Time flies...

It's hard to believe my beautiful little niece is about to turn a year old this weekend. She has lit up our family's world in ways I don't think we truly knew was possible. She is a funny, smart and energetic baby and we all love her more than we can say.

Now, we're only a short 12 weeks away from my bebe's entrance into this world and our family, and I can hardly wait to see who he will be when he gets here. My parents are over the moon excited about having a grandson, and I've been surprised about that - mostly because having a granddaughter has been so wonderful for them. But we are all so excited to meet him and also to see how my niece responds when she meets him for the first time.

For me, I'm feeling pulled in a lot of directions these days. I feel the anticipation creeping up on me - I want to meet this little guy! And, at the same time I feel the anxiety of the time moving so fast. I have so much to do, but I'm having less energy than I'd hoped.

Physically, getting heavier is really wearing me out faster now - and I definitely feel the pull of the couch or really, anywhere I can lay down for a bit each day. I have had a couple of 'headache' days that I can only relate to feeling like what I hear a mild migraine feels like. I wake up with pain that won't go away for something like 15 hours and about 1/4 of the way through the day I start to be completely overwhelmed and seriously agitated by the noises and light around me. There is little to do but go away from it all and lie down. Luckily it hasn't happened too often and I hope that continues to be the case. And the relentless numb and tingling hands continues to drive me crazy! All of these things, I have been assured, will go away once I am no longer pregnant - here's to hoping.

I am also in the process - what feels like a huge process - of filling out paperwork for my birth plan, hospital registration, wills, insurances, birth certificate, etc, With all the reading I'm doing and all of this prep I feel like I'm at least somewhat in control of something I really can't control very much. I'll schedule my c-section, but don't know if it will happen as planned or early - so my plan (love a plan) is to have most everything that I can, ready by mid October, about 4 weeks in advance of my actual due date. That way, if I am on time, I'll still have some weeks in there when I can rest without the additional anxiety of not being as ready as possible.

Support

I'd been wondering how I was going to get my room ready for bebe's arrival because I shouldn't really be painting and moving furniture so much these days (plus it totally wears me out). My mom suggested I reach out to my local family, which weirdly never actually occurred to me. My tendency is to either do it myself, or argue with anyone who offers help until/unless I'm desperate. I don't know why - I guess I never want to be an imposition on someone's time. Well, my mom was beyond right to suggest I ask for help. My parents, 3 cousins, sister and brother in law showed up and between the lot, the room is now painted, the furniture moved both out and in, the carseat base has been semi installed, the batteries replaced in 2 smoke detectors,  and the crib has been built. All in a weekend. I feel so incredibly lucky to have such a loving support system and I will always be sure that my boy knows how loved he was before he was even born.

This is the start to my bebe's corner...

Just about 26 weeks along - 14 to go...

These days are going by so quickly now - I have lots to do and very little capacity to focus on my checklist of things to get done. Starting with creating the checklist! Next weekend, we are painting my room to create a lighter color and a corner for my bebe. I've recruited some family to help and I'm so grateful they are able and willing to take the time.

Physically I'm feeling okay, though larger and larger everyday which makes it hard to imagine and scary to think about what I'm going to look like 3 months from now. I think I have the typical ailments - my feet hurt and swell, my hands and arms feel like they're asleep most of the time, and my lower back is starting to ache more often. I've also had to take a second test to determine whether or not I have gestational diabetes. I hope not, but I guess I wouldn't be totally surprised - I have many of the risk factors. But I will know next week and will cross that bridge if I come to it.

The best thing about this time is that my little guy is pretty wiggly - and now that I am getting used to him flipping around and bumping from the inside, it's really fun. I feel like I can kind of connect to and interact with him a little now - which is so cool.

I'm looking forward to creating a sweet and peaceful space for my boy and I think that will help me feel like I'm taking care of a good part of that checklist I still need to write! These are the prints and colors I'll be using in the space and am so excited - because they really are so cute:)