The Final Stretch...
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This week, my raspberry leaf tea arrived ( https://amzn.to/3h5ORvc ) and I can confirm that I have officially entered the dangerous baby brain zone. Everything in there is pretty jumbled up at the moment and as much as I will miss my work I am glad to know it will be one less thing on my mind come next week.
In the meantime, I MUST pack my hospital bag. I’ve made myself a checklist and everything is washed, it’s just a case of putting it all into a bag. I had Luna’s bag ready at around 32 weeks, I’m over 36 now - actually nearer 37 - and they still lay empty in the nursery.
I think I can put my lack of organisation down to three things.
1. Gender Unknown
We found out the gender as soon as we could first time round, I’ll admit that we both wanted a girl… and we didn’t really want a shock after waiting all that time. Back then, Jo had always wanted just one child – even that took some convincing – knowing I could only potentially have one, I really wanted a girl. In fact, I believed so hard that we’d be getting a girl that I think I actually manifested her, there were so many signs throughout my pregnancy with her and it was the year after I had discovered the book, The Secret ( https://amzn.to/3j9Zeki ), so my manifesting vibes were high! That whole subject could be worth another blog post...
This time, we opted for a surprise. Knowing that three babies is definitely pushing my luck(!), it will be the final and only chance to have that surprise in the delivery room. I remember once I pushed Luna out I immediately felt overwhelmed and a little bit unsure of what had just happened to me. (There I’ve said it, I didn’t get that instant overwhelming surge of love). This time, I cannot wait to find out what baby is and feel it’s tiny body against mine. I’m also a fully fledged mum now, I know what I’m doing, that I can do it, and that this baby is the final piece of our family puzzle. The worry and anxiety of becoming a parent doesn't really exist this time.
I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent here but going back to packing and preparing, it’s definitely been harder this time not knowing what colour I’m going to be in need of. We had so much grey with Luna (no one else knew that we’d found out the gender) and I’m trying to avoid buying too much neutral things. I have a loft full of pink items and if it is a boy, I'll be enjoying going on a shopping spree when baby does arrive!
2. Savouring the weeks
As I mentioned, this is 99% likely to be my final pregnancy, and I feel like I am trying to savour all these final weeks of having baby all to myself. As much as I can’t wait to cherish every newborn snuggle when baby does arrive, for now, I’m quite happy keeping all the wriggles and kicks to myself. I don't like sharing!
Other than my pelvic girdle pain, I’ve had a stress-free pregnancy and I really do love my pregnant body – along with how much it allows me to eat – I’ll definitely miss it. However Jo has said a few times that we can’t wait to have his wife back. Imagine a whale playing tennis. That’s what I look and sound like getting into and out of bed at the moment.
3. A toddler
And finally, I have a three year old. Basically every time I find an evening to get myself excited and begin my ‘nesting’ she decides she doesn’t want to go to sleep that night. We have had every excuse imaginable lately. I don’t know if it’s the lighter evenings or that she’s sensing something is about to change but long gone are my 7.30pm bedtimes. We’re lucky if she’s down by 8.30pm now and by the time I then sit down and tidy up the destruction my enthusiasm has gone. I actually had a relatively good sleep last night and was feeling like I could get going with things tonight, but it's currently 9.30pm and she's still up. So I'm uploading this instead whilst Daddy perseveres!
The last To Do’s
We’ve got Luna’s next stage car seat fitted so she’s been upgraded in the back of the car and the baby’s car seat has it’s new cover on, ready to go.
I haven’t made up the cot in the nursery like I did last time, because there’s still going to be a good few months before baby will be in it, but the Moses basket and the next to me is ready to go. First time round we worked only the Moses basket and lifted it up and down the stairs every night, I couldn’t really be bothered with that this time(!) I think I was so scared of disturbing her at nights we thought that would be the easiest way to transfer her to the bedroom. Safe to say we are both a lot more relaxed this time.
Other than that, it’s the bags… my list is ready and it really will be a five minute job, the nursery has slowly become a dumping ground so I’ve a few things to get up the loft and sort out before I can get going, but we will get there.
Here are a couple of tips I still remember from first time round which I'll be using again, and I’ve also included my completely free downloadable checklist below if you’re at the final stages of your pregnancy too and are a little unsure where to start!
Tips for Hospital Bag packing
If you’re husband/baby Daddy/partner is anything like mine and basically looks for things with his eyes closed… I would highly recommend putting baby’s complete outfit sets into freezer bags so if you’re unable to do the dressing, they have everything required. Put your nappy, vest, babygrow, mitts, bib (if necessary), hat & cardigan (again, if necessary) all in there and that way if you instruct them to put everything in the bag on the baby... there’s really no room for error.
Pack it with Dad or your birthing partner. Once I have everything organised, I’ll sit with Daddy and show him where I’ve put everything to try to save any hospital stress. I mean it will still happen regardless, but if I can slightly help avoid any additional stress I will!
If it’s your first baby, practice using your car seat and wheels a few times ahead of your due date. These things can be impossible to put together when you’re tired and carrying the hormones of a new mum, so be sure you know how it all clips together and goes into and out of the car in advance.
Food! We packed a snack bag the first time round and it was demolished pretty quickly by Daddy. The smell of quavers still makes me boke. I think as mums, we have an end goal to work towards and are in ‘the zone’ whereas in our case, the only way he could keep himself awake was to munch quavers in my ears. I still remember that part of labour vividly, “I swear if you crunch one more quaver in my ear……” you can imagine how that sentence finished!
Try not to stress, easier said than done, I know. But you’re about to embark on the one of the most wonderful experiences of your life (hopefully!) I was very lucky to have an easy labour first time round and I’m aware it can all go differently each time. But I’m trying my best to have an open mind and go for it with confidence over fear. Your body was made to do this!!
And on that note, if you haven’t read Marie Mongan’s hypnobirthing book ( https://amzn.to/3A2bIAe ), I’d highly recommend it. I never went to any classes or anything but the logic in it and the breathing exercises really benefitted me!
One thing we have done recently, is get our portraits done to capture bump in his or her final weeks, we got an abundance of beautiful portraits from Susan over at www.kingshillstudios.co.uk but below is just one of my favourites from the shoot (I definitely need more wall space). We also made a wee YouTube video over on our channel if you want to have a sneak peak of behind the scenes!
