38 Weeks of Pregnancy Down, 1 or 2 to Go!

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36 weeks

My third child is arriving soon, and the preparation for baby three has continued to evolve.

Scroll down to see the FULL LIST that we’ve been working on and blogging about with links to those articles.

Previously I’ve written about sorting through baby clothes and hand-me-downs, bunking two children in the same room, potty training, and preregistering at the hospital. Let’s not forget about the awesome comments pregnant women hear all the time.

Exercise and Eat Well

This has been one of the easiest and one of the hardest things for me to do this pregnancy. I’ve done the drill twice before and know which foods to AVOID, but I find that my menu has been dictated greatly by what I am preparing for my two toddlers.

Since the emphasis is usually to make sure they are fed first and actually eating what I serve them, it is hard not to just follow suit or eat whatever I make for them that they decide NOT to eat. If you’ve ever had to feed a growing toddler, you may be able to relate. From one day to the next their favorite food can become inedible to them, leaving you struggling to figure out what else to “whip out” for your hungry and demanding little one.

  • Refrain from finishing your child(ren)’s plates. Portion control!
  • Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
  • Fruit, vegetables, salads, protein – all should be priorities on your platter.
  • Hide the candy and junk food. Throw it away. I am really good at finding things that I hide, most of the time.

SmoothiesProbably the best thing we’ve done as a couple is buy a NutriBullet for making fruit and vegetable smoothies, along with a juicer for juicing. Each retails for as low as about $80-$90 or more. It has been so easy to throw together some concoction of avocado, celery, apples, pears, berries, kiwis, kale, beets, carrots, spinach, SPINACH, almond milk, bananas, or anything else that is in the fridge or just sounds good. Certain foods work better in either the NutriBullet or the juicer, but the end result is a total WIN in any case.

Car Seats for Three

Another challenge for us was to be sure that all three car seats fit well in our backseat. Thanks to my hubby, we now know that they do fit and can be configured so we can still reach in and help our boys into their seats and seat belts without too much of a struggle.

We did not want to go out and buy a new car without testing our own first, but I did find a few articles and reviews of vehicles that held three car seats in the back seat comfortably.  This article doesn’t mention my Mazda CX-9, but has a pretty long list. Mine didn’t make the Washington Post’s list, either, which has much in common with the previous list.

In the end, like most families with three in the backseat, we made it work.  Our Mazda CX-9 did just fine with three seats in the backseat, so we are set!

Pack a Bag

With my first son, I went in to labor 7 days before his due date, August 10th. It was 11:59PM on August 3rd and I had just started to fall asleep when I was suddenly awakened. My water had broken and it was time to get myself to the hospital. I yelled across the house to my husband who had just settled in on the couch to watch a favorite show.

We had not packed the hospital bag.

I had done research, written lists, thought about it, and laid out clothes for my little one to wear at the hospital and on the way home. The nursery was perfectly set. Clothes were washed. Diapering essentials were all in their places. The crib was beautifully prepared with coordinating sheets and accessories. We didn’t have a written out birth plan but did have a few particular ideas about things like nursing.

We were ready, but we weren’t ready. I knew that my mom had gone into labor on my brother’s due date and that I had arrived over a week past my due date.

Plus, I had just been to my doctor the day before and I showed NO SIGNS of any approaching labor (besides my giant bump). He figured I’d last at least to my due date and possibly past it. My mother had just spent the whole day at my house, a jolly two-hour drive from her home in each direction, helping me organize my garage.

I mostly spent the day sitting in a chair drinking water. My mom is awesome (love you, Mom!) and wanted to help me get my car parked in the garage out of the 108 degree Laredo summer heat.

I was more prepared when my second son arrived, and the contractions had me suspiciously on alert from about midday on the day he was born. What little I hadn’t packed was easily completed as I awaited our final departure to the hospital that evening under a full moon (after we bathed and put my firstborn to bed and left him with a dear friend until our parents arrived).

THIS TIME WE WILL BE READY.

First in the bag:

  • First outfit(s) for baby
  • Baby socks
  • Baby hat
  • “I’m Brand New” stickers for photos
  • Receiving blankets (1-2 unless you don’t want to use the hospital blankets)
  • Nursing pads
  • Nursing bra
  • Slippers for Mommy
  • Change of clothes for Mommy’s last day in the hospital
  • Change of clothes for Daddy
  • Toiletries for Mommy and Daddy
  • Lip balm
  • Phone
  • Phone charger
  • Camera with a charged battery and big blank memory card

Other Items:

  • Baby book for guests to sign
  • Comfy pillow(s)
  • Blanket for Daddy
  • Snacks for Daddy
  • Snacks for Mommy (post-delivery)
  • Music playlist (We use Spotify now)
  • Carseat base (in the car for the ride home)
  • Carseat (in the car for the ride home)

Download a PDF of the Hospital Bag Checklist here:

Hospital Bag Checklist RGV Moms Blog

 

38 Weeks and Counting

I’ve been working on this list over the past few months, and although we have skipped around a bit it has been useful in keeping us focused on what preparations are most important.

Here’s the basic plan:

Step 1: Sort all clothes. Group by sizes. Store anything too small for boy 1 and boy 2 (ages 2.5 and 1, respectively).

Step 2: Introduce co-sleeping to my sons. Time to start sharing a room, boys. (They play mainly in one anyway!)

Step 2B: Get the kids to sleep in the same room, and actually sleep.

Step 2C: Potty train our firstborn.

Step 3: Prepare the soon-to-be vacant bedroom to be the nursery.

Step 4: Figure out how to safely fit three car seats in my vehicle.

Step 5: Clean and sanitize baby things – clothes, breast pump, crib, etc.

Step 6: Exercise and eat well.

Step 7: Pack a bag for the hospital.

Step 8: Delivery, etc. – Preregister at hospital, Enlist help from grandparents to watch the boys and feed the dog, Get the camera ready, Check the Full Moon calendar

Step 9: Figure out what other steps have not been included yet, hopefully before July 5th, or July 4th, or June 27th.

 

Oh, and I added one more step:

Step 10: Name the baby.

 

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