37 Weeks & Anti-Nesting

I haven’t made a post in a few months, so I figured it was about time to do some sort of update. First, I apologize to all my dear friends I have completely slacked on calling/emailing/hanging out with in the last 8 months. I guess something about feeling like death makes me fiercely anti-social and brings out the extreme introvert in me :/ I still love you and I’m not avoiding you, I promise!

I was 37 weeks pregnant on Monday (my official due date is July 29th), and we’re ready for baby girl at any time. Much like my pregnancy with Caleb, my body is beginning to give me the dreaded blue screen of death, and I’m positive it’s just going to stop working entirely at any point in time. Everything hurts – my back, pelvis, crotch, legs, feet, ribs, esophagus, etc. I wake up approx. 8-10 times per night due to pain and/or to empty my bladder, and beginning a couple of weeks ago, I haven’t been able to make it through the day without napping when Caleb does. The 100+ degree weather for a while there didn’t help much either…or the constant chasing of a highly active, little daredevil of a 2-year-old boy. Ah, the joys of making a human being!

Even though I’m in a lot of pain at the moment, this pregnancy really has been much better overall than the last, which I am very thankful for (there is hope, Alyssa)!! The “morning” sickness disappeared within a reasonable time frame (and I didn’t have to take medicine this time), and most of the unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy haven’t been quite as bad. I also had better expectations of what pregnancy is like this time around, so I wasn’t as caught off guard by the difficulties. Plus Caleb and his awesomely crazy shenanigans keep me occupied, so this pregnancy feels like it went by a lot faster…although at this very moment, it feels like time is standing still as I wait for her! I’m getting antsy to finally meet her after 9 long months, and I’m really hoping she arrives a little early like Caleb did.

Unlike most pregnant women at 37 weeks (or so it seems), I am definitely not in nesting mode. I did go through a period of time when I was highly motivated to finish projects and get task list items accomplished, but that ended weeks ago. I don’t know if it was the heat that jump started my laziness, but all I want to do these days is eat food (prepared by someone else), sleep, be massaged, and watch tv/movies in my free time. This is pretty unusual for me since I typically enjoy being productive, but I’ve fully surrendered to my inner sloth. I must insert here that Sean has been simply amazing during my pregnancy, and deserves best-dad-of-the-year award. Not only is he the exclusive financial provider for our family, he has done almost all the cooking, cleaning, house projects, AND takes care of Caleb when he’s not at work and Caleb’s awake. Incredible!!!

In non-pregnancy news, I love that Caleb is talking more and more. Even with his 2-year-old ‘tude and mischievousness (which I secretively and oddly kind of adore), I really am enjoying the toddler stage much more than the baby stage. I just think it’s becoming more fun to parent as he becomes more verbal and interactive, and demonstrates his own mind and personality. He is absolutely obsessed with tractors right now, and I have watched this 25-minute educational tractor video he loves probably 100 times now (more if you consider the fact that it accounts for at least 60% of my dream content). My favorite time with him is reading and praying with him before bedtime, and I just love the simple prayer he prays the same exact way every night – “thank you Jesus…AMEN!” He really is such a sweet boy, and even though he may gauge his little sisters’ eyes out, I know he will be a fantastic and loving big bro 🙂

Other than taking care of an existing small human being and creating a new one, I’ve also been working on a personal project (up until my anti-nesting phase of course), that I first conceptualized a year ago. With Sean’s help, I’ve been building a baby product reviews and recommendations website to help other parents make intelligent, confident, and faster buying decisions. If you know me well, you know I research products obsessively before purchasing them and spend an unreasonable amount of time doing so. It’s strangely enjoyable to me, and I decided a website like this would be really useful (especially for overwhelmed first-time parents), in determining which baby products to register for/buy. I think it’s coming together really well, and I’m almost finished with my first complete review. I’m hoping to publicly launch the site sometime this fall after I’ve finished a few more reviews, so stay tuned! …Although this whole taking care of a demanding newborn 24-7 thing (plus a toddler) may set me back a bit…so we’ll see what actually happens 😉