TMI (*disclaimer) Pregnancy Post, Labor Prep List

Nine weeks to go: single digits and, I like to think, the home stretch! With the onset of the third trimester, the past couple weeks I have been slowing down and waddling more and, curiously, feeling more nausea. Funny how different this pregnancy has been from the last one, but on the whole, it has been better. It still has its challenges. Here, have a story:

   4am: Baby rolls on the bladder and I wake up and, exhausted, briefly debate wetting the bed. Out of consideration for Dave and our white sheets, I drag over to the bathroom. Shock and chagrin at what I contemplated wakes me the rest of the way and by the time I get back to bed sleep is a long ways off.
   4:30am: RSL (restless leg syndrome) has me stretching and tossing in bed. I've always been curious how RSL feels and now I know. Its not quite the cartoonish idea I had that my legs would dance on their own accord and thrash out kicking people (though remind me to tell you about the time we were horse playing and I accidentally kicked Dave out of bed and he got a fractured rib. I guess that's pretty much the story, though Dave likes to tell it, "One night we were fooling around in bed...") The sensation I get is just an intense urge to walk around and actively stretch my legs. Also, I'm starving, but I stoically ignore my grumbling tummy and tell myself to go to sleep.
   4:32am: Head downstairs for some stretching and a snack. Clumsily drop cereal box off the table. Sweep entire kitchen.
   4:45am: Eat cereal, stretch the legs, Google RSL for advice, find little.
   5:20am: Lumber back to bed, waking Dave for the umpteenth time. Toss and turn on my giant stack of pillows, about two feet above Dave and his one pillow (pillow stack negates the acid reflux).
   6am'ish: Fall asleep
   7am: Have a boring dream that Riley woke up and is babbling to herself and I wake up to get her bottle but she is still dead asleep. This time I instantly fall back to sleep and snooze till eight.

So yes, I am looking forward to not being pregnant in two months! Little Joe is a strong and active fetus and my belly frequently jiggles like a bowl full of jelly, especially when I (he) am/is hungry or when I lay down. Riley is too young to understand the reason my belly is growing, but she notices. I had her in the seat of the grocery cart yesterday and she made a game of wrapping both arms around my belly and kissing it as we strolled along. I had a very damp shirt by the time we checked out :) Anyways, in my anticipation of Joseph's arrival, I've gone and made a list of things to do before delivery - things that I wish I had done last pregnancy or ideas I liked from one of the other million prep lists on line. I'm copying it into this post for the benefit of my fellow pregnant friends.

Taking a rest on the steps of the capitol in SL

Baby Prep List:

1) Two weeks ahead: waterproof liner on my side of the bed in case water breaks. Don't want to soak the mattress - gross.
2) Nursing tops and yoga pants to live in the next few weeks (cute nursing robe and dress set so's not to get your style cramped :)
3) Freezer meals and crock pot meal kits at the ready. Also, clean out fridge/freezer ahead of time to fit meals and goodies from kind friends who look out for us. Stock kitchen with paper plates/utensils/cups/napkins.
4) Possibly hire a cleaning service to do a deep clean: tub/toilets, floors, windows, baseboards, faucets.
5) Kimono shirts for baby so we don't have to pull over his head.
6) Stock up on giant pads, or Always Infinity pads - are supposed to be less bulk but just as good.
7) Nursing pads. And some kind of waterproof/absorbent cover for nursing in bed. Puppy house training pads possibly, or P.U.L fabric - rubberized flannel you buy at a fabric store and cut to size of crib, bed, changing table, etc. to lay on top so you don't have to change fitted sheets in the middle of the night if there is an accident
8) Pedicure. Has possible labor-inducing powers, and they're pretty :)

Very grateful for this baby and fetus and maxi dress and short, heat-beating hair cut.

I feel like I might have forgotten something. Though to be honest I live in the state of feeling like I might have forgotten something - pregnancy brain is real! Ah well - anyone with other helpful baby prep ideas feel free to send them my way.

Also grateful for my stud of a husband who rubs my feet and picks up my slack. He is the best friend and spouse to me and dad to Riley that a girl could ask for. And we are all grateful for tuxedo t-shirts.