate), Arlington National Cemetery and the National Mall (White House, monuments, etc.) I was bummed the Reflection Pool is drained for repairs right now, but everything else was beautiful. The White House is much smaller than I expected.

In short, my legs were exhausted before the trade show had even begun, but it was well worth it. I hope to get back into DC on Monday to see a few museums before my late flight back to Idaho.

I spoke with the infant coordinator Thursday and mom and baby are doing well. No news is good news for the next couple of weeks! I don't think there's anything else I need to do at home to prepare, so I think I'll focus on work until then.

The Countdown

11 - Number of days I have left in the office
3 - Number of days until I leave for a work trip to DC
1 - Number of childless weekends I have left in Boise
0 - Number of diapers I've bought so far
Infinity - The amount I'll spend to fly back from DC if she goes into labor early

I have a short list of things to do before the "big day", including the addition of a bassinet and rocker to my  bedroom. I got everything arranged last night and it's starting to sink in!

Over the weekend I opened the bassinet, gave it a bit of Febreeze and let it sun-dry on the porch all day. There's a layer of tinfoil across the mattress to keep the cats off, but they've already learned to jump on it when they want my attention.

Of course, in the back of my mind I'm always thinking "She could change her mind..." even though I'm feeling good about the match. So I'm doing the bare minimum to get ready and really trying to stay sane.

Wooden Ducks

I was living in Los Angeles when my sister-in-law went into labor with my niece five years ago. I was excited and anxious, and I had a long evening to occupy myself while I awaited news. First I hit the gym for a workout, totally looking the Cali part having my cell phone propped up on the treadmill so I wouldn't miss a precious call.

Still no news after sweating it out, so I decided to stop at Target for something baby-related. I was anxously wading through the aisles looking for the perfect outfit and a cute greeting card. That's when I saw it. An end cap full of decorative wooden ducks by Smith & Hawken. All I could think was, "WHO HAS TIME FOR WOODEN DUCKS? THERE'S A BABY COMING!" It seemed incomprehensible that anyone's priority would be to stand at that end cap, consider the various poses, textures and colors of the ducks, and select one or two for their yard.  

Looking back, that always seemed like a silly way to feel. But now that we're less than a month away from baby making his appearance, I feel myself once again losing patience for wooden ducks!

Making the Cut

I recently sorted and washed a few newborn clearance finds and hand-me-downs, then realized I had nowhere to put them. Project time!

I'm pretty good about going through my stuff every season and donating or giving away what I no longer use. People have been happy to take all sorts of radnom things of my hands - piles of broken 70s tile, empty cat litter buckets, you get the idea. But making room for a baby raises the bar even higher. Suddenly almost nothing seems important enough to keep. Do I really need this bed? Really, let's think this through. How often do I use it? Does it take up more space than it's worth?

Okay, the bed can stay. But I was still able to stuff two giant garbage bags full of clothes, bags, and books I won't miss. I have a couple of semi-formal dresses to sell on Craigslist, and a handful of cute brand name items I'll run by the consignment store. And I finally parted with - yes, threw away - about 20 singleton socks. Why do we think their matches will ever reappear?

The end result is a whole 2 empty drawers for kid stuff, and a closet I can safely open and shuffle through without risking a concussion.