Ready or not...
***UPDATE***
I made a playlist of music for the birth on the laptop; it added up to some 6 hours of music, so I'm not going to bother burning it to a CD. I'll just set the laptop on a flat surface near the jacuzzi and let it play in random mode. Bonus: while playing around with Windows Media Player, I realized that the cool randomized graphics can make a great visual to focus on during contractions. Some of them are so cool, it's like watching a fire. I could stare for hours.
Bought a few extra receiving blankets. Still wish I could find the old ones, because some are inevitably going to get a little bloody, and I'd prefer that they be old ones! Kids' stocking stuffers are separated into separate bags, so if someone else has to stuff them, at least they will know whose stockings to put them in.
Presents are WRAPPED, all except for one big one of Leo's that I need a packing box for. Packing boxes are in the garage on a high shelf. Leo said he will get the box for me, but also added that I didn't need to wrap anything for him :P (How did he know it was for him??)
Got a new flashlight, since Leo said the old one is unreliable. It takes AA batteries, which we have in abundance, so I don't need to get the batteries. I would strike that off my list, but I don't know how to do that cool strike-out font.
Birth supplies -- explanations may include TMI for some! :)
Birth kit (ordered from Cascade): Received. Contents include Chux pads, gauze, bulb syringe, sterile gloves, cord clamp, sitz bath herbs, measuring tape, a pokey thing to pierce my poor baby's heel (for the PKU), two of those lovely, fashionable mesh underpants, and the all important peri bottle. And a partridge in a pear tree.
Additional items, prepared by me, at the request of my midwife and apprentice:
I brought up from the basement most of the 0-3 baby clothes, and even sorted out the unisex items, so we don't have to go digging in the bin if it's a boy.
I think that's it. I still have a few presents to wrap, but I think I can get that done tonight. Maybe. Tomorrow at the latest. If I get the presents wrapped, and make sure I get everything on the above list that I still need, the baby can come, even before Christmas, and I won't freak.
I think even if I were to go into labor in the next hour without getting anything else done, I wouldn't freak. I'm ready mentally.
Bring it on, baby!!!
I made a playlist of music for the birth on the laptop; it added up to some 6 hours of music, so I'm not going to bother burning it to a CD. I'll just set the laptop on a flat surface near the jacuzzi and let it play in random mode. Bonus: while playing around with Windows Media Player, I realized that the cool randomized graphics can make a great visual to focus on during contractions. Some of them are so cool, it's like watching a fire. I could stare for hours.
Bought a few extra receiving blankets. Still wish I could find the old ones, because some are inevitably going to get a little bloody, and I'd prefer that they be old ones! Kids' stocking stuffers are separated into separate bags, so if someone else has to stuff them, at least they will know whose stockings to put them in.
Presents are WRAPPED, all except for one big one of Leo's that I need a packing box for. Packing boxes are in the garage on a high shelf. Leo said he will get the box for me, but also added that I didn't need to wrap anything for him :P (How did he know it was for him??)
Got a new flashlight, since Leo said the old one is unreliable. It takes AA batteries, which we have in abundance, so I don't need to get the batteries. I would strike that off my list, but I don't know how to do that cool strike-out font.
Birth supplies -- explanations may include TMI for some! :)
Birth kit (ordered from Cascade): Received. Contents include Chux pads, gauze, bulb syringe, sterile gloves, cord clamp, sitz bath herbs, measuring tape, a pokey thing to pierce my poor baby's heel (for the PKU), two of those lovely, fashionable mesh underpants, and the all important peri bottle. And a partridge in a pear tree.
Additional items, prepared by me, at the request of my midwife and apprentice:
- 6-7 towels (plus 3-4 extra for water birth)
- 6-7 washcloths (applied hot and wet, to prevent tearing)
- Olive oil (NEED TO BUY AN UNOPENED BOTTLE. Note to Leo: please get EVOO so I can use the leftover for cooking!)
- 2 large bowls, 1 for puke, 1 for placenta
- 2 1-gallon Ziploc bags
- 1 cookie sheet (for sterilizing instruments in oven?)
- Crock Pot (for heating washcloths)
- 8 receiving blankets (I have misplaced some of these! Maybe lost in the move. Buy a few at next Target run)
- 2 baby hats
- 2 trash bags (home births can generate lots of trash...)
- Working flashlight with extra batteries (gotta get some D batteries...)
- Rice sock (probably for cramping after)
- Change of clothes (hmmm...that old nursing gown is for summer...maybe just some stretch maternity pants and a long-sleeved shirt...like what I've been wearing to bed for months now)
- Camera (digital and video) (OOH! Better make sure there is an extra battery charged for the digital!)
- Tripod
- Fine mesh net for waterbirth (don't ask. If you have given birth or ever witnessed one, you may know that sometimes other, um, STUFF besides the baby emerges while pushing. It can't stay in the tub.)
- Recharge or Gatorade
- Honey (quick spoonfuls for extra energy late in labor)
- Music prepped (Ideally I'll have time to prepare a CD...but last time I just listened to Norah Jones over and over and over again. I didn't want anything else.)
- Desk lamp (so we can have dim lights in the bathroom)
- Two sanitary pads cut in half, soaked in witch hazel, and then frozen (for IF I do tear)
I brought up from the basement most of the 0-3 baby clothes, and even sorted out the unisex items, so we don't have to go digging in the bin if it's a boy.
I think that's it. I still have a few presents to wrap, but I think I can get that done tonight. Maybe. Tomorrow at the latest. If I get the presents wrapped, and make sure I get everything on the above list that I still need, the baby can come, even before Christmas, and I won't freak.
I think even if I were to go into labor in the next hour without getting anything else done, I wouldn't freak. I'm ready mentally.
Bring it on, baby!!!
posted by Andrea | 12:58 PM
3 Comments:
Yeah, then you'll go into labor and lose your mind! :)
You'll do fine.
Good luck woman!!
Oh wow! You're going the midwife way! If I wasn't diabetic with all those fun complications, I would think of going that way, but I still don't know if I'd have the guts to do it--especially with my first baby!
Thanks for commenting on my site--I have noticed you comment off and on...
And really--I'm at 37 and 1/2 weeks right now--we're pretty much at the same spot, but I'm being induced on Thursday--to make sure the baby is healthy. I'll be hooked up to an IV and all that fun, but I'm going to try to do the birth au naturel--without drugs or an epidural!
YOu sound like you have EVERYTHING under control! You GO!! Good luck and congrats!
Just checking in. Sending love and prayers your way. Merry Christmas to all of you. Hoping there's another little bundle there...
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