Christian Travelers Guide

Ahhh, the last few weeks of pregnancy. It's not very pretty is it? I really must get my head around the fact that in 2 weeks time there is due to be another baby in this household. Pretending that it isn't going to happen and not actually getting organised is not really going to help me in the long run. If this baby was Luke he'd be here by now. On the other hand if this baby was Adam, we've got another 4 weeks to wait. Oh, who knows.

Anyway, things we need to do include the following:

• actually PACK my hospital bag. Last time round Luke took us by surprise and Dave had to pack the bag. It wasn't ideal and I think the poor man is still scarred from the experience. To give him his due I'm not sure I'd like to be bellowed at by a labouring woman who knows exactly what pyjamas she wants and they are NOT the ones currently being held.
• get some food for the labour (and some of those energy drinks, they were bloody marvellous they were). Stopping off in Tescos on the way to the hospital is not a good plan (been there, tested the theory, don't recommend it).
• Put the infant car seat together - and find the new born head bit. They ain't letting us out of hospital without one so really can't put it off much longer.
• finish all those bits of work that need to be done. Faffing around on blogs is not helping.
• Stop gazing at my lack of ankles in a mixture of awe (how did my legs ever get that big, I mean I did have ankles not so long ago) and terror (they won't stay that enormous forever, it is fluid retention woman, it goes away, you know that!).
• stop listening to my husband who has reminded me on many occasions that last time round I was requesting an epidural before I'd even gone into proper labour. In my defence it bloody felt like proper labour, had been going on for a long time and I'd like to see him of the 'oh my goodness, I have a cough, it must be pneumonia, why has the British Medical Journal not been here to write an article on how can one man stand so much pain, oh is it really only a little bit of a cough, why does no one give me any sympathy' do any better on the coping with labour front. AND I don't give him credit for having to stand up for long periods of time either.
• Stop fantasising about how I'm going to put my feet up for a bit before the baby comes. Unlike my first pregnancy when I took life very seriously and did a lot of sitting quietly and resting, I have two small boys to look after. Realistically sitting on the sofa with my feet up and noone climbing over my bump is never going to happen.
• Stop panicking about how I am going to cope. There are times when I am feeling ever so stretched by two and my two aren't tiny any more either. We only just about make it out of the door on time to get them to school as it is. How on earth am I going to add a baby into that mixture? My patience and ability to deal with the whining, winding up, sniping and general small boy boisterousness is stretched right now. What on earth will it be like when I'm not getting any sleep either?
• Stop panicking about whether I am ever going to sleep again. Luke was (who am I kidding, is) one of the worst sleepers on the planet. But we coped. We might not have done if we'd known just how bad he was going to be, but we are pretty much through the other side and know that we can do it again. On the other hand, we might get an Adam, who slept through from about 10 weeks. Angel child. Until we started feeding him and realised he voluntarily eats nothing healthy. Can't have it all I guess.
• write a birth plan. Although this is a long way down my list of things to do as no birth plan I have written before has ever come to within a mile of fruition. Could do with reminding myself about the birth process though as I've successfully blocked out much of the whole process. Dave is much better at remembering their births than I am, will ask him (remind me to tell you the story of Luke's birth, the medieval instruments of torture and my complete inability to notice another time).
• worry about how the boys will cope with the new addition. There's so many unknowns to this one, we'll never know until in the thick of it. They have whispered to their littlest brother what they'd like him to bring when he arrives (now ordered, thank you Argos.com) and all we can do is to wait and see how they react. Please let it be good though, please let it be ok.