To-Do...and Done

This Saturday, Daniel and I are starting our childbirth classes through the hospital--three Saturday mornings, plus the following Saturday morning for a breastfeeding class. The lady in charge called me last night to remind us to bring a pillow and blankets, I guess for practicing relaxation, and snacks. I’m sure over four hours snacks will definitely come in handy.

I’m so excited for us to get these classes under our belt; I really hope that they help me to feel more prepared and less anxious about delivery. Last weekend we had our tour of the maternity unit at the hospital, which was helpful. It’s really nice; the wing is all new as of the end of 2007, and it has all private mother-baby suites with a pullout couch for the dads. And we’re already preregistered at the hospital, so that much is all set!

At the risk of sounding repetitive, because I know I keep saying this, I can’t believe how fast time is going by. April is now gone. In just a couple of weeks Daniel and I will be celebrating our first anniversary, and just one month after that we’ll be welcoming our first child into the world! I can’t wait to meet him or her, and of course find out whether it’s a him or her—plus, I’m not a huge fan of these third trimester aches and pains, and I can’t even begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to sleeping on my back again! (I’ve always been a back sleeper.)

Last Friday we had another doctor appointment with a sonogram to estimate the baby’s size, and it looks like he (or she) is going to be a big one! At 33 weeks he was estimated at 5 pounds 3 ounces, and babies are supposed to gain about a half a pound a week from here on out. Of course, I would have been surprised if I had given birth to a baby under eight pounds, which actually doesn’t sound that large to me; my mom gave birth to seven children and I was the smallest. At exactly nine pounds. I hope that my babies aren’t quite as big as my mom’s...but if she could do it, and without an epidural for most of her children, I’m sure I could manage with one! Our baby’s legs are measuring long, too, which didn’t surprise the doctor at all given Daniel’s height and mine.

The next thing on my to-do list that I really need to take care of is choosing a pediatrician. I have a couple of names and numbers written down based on some research I did online, but I still need to give them a call and hopefully set up a time to meet them before we decide. This needs to be done ASAP.

The nursery is mostly finished being cleaned out of all the junk we had in there, which I think I have mentioned before. We now need to buy an area rug for the room and bring in the crib, changing table, etc. that we are getting from my parents as soon as they can get almost three-year-old Edward to fall asleep in his toddler bed without getting up. I can’t wait to set it all up!

I’m beginning to come to terms with the fact that not everything I had on my initial to-do list is going to get done; but the things that really need to be done will be. And that’s just going to have to be alright with me. Technically, we have to be ready for this baby to get here anytime after 37 weeks (which is only three weeks away!), even though I doubt it will happen that early. You never know, though!