The Imminent Arrival of Baby #2

The end is near.  I'm not just in the homestretch...I'm a length from the wire and closing in fast. 

This pregnancy is almost over.

Or, so I believe. 

See, when I went in for my 36 week check-up with Jack, I was (WARNING: cervix talk ahead!) dilated to 1.5 cm, 50% effaced (for you non-moms that means my cervix was thinned out 50%), and my uterus was measuring 37 cm (a bit on the big side). Jack was born at 37 weeks exactly.

So last week I went in for my 36 week check-up with Claire and guess what? The stats are exactly the same.  Exactly.  And today?  I am 37 weeks pregnant.

It's not normal for pregnancies to be exactly the same - they are all different, even with the same mom.  So I don't know WHY in my head I was expecting her to be here right at 37 weeks...but, I am.  I think I'll be meeting her in the next few days.  If I'm wrong...well, then I hope she can wait until at least next Sunday or the following Monday because we will be moving that weekend (keeping fingers crossed on that).  So I either want her here now with a few days of recovery under my belt before we are signing closing papers and moving to a new house, or I want her to arrive after we are actually in the new house (how ideal would that be - to bring her home to a house without having to worry about scorions in the bed!). 

But either way...be it another day or several more weeks...she is on her way and there is no denying it.

Before Jack was born, I remember writing about how it HAD to be easier to get some sleep and how it HAD to be better once the baby was actually here.  After all, I am now in the phase of my pregnany where I am lucky to sleep for 40 straight minutes before being awakened by either my very-full bladder, calf cramps or some other pregnancy-induced sleep-inhibitor.  But I know better now than to think that it's going to be easier when the baby is born...what crack was I smoking when I thought I would get MORE sleep when the baby was born???

I now know that, as I stumble to the bathroom for the eighth time in one night, I can climb back into bed and lay there in relative peace...even if I'm not asleep.  Newborns don't allow for that luxury. Oh no.  If I am up with a newborn I'll be up on her terms...not mine.  If she's not tired, I won't be sleeping.  I won't even be able to just lay there wishing I could sleep.  If I recall (and I may have blocked these memories from my mind in my anticipation of Baby Girl), I will be wishing I was asleep as I pace the room for hours on end bouncing a cranky baby.

And sometimes I find myself thinking, "It will be easier this time - it HAS to be easier!" and I get all confident and am feeling all great about things and then I remember one little variable I didn't have the first time around - JACK.  That's right.  The toddler will be thrown into the mix. So maybe it will be easier (I am, after all, more confident in my parenting abilities and probably most importantly, I have learned to live by the mantra "This Too Shall Pass" - so I am better able to see the light at the end of the tunnel).  But what I am not sure of is how I'll manage two little beings who need me, and will likely need me at the same time (and for some perspective here, I know I am not the first person to ever have two kids and I know parents with more than two kids who have survived so I *know* we will get through it - I just sometimes wonder *how* we will get through it!).

But today, here I am...not working any longer and very grateful for that (who KNEW I would be this tired!).  I am spending time with Jack (admittedly, a lot of it is in front of the TV).  Our house is mostly packed except for the things we need.  Baby diapers are washed and organized.  My birthing center bag is packed and in the car.  The car seat is installed. 

All we are waiting on is Baby Claire to arrive.

The Official Third Trimester Whine

I wish the title of this post was the The Official Third Trimester Wine...because I really could use a big fat glass of Zin right about now...but alas, that is not the case.  This is (WARNING!!) a genuine WHINE about all the fun things that come along with the third trimester.

I have been lucky.  My pregnancy has been, for the most part, pretty darn easy.  I think that it's been easier this time around than it was when I was pregnant with Jack.  If you had asked me last week how I was feeling I would have told you, "great!"  But if you ask me how I'm feeling today and tell you "great!" - I am lying. 

Overall, yes, I am doing "great", I suppose.  No complications, no health problems, not on bedrest and still able to get around.  But right around the 34-week mark, things took a turn towards the uncomfortable.

I think my text last night to Charles (as I was laying in bed next to Jack, waiting for him to fall asleep), sums it up.  It went something like this" "restless leg syndrome, baby doing gymnastics in my belly, and burping up puke."

If you have ever had Restless Leg Syndrome before...well...I'm sorry.  It is miserable!  The feeling that you absolutely, positively MUST move your legs when you are trying to fall asleep is nothing short of brutal.  To make it worse, another pregnancy side-effect is cramping (especially in your calf muscles).  This probably wakes me up 2-3 times every night.  So, while my legs are tingling and itching to move I feel like I just need to contract my calf muscles and point my toes to make it go away, but as soon as I do that I end up with major charley horses in my calves.  So I am at Charles' mercy and end up begging him to please, PLEASE rub my poor legs so I can get some relief.

Now on to the baby doing gymnastics in my belly.  This is kind of a cool thing.  I can feel her twisting, turning, kicking, punching.  But as she gets bigger, her twists and turns become more uncomfortable.  Her kicks and punches start landing in places I would prefer they not land (think bladder and cervix, and a punch to the cervix feels just like you imagine it would).  They go from being pleasant "white noise" in the background as I fall asleep to quite the opposite.  I am torn between fascination and wondering if I am getting new stretch marks with every kick (because really, how much farther can my stomach possibly be pushed out??) and thinking "ok, enough...I am ready to get some sleep!"

So as I lay there last night, awake and with twitching legs and belly, I experienced another great pregnancy phenomena.  Acid reflux.  But not the kind where you have painful heart burn (thank goodness for that).  Instead, the kind where you think you need to burp and the next thing you know your mouth is full of bile (awesome, right???).  So great.  Extra great when it happens not once, not twice! but three times.

And that's not all, but even I am getting tired of all my whining.

But before I end this whine, let me just add two little things. 

1. Our house fell out of escrow (shoulda seen it coming - the silver lining here is that we have another couple who is interested and it looks like that will work out - the downside is, this means I will be 36+ weeks pregnant and moving - have I mentioned my last baby was born exactly at 37 weeks??).  :::SIGH:::  I am going to try not to whine about that too much...the end result is our new house next to a Starbucks and I have to keep my eyes on the prize (daily Venti Passion Fruit Tea, Unsweet, people!).

2. We found a record five scorpions in the house yesterday.  A teeny tiny baby one in a trap, two in the garage, one in the bathroom and my personal favorite, a giant one under a bunch of bananas in our fruit bowl (I got a picture of that one and I'll be taking a picture of the baby as well, he was actually kinda cute).  Really fun to pick up the bananas and find a pissed-off scorpion. 

Ding Ding! Rounnnnnd Two!

Well, my second pregnancy is well underway.  I'm 24 weeks pregnant and there ain't no denying it anymore.  The other day a co-worker said, "Wow, that dress makes your stomach look huge!" and I had to correct her..."No, my stomach IS huge.  There's no 'lookin' huge' about it!" 

My nights are filled with trips to the bathroom, crampy calves and weird dreams.  My days are filled with trips to the bathroom, pickles and mood swings.  Some of my maternity shirts have already been put away because my belly is growing so quickly they no longer serve their purpose (which is to cover not only my belly but ALSO the sexy panel on my maternity pants). 

But probably the biggest shock of all came when I logged in to one of my iPhone's pregnancy apps (yep, they actually do have an app for that) and it said, "You are 6 months pregnant."

WHA-AT?!?!  How the heck did *that* happen (not the pregnant part - I know how that happened - but the actual SIX MONTHS PREGNANT part). 

It's official - I can no longer hide it, I can no longer ignore it, I can no longer kid myself that I have plenty of time to prepare and get things done before the baby comes.  This baby is going to be here in, like, three months!!  And then I will have TWO kids.  A toddler and a baby.  Oh my. 

So of course this really set the wheels in motion.  As in, the wheels of panic, anxiety, worry and stress.  Because all of a sudden I started to realize things, important things, that have not happened yet, that need to happen, that are going to happen...you get the idea.

For one thing, the house has not sold yet.  This puts a damper in my pre-conceived images of life after baby.  We are all supposed to be moved into some cozy little house in a nice town with a Target and a Kohl's and a Chick-fil-A.  Jack will have his own room, right next to our room, where I don't need to worry about him getting stolen or trapped in a fire (yes, those are legitimate concerns I have and one of the reasons I don't want to even think about transitioning him to "his" room - which is all the way across the house).  We will have our nice King size bed back together again, as in actually lifted off the ground and with a headboard, and Baby Girl will sleep peacefully in her Arms Reach co-sleeper next to our bed.  We will have a teeny little yard that Jack can play in and a bathtub that doesn't rival a jacuzzi or a shower in a cruise ship (we currently have both).  I will put Jack in the stroller and the baby in the Ergo and walk to the park in the mornings.  It will be perfect!

That was my happy thought.  Here is my anxious/panicky thought: We'll still be here, trying to sell our house with a newborn (as if it isn't hard enough keeping clean as it is).  Someone will buy it when the baby is two weeks old and we'll have to move (pack! move! unpack!) with a toddler and an infant.  We will be desperate to find a place to live because we won't have the luxury of taking our time and looking at houses (think about how much fun house hunting would be with said toddler and infant...) and we will settle for some dumpy rental house with bad neighbors and toilets that never work.

Then I tell myself that my panic is completely justified because of course, how can it work out any other way?? 

I mentioned something along these lines to my mom and she said "Don't worry, it will all work out and you'll have lots of help whatever you guys end up doing."  OK, Logic.  She might have a point.  My mother-in-law is retired.  My mom is a school teacher and will be off during the summer.  Charles has a flexible schedule.  I won't, by any means, have to go it alone...but man, I wanted it to work out the way I had first envisioned it. 

When I stop and think about it, I did have similar pregnancy-induced bouts of anxiety when I was pregnant with Jack.  And when I really think about it, they were all over very silly things (nursery furniture comes to mind...seriously...and the kid never even slept in his nursery).  So that, and logical comments from my mom and Charles (who has reminded me there is actually nothing we can do about this situation until the house sells and we can't make someone buy it from us, so no point in worrying about it for now) helps tame the beast.  But the whole "You are 6 months pregnant" thing is still freaking me out!!

I don't know what the deal is...I have talked about this with other moms of two-or-more, and they say the first pregnancy seems to last forever and the subsequent pregnancies seems shorter and shorter.  This is exactly what I am experiencing.  I don't know if it's just that I've been pregnant before so I know what to expect and am not constantly consumed by it (was that a kick? is this normal? etc.), or if it's that I don't have as much time to sit around and read my Babycenter Bulletins each week (also have an app for that), or if having another kid just keeps me busier during the day, or what...but this pregnancy is flying by, I tell you.  In fact, I saw a picture the other day of Charles and Jack with my brother and his family at the Dallas Arboretum and I thought "where the heck was I??"  After thinking back to December and trying to figure this out, I finally remembered that I stayed home that day because I was about six weeks pregnant and was feeling awful that day - and then I remembered that I was actually pregnant in November, and I just cannot even believe I have been pregnant for this long.

In many ways this pregnancy flying by is a good thing, but there is also a downside to it.  I realized the other day that I have not done any real research or looked for any classes to assist me with the upcoming birth (this time, I'm planning on delivering at a Birthing Center instead of a hospital...that means NO EPIDURAL...).  I should probably try to read up on the whole natural birthing thing...right?  I should probably pull out the Arms Reach co-sleeper and make sure it doesn't have cat pee on it, wash the car seat, get the carpets cleaned, start transitioning Jack into a different sleeping arrangement...that sort of thing.

But I still have three months to go.  Plenty of time, right?