I spent yesterday driving crazily around St. Louis, from doctor’s office to Penzey’s to instrument repair shop to drop off my flute. Apparently when you’re pregnant, you forget how to get from point A to point B. Or at least, you lose all common sense, which would tell you that you should take the route that you know, even if it seems a little out of the way, instead of trying to take a road that ought to go where you need to go, only to discover that you’ve wasted ten miles and twenty minutes of drive time.
I often wonder about the usefulness of the late pregnancy doctor visits, but at least I got some questions answered about the hospital procedure. Despite having done it twice before, I’m a little fuzzy on the details. Dr. Dixon poked around at some length before telling me I have a head-down baby (wouldn’t you know, the third time around, I finally have a baby who might have been possible to deliver vaginally!), and his guess is between 8 ½ and 9 pounds. Mind you, that’s this week, not next week on D-day. J Yes, apparently I grow them huge. He also gave me some suggestions for easing the persistent low-grade nausea I’ve been experiencing for a month now.
At one week and counting, the to-do-before-Baby list lengthens out:
- Empty the crib of books (and find a new home for them!), and change the sheet
- Pull out the size 0 diapers
- Pull out the car seat
- Haircuts for the boys (the girls had them on Monday), so we’re all spruced up and looking our best for our new arrival
- Put together a chicken & rice casserole to join the lasagna in the freezer
- Pack the kids for two nights and Grandma & Grandpa’s and two nights with Daddy in St. Louis
- Pack for the hospital, including busy work
- Clean the house (my last cleaning for six weeks…darn the luck)
- Find the cable to connect the camera to the computer…we’ve always used the docking station, so we really have no idea where it is.
- Scrapbook the last two sets of pictures, so I’m all caught up for the onslaught of new pictures to archive!
- Make up “welcome note” paper for hospital visitors
- Last swim lesson
- Last date without baby-in-tow, which we are only doing because we were asked to do an NFP presentation on Saturday, so we figured we’d make good use of babysitting
- Find a dolly of some sort to facilitate the transport of two non-mobile children and all choir paraphernalia to and from church during the 6 weeks when I can’t carry anything
- Call the hospital and insurance to make sure we pick a pediatrician who’s covered
We won’t have a dull moment between now and then, that’s for sure. We’re trying to squeeze in as many therapy appointments for Julianna as we can, and this morning Alex and I have a preschool visit with the public schools. The program that Julianna will enter next year at this time also accepts children as “buddies” or “mentors,” and we’re having Alex evaluated to see if he qualifies. From a logistical standpoint, it just makes sense to try to get both kids going to the same place at the same time. But I also want to make sure that it will be a good fit for him. I’m a little conflicted. It would be wonderful for Alex to grow up around children with special needs, learning gentleness, compassion, kindness. But on the other hand, part of the preschool experience (maybe the most important part) is interacting with peers, which implies playmates at your own level—something that he doesn’t get much of as it is. So I have to ask a lot of questions today.
Well, enough of a long, rambling post. Time to get going on The List.
Kathleen M. Basi 