Elderly Pregnancy Update: Extra Monitoring

When the midwives talked about the extra monitoring I would need at the end of my pregnancy, it sounded very far away. But now, I have N I N E appointments on my calendar between August 5 and August 21. THAT'S AN APPOINTMENT LIKE EVERY OTHER DAY. 

In weeks 38 and 39, I have four appointments a week: 2 NSTs, 1 midwife visit, and 1 ultrasound.

You guys. That's a lot.

I really, really, really hope the baby comes on her own before her due date. If I were seeing an OB, I would likely be induced at 38 weeks. The midwife group will do an induction on my due date assuming all is good during those 2 extra weeks.

I re-read my Hypnobirthing book, and there's this awesome chapter about letting go of all of the pre-birth anxiety and realizing that not all of it comes from the anxiety of childbirth. But for me this time, I think that is EXACTLY where my anxiety is coming from. I really want a gentle, natural birth, but because I am so old, this just might not be the way my birth process unfolds this time, and it's hard to come to grips with this reality.

It has been ridiculously hot here, but then we had an awesome night of rain (see Dorothy dancing in it), and now it is 80 and sunny and peeeeeerfect.

My neighbor is an amazing photographer, and she offered to take some maternity shots.  Yes, PLEASE!

I am running out of clothes that fit me. The kids recently commented that I am always showing a little bit of my stomach, and it's generally true. Nevertheless, I got dressed before 8 am for a midwife appointment:

Even Beatrix is like day-um lady.

The baby is pressing on my organs, and eating hurts (reflux! now I know why babies cry!) But I STILL managed to gain 3 more pounds (for a total of 32!!!). So, yay me?

I really will miss being pregnant, the discomfort of the third trimester and all. We are in the home stretch!!

Still living the pandemic life

Hey Sarah, do you guys do anything but go to the pool?

You know what, we actually DO NOT.

We go every darn morning when the place is almost empty and we see the same families, and that is basically all we do because GLOBAL PANDEMIC.  We do not go evenings or weekends because I'd rather be around the stay-at-home/work-from-home crowd.

We get pizza every 10 days or so. I got 3/4 of the kids Culvers through the app one dday. The boys all play modified baseball (no games; running to cones to stay 6 feet away from the basemen; no catchers; lots of practice drills; masks and 10 feet between players except for the 6-foot base-running). This is Jack's final week of dive practice. Harry has been seeing 3 neighborhood friends whose parents are hardcore like us, but we are making him take a break before the baby.

We still don't go inside any stores. We do not eat at restaurants (even outside). I pick up my library books curbside even though you can technically go in.

We go for lots of walks.

It's pretty cozy, if I am being honest, but the kids are getting sick of each other.

We are thinking of investing in some cross-country ski gear for winter, and we are finishing the rest of the unfinished part of our basement to make an office with a comfy desk and chair for an adult, and a counter-height desk with stools for the kids, plus a TV and pull-out couch. This is a lot to cram in what will ultimately be a small room, but we are excited for more workspace. I wish we had thought of this/realized the need for it in APRIL, but we hope it will be finished before the first quarter of virtual school is over.

I feel like we are much more locked down than most people we know, but, you know, BABY.

What about you? Still living the pandemic life, or have you loosened up?

Boring old nothings.

I try to take Dorothy on a waddle around the neighborhood every day, and we both basically love it.

 Mostly, though, our days are wonderfully boring.  THE JUMBLE is a highlight, if that tells you anything.

 TG for the pool,

 And this Draper James/Lands End rash guard.

 Jack had a single dive meet this season, and he got his best score ever.

 Parents had to watch through the fence of the pool (not our pool) obvi, but it was still really fun, and he loved it.

 Strange times.

I totally and completely love prepping all my produce on grocery day--- hopefully I have dedicated baby holders in a few weeks, though, because it takes HOURS.

Weekending.

All Dorothy does is make Successories. She has even started bringing her supplies to the pool.

 GRAY HAIR ALERT

 Backyard badminton has made a mid-summer comeback.

 35 weeeeeeeeeeks!!!!

 Oh, just horsing around.

 Social distancing for the win!

34 weeks and 2 days: getting ready for pandemic L&D

Cooper reading the paper= my new favorite thing.

 Homemade chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches are a close second.

 Also, I really like after dinner walks.

 Cooper has only been coming to the pool lately for the towel forts.

 We were the only people there yesterday because it was cloudy, which did not bother me a bit.

 HOW DO YOU LIKE THE BUTT IMPRINT I LEAVE BEHIND?

 Working on a back 1.5

Our country FINALLY requires face masks everywhere in public where you cannot maintain social distance, but especially inside places.  LIKE THE POOL LOCKER ROOM DUH.

I hate that the officials who can't even pick up all the effing SNOW are the ONLY PEOPLE keeping us safe right now.

The lack of coordinated response (in our state, this is 100% caused by Republican partisan politics) to this pandemic makes life and death decisions find themselves in the hands of people WHO SHOULD NOT BE MAKING LIFE AND DEATH DECISIONS. Which is why we are for sure not sending the kids to in-person school in the fall. Also why we literally go NOWHERE but the pool and home. I don't even feel good about running quickly into stores, which is absolutely something I used to do.

And, of course, nothing like a pandemic to make you freak the freak out about GIVING BIRTH IN A HOSPITAL.

Things I asked my midwife about yesterday:

The timing of our state/county surge and how that will affect hospitals in say LATE TO MIDDLE AUGUST: She said that because hospitals prepared so well for a surge that didn't happen in the spring, she thinks they will be prepared to accommodate growing numbers and maintain fairly normal operations. She said right now, the only big changes in L&D are COVID testing for moms and no water birth until the negative results come back (but you can labor in the water, so that's fine-- at our old hospital you couldn't do a water birth at all), no walking the halls (that sucks for me, but she said the rooms are big enough to pace effectively), and only one support person allowed (not a change for me).
What happens to me and the baby if I test positive and she does not: The recommendation is that the baby be moved away from the mom, but they let you make your own choice. If you keep the baby with you, they recommend masks all the time, 6 feet apart except for nursing, etc.
Can the baby stay in the room the whole time: YEP. They will do any essential things right in the room, and I never have to let her out of my sight. My friend suggested I just have them cut the cord last thing before we leave (this made me laugh-cry).
Do I have to be induced at 38 weeks: This is something the sonographer at the perinatal clinic said is standard for someone my age, but you all know me and my no intervention birth preference. The midwife said at 38 weeks, I get twice-a-week monitoring for me and baby, and they really want her out by her due date at the latest. I am starting to psyche myself up for interventions, but really, I just want a no-med water birth.

I really did think about having her at home, but what if something went wrong and I needed to go to the hospital in a less safe way than just checking myself in? I had lots of bleeding after Dorothy, for example, and I would hate to deal with that at home. And Jack needed help right after birth-- would a home midwife be able to do enough? Plus, I am O L D.  Did I mention that?

 34 weeks and 2 days yesterday. Getting silly big.

Pandemic Shopping: A Pearl Necklace and Other Things I Almost Bought Today

YOU GUYS! EVERY SINGLE DAY is like Christmas because I am buying ALL OF THE THINGS all day long online and then boxes are just showing up on my porch, and I am buying so many things, I forget what I even bought.  IT IS SO FUN.

Recently, though, I have been trying to rein it in just a smidge. I think this has something to do with gathering up all of our tax documents and taking them to the accountant, but I could be wrong. I read that the best way to subdue the internet shopping urge is to pretend to buy the stuff but just don't actually check out your cart. Just let your preshus linger unclaimed in the basket. (HOLD ME BECAUSE I THINK I MIGHT CRY).

SO, tl;dr, I make carts and don't actually push "buy." It's a thing I am trying that probably won't last long.

In today's unclaimed carts (all items that I love and will probably buy because I can't change who I am for the tax man, you guys):

1. This gorg pearl necklace from AU-rate:

2. This ridiculous baby romper that reminded me of my Pekin grandparents' outdoor furniture:

3. Bassinet sheets, which actually I really do have to buy and SOON:

4.  This Rothy's tote bag, which I really think would make the best diaper bag in the universe. BUT WHERE AM I EVER GOING WITH THE BABY?!?

5.  This light fixture that does not suck to replace the one over my kitchen table that DOES in fact suck.

6. This adorable initial necklace from Anthro. Would have bought it, but I could not decide if I should get my initial or the baby's

How's that for an insanely eclectic non-shopping list, huh?  (Things I DID buy on the interwebs today include a Junie B. Jones box set, some workout clothes for Ben, shirts to replace 2 of Harry's that I accidentally bleached, and a sweatshirt for Jack for the All City dive meet that won't actually happen this summer. AND THAT WAS A LIGHT DAY.

I blame the baby hormones, obvi, and also the complete and utter boredom. You would not believe how many masks are in our laundry room, you guys. BUT THERE ARE SIX OF US, and our county just issued a mask order, so we have to wear them everywhere we go. And OF COURSE I have been filling cart after cart with large stretchy postpartum clothes because HOW COULD I NOT? I didn't buy any maternity clothes, so I feel like I am due. Pun intended.

A blog search reminds me that I actually always order all of the things right before I have a baby, so hopefully, this is just the last vestiges of nesting rearing their ugly heads. Now that there is nothing left to paint. Except, of course, for the girls' bathroom...

What about you? Any pandemic stop shopping hacks??

** This post is a partnership with Nakturnal**

WE FINALLY PAINTED THE LIVING ROOM!

I have been EXTREME NESTING this whole pandemic, as you might have been able to tell from 1. Cooper's room. 2. The baby's room. 3. Dorothy's room. 4. Repainting the whole GD basement.

Well, friends, I am happy to report that we NO LONGER HAVE YELLOW WALLS because Ben is the best!

Seriously, he works SO HARD at work, and then he spends his weekends working like crazy around the house in a way that is truly extra. He also happens to be an excellent painter, so he never wants to hire people to come do it for us, even though I usually do (although, of course, I did NOT during this pandemic.

In the end, we went with Sherwin Williams Grayish, the same color in the basement. We picked this color from the interwebs, and even though we got a sample can and actually painted like 100 square feet with it, we were still really unprepared for how BLUE/LAVENDER it in on the upstairs walls. I wish it were named grayish (blue) because we might have gone with something warmer. But, we did not, and I fully love it because you know what? IT IS NOT YELLOW.

Also, we got a paint that is both primer AND washable flat paint, basically a miracle formula, and it covered all the insane colors we painted over on this journey IN ONE COAT. Highly recommend.

Here are a millions pictures of the SAME! DAMN! THING!

Ben LOVED that I used my time early on Saturday morning to make the kids pancakes, clean up the pancakes, and then STYLE BOTH BOOKSHELVES while he taped and painted the entire front hallway and entry.

But then the joke was on him because I hauled my fat ass up on the counter (thank goodness I did  not break the stovetop or burn my feet) and painted the kitchen, and we all know that I am not a very good painter.

 Cooper, blowdrying some spackle so Ben could re-texturize the walls. And then we ended up hanging something in the EXACT SAME PLACE because of COURSE WE DID.

 SO MUCH WINNING

 This is my FAVE! We have a really tall wall, and we could not figure out how to make a ladder work so paint it. Ben was not worried about the majority of the paint because he has a roller extension, but he WAS concerned about taping the ceiling with the genius 4-inch tape we bought. In the end, he asked himself what my dad would do (because he first painted with my dad when we moved into our condo). My dad always took an un orthodox approach to home improvements, but he was pretty handy even though his technique did not always translate. (My favorite was the time he helped assemble our IKEA bed by getting on all fours inside the frame and using his back legs to kick it into place like a donkey might). Ben decided the most Gary thing he could do would be to forgo taping and duct tape a small paint brush to a broom handle and be careful.  IT TOTALLY WORKED!

Ok, now just a bunch of pics of the same thing: