Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Preparing for birth


In early pregnancy, I imagined preparing for birth with daily meditation, long stretches of prenatal yoga, and giant platters of fruit and cheese.

And here I sit - watching Survivor in the middle of a messy room, polishing off a bag of Easter candy.

And while my reality does not quite match up to my expectations, today marks the day when I have officially gathered everything I need for baby D. Sure, we still have to wash the baby clothes and pack the bags, double check on insurance and clean the carpets, but all the things I wanted to buy, are purchased. And suddenly I feel very very ready. I only needed three things . . .

1. Nikki McClure's baby journal. This was one of my prized possessions from Truman's babyhood and it is filled with stories and memories of our life together so far. Baby D. gets the same treatment. The book arrived this week and is sitting in his cradle.

 
2. Diapers. We are doing things a little differently this time - using pocket diapers instead of "prefolds" with a wrap. Entirely too much of my brain has been dedicated to cloth diaper purchasing and research, but we finally have everything we need for the first six months.
 
FuzziBunz Elite OS 7-30lb+ Orange Cloth is Cool Graphic Pocket Cloth Diaper USED

3. Socks. I have this weird memory of myself during Truman's birth. I would yell out to Jason, "Take off my socks! I'm too hot!" And then I would have a contraction and yell, "Put my socks back on!"  During transition I was totally naked, walking around the room, asking my midwives and Jason to take my socks on and off. It seems random, but I knew I wouldn't be ready for labor unless I had some nice new socks. When our REI dividend arrived this week it was obvious how I should spend our money:

SmartWool Jovian Stripe Socks - Women's

Time to sit back and enjoy the last trimester.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Time

I have tried to avoid talking/writing/lamenting about how fast my little one is growing. It feels so cliche to say, "They grow-up so fast." and "Where has the time gone?"

But lately, as I prepare myself for two littles instead of one, I find myself thinking a lot about how quickly Truman has turned from babe to boy.  I mark off the big milestones in his baby book - learning to walk and eat, and lately learning to pedal a tricycle and get ready for school on his own.

But it is the subtle, unexpected signs of growth that catch me off guard and take my breath away. The first time he played with other kids on the playground instead of screaming at me, "Come! Slide!"

Or the other night when I was telling Jason a story that brought tears to my eyes and from out of nowhere Truman appeared and wiped my tears with his sleeve.

And on Monday, when we were in a public bathroom and he told me he wanted to go into the stall by himself. I lingered at the door. Peaking in. Impressed with his aim.

Not quite ready to let go.