Recently…

We are a little over 4 weeks away from meeting our final baby.  People keep asking us if we are ready.  Ha ha ha!  That is so funny to me!  Is anyone ever ready for a complete life change?

Physically, I have been feeling better than I have in a long time.  Oh sure, I am tired and at the end of the day, I am definitely ready for bed.  But, my back isn’t hurting nearly as bad and I haven’t started swelling too bad.  For once, my weight gain isn’t too crazy (mostly because I have tried to be aware of what I am putting in my mouth-amazing how that works) and I am feeling pretty healthy.  So, physically am I ready to have this baby?  Well, I can hold on a few more weeks…I’m not praying for my water to break every day!

My clothes selection is getting smaller.  My stomach is expanding and my shirts are getting shorter and shorter.  I feel as if I am constantly pulling at the bottom of my shirts to make sure they are covering the skin.  Good times.  Thankfully, I will be wearing these shirts for a few weeks after Rives comes so I will have the opportunity to not pull down on them.

I also can’t see very much below a certain point due to my girth.  The girls are saying to me, all the time, “Mommy, what’s that on your shirt?”  Of course, I can’t see what they are talking about because it is out of my line of vision-ha!  I usually have to go to the mirror to see what I have done to myself.  But, once I have the baby, I won’t have the excuse of being pregnant to not see my shoes…I will need reign in the ‘ole belly.

I get up at least once a night to go to the bathroom.  And once, well, that’s not bad at all!  Getting out of bed is a different thing…it’s not super easy to heft me and a 5 pound baby, who is attached to me, out of bed.  But still, it’s just once a night.  When Rives comes, I have a funny feeling we will be up more than once a night and for a much longer time!

But the main reason we are not ready for Rives…well, let me show you some pictorial evidence:

This is the current state of our master bathroom.  Because of the construction in our bathroom, we are not sleeping in our room.  We are still sleeping in Rives future room…which is also still our closet.

Matthew is working super hard on making sure that the bathroom is done in time so that we can reclaim our bedroom.  Will Rives room be done?  Probably not.  Am I concerned about that.  As of right now, nope.

It’s amazing how different my state of mind is now compared to when Nora was born.  Like any first time mother, I needed everything to be done and perfect before we brought her home from the hospital.  I’m so glad that I did too!  I loved putting her room together and making sure that it was ready for her homecoming.  I think it is the first part of becoming a mother, getting things ready for your baby.  Does she thank me for having a perfect room for her when we brought her home?  Does she remember the time that her daddy and I put into her room?  Does she remember it at all?  Absolutely not!  But, Matthew and I do remember.

When Elyn came home, things were a little less ready for her.  We knew she was a girl but didn’t share that news with anyone else.  We also didn’t get a room ready for her because her big sister was still sleeping in the crib.  But, we did have a new bassinet for her and all of her little clothes washed and put away.  But even though she didn’t have a special room with her name on the wall, she survived and I think, feels pretty loved today.

With Rives, I realize how little he needs to survive his first few weeks at home.  We have a ton of clothes washed and ready for him to wear.  We have enough diapers for the first few months of his life.  I am nursing him, so we are good on food too.  We still have that same bassinet so he won’t have to sleep in a drawer.  He’s ready.

Now, due to my constantly changing hormonal state, I might freak out in a few weeks when I look around and see that we are about to bring an infant home to this money pit….but for right now, I am fine with the way things are-they are a work in progress.

So, are we ready for Rives…yes, we are ready to meet this sweet baby!  But, are we ready for everything to change and life to be completely different…probably not.

But, ready or not…here he comes!