Preparing

Ready or not, it suddenly hit us recently that there's a baby coming.

In, like, 2 months.

And we've done, like, not much to get ready.

When these sorts of thoughts hit (and they seem to hit harder and later with each pregnancy, probably because the days seem to go by faster and with less time to think ahead with each passing year!), I remember that we will do what we can do and also that, really, a baby slips into a home without needing a whole lot besides... well... me. And, honestly, what a privilege that is!

Still, there are some things that really need to be attended to in preparation for a baby, and even just for the sake of the whole family as we adjust to a new member.

I am no poster-child for baby preparation. Pottery Barn Kids will not be calling me to take pictures of our nursery (which is non-existent) and Parenting magazine will not be asking me to write an article on the Top 10 Ways To Get Ready For Baby. But despite what may look like less-than-American methods of preparing, we have begun preparing in our own way and making lists of things to prioritize in the coming weeks.

 

#1 Preparation: Get Prenatal Care & A Delivery Plan

I realized about 4 weeks ago that the perfect delivery plan probably wasn't going to fall into my lap out of nowhere and that I was going to find myself delivering in my living room and by myself by default if I didn't figure something out. I will confess that for a few days I very seriously entertained the idea of an unassisted childbirth, but I realized (with the help of my husband and some good friends) that having someone with some medical knowledge on hand (which both Daniel and I completely lack) was probably wise in my situation.

So, to make a long story filled with many phone calls and much frustration short:

I think I've found a doctor who is willing to give me a VBAC, and she's only an hour away! She does have a higher cesarean section rate than I would prefer, but she said the magic words that are really what I've been wanting to hear: "Of course I'll let you VBAC. As far as I'm concerned, now that you've had one successful VBAC, you don't even need special treatment. I also don't care if you swing from the chandeliers while laboring if that's what helps you, and I certainly would never make you deliver in the OR."

And she says willing to let me bring a doula of my choosing to help manage the birth, which was one of the significant losses (in my opinion) of delivering in the OR: not being able to have anyone but Daniel there to encourage me and share in the day. My mom hasn't been with me since the birth of Jackson, and I'm looking forward to having her with me again, to say the least.

I'll see this doctor again in a little less than 2 weeks and hopefully continue to find that she's as great as she initially seems.

 

#2 Preparation: Do Whatever It Takes To Increase My Iron

My 28-week bloodwork came back confirming my fears about my iron levels: my hemoglobin is down to 8.3 (yikes, for sure). For those who don't know numbers on these things, let's just say that that's lower than what many women have after they give birth. No wonder I've been SO tired!

I've made floradix my best friend these past months, so now it's just a matter of making sure that just about every calorie I take in is super high in iron and/or protein. While I don't relish the thought of eating blackstrap molasses by the tablespoon, I prefer that idea to one of postpartum hemorrhaging or even just a longer-than-usual recovery. I think I'll also have to learn how to cook liver, which is something I've never actually eaten, let alone prepared, before. Recipes involving high-iron foods are welcomed, but please remember that I'm super exhausted-- so they have to be easy!

 

 

#3 Preparation: Take Ground With Home Renovations

We are not "nursery people." My babies sleep in a sweet basket right in my room for the first while and that is how we like it. (Easy enough.) But, we still need a place to keep clothes and diapers and things like that, and our small bedroom simply doesn't have an inch to spare for such things.

Not a problem, since the guest room upstairs will double as the "baby's room" (aka "baby's storage") for a while, right?

Right.

Except that the room kinda needs some TLC.

 

Actually, considering the fact that it didn't even exist 6 months ago, it looks amazing. And truth be told, it looks even better right now than this picture (which is about a week old) shows, since it's now primed and the ceiling is painted, thanks to the Lafaver men and their speedy paint sprayer.

All I need to do is muster up enough energy to get the walls painted and then, regardless of no flooring and no trim and no closet doors, I will put the baby's dresser right in that little nook and then!-- then I will have a place to put the things I have recently begun collecting for the baby, which will mean that the basket-bed will no longer be a storage place and may actually be available for the baby to sleep in!

 

#4 Preparation: Choose Baby Names

I have to admit, we really haven't gotten very far with this one. I have a few names I kind of like, but I'm not sure I love any of them. Daniel hasn't really given much input yet. He has pretty good excuses these days, seeing as he's been using every spare minute to do things that will restore greater peace and functionality to our home-- things like running plumbing (alongside Megan, who is awesome and got the job done so fast!) in the future upstairs bathroom.

 

I'm beyond glad we have plumbing, but I also realize that if this child is nameless for the entirety of his/her life, he/she won't care a bit about our thoroughness with the upstairs bathroom remodel, so the goal is to make some progress in this department sooner rather than later.

Seeing as how it takes me longer than 2 months to pick out what kind of light fixture I want for the upstairs landing, I better get thinking on that, huh?

 

#5 Preparation: Enjoy This Season

Between exhaustion and on-going projects, it can be easy to lose sight of how special each and every day is, which is why I am so very thankful for the Holy Spirit's clear reminders of late to treasure each moment. This day is unique and never to be repeated. Wow! I don't want to get so antsy in my own "nesting" urges, or so caught up in what needs to be done, or so anxious to just plain old feel better, that I lose sight of the most important thing I can be doing: loving where He's put me and who He's put me with.

 

We're Gonna Have A Birthday!

Today is Jackson's sixth birthday.

Six!

He was born on a very cold day right on the heels of an unusually warm spell. I so clearly remember stopping at the grocery store on our way home from the hospital about 24 hours after his arrival (which is still a bizarrely hilarious memory in and of itself: my horribly anemic self, thanks to some pretty bad hemorrhaging following his birth, hanging onto the shopping cart for support as I shuffled along to pick up the essentials we needed, like bread and butter and milk, and daring not remove the blanket from completely over Jackson, who was nestled in his car seat, because I felt so terrible about being so poorly prepared for his birth that I had wound up bringing my BRAND NEW BABY into a public, germ-infested place like P&C!) and how bright the sun was and how crunchy the snow felt and how quickly our breath was taken away from the sheer cold of the day!

Papa with a couple-hours-old Jackson
 

Six is a big deal around our house. The only clearly spelled tradition we have for birthdays is that we don't do big parties-- except for the sixth one. For six, although it's still not big by most American standards, we pull out all the stops!

The birthday boy/girl gets to pick a birthday theme. (Jack picked dinosaurs.)

The guest list is altered from strictly family and perhaps a friend or two to being able to fill up the dining room table with guests all of their own choosing. (Jackson has invited his siblings, two uncles, Papa, a cousin, and some friends from church and Friday School.)

We do games with prizes. (Pin The Tooth On The Dino, Dino May I?, and a balloon popping contest.)

There are party favors that coordinate with the theme. (Dinosaur crayons and erasers, dinosaur foam masks, and candy.)

And every time we do the six-year-old party, my breath catches in my throat (much like it does when I step outside and [re]discover just what -10 degrees feels like): How did we get here already?

Jackson, this fall.
 

I have loved the little boy Jackson so much. His red hair, freckled complexion, clear gray eyes, and winsome smile are second to none. His love for affection, his helpfulness, his quiet-but-rough-and-tumble way melts us all. His soft cheeks that have been oh-so-slow to lose their baby feel, his giddy laugh, his easy-going nature-- these things I want to remember always.

I've been here before so I know that, really, the future is not something to shy away from, but this Mama heart wishes I could keep maybe just this one small for always.

Last night as I tuck him into bed, his eyes bright with excitement after watching his first live college hockey game and having been gifted a hockey stick from one of the goalies whose heart he had won, I ask him if he'll please just not turn six after all; if he'll stay five and be my boy forever?

"I can't help it, Mom, I was made to grow."

And so he was.

 

With that, what more is there to say except:

Happy Birthday, Jackson Edward! We love you so much and we really do have ever so much excitement for all that God has for you in the days head. Grow, little boy, into a man who loves Jesus and serves only Him. We are beyond thankful for you and the destiny that is wrapped up inside of you!

 

The First Week

We greeted Monday and "normal" routine with grunts and groans around here, but made it through. School? Check. Chores? Check. Attitudes? Eh.

Tuesday was not so kind. In addition to it being Day #2 of Post-Holiday Syndrome (enough said), Tuesday also commenced a fresh phase of work in the unfinished bedrooms upstairs. In case you didn't know, dry wall is messy business (hats off to those guys who work with it day in and day out all year long!). School time was laced with bad attitudes, malfunctioning math programs, disorganized shelves that made finding certain supplies impossible, and my less-than-pleasant response to it all. By evening, I kind of wanted to cry along with Aubrey and Claire when Daniel left for Evening #2 out of the house. I confess, it was one of those, "Don't leave me here alone with the kids!" kinds of self-pity.

Wednesday was worse. Claire had been awake until 3am the night before, so I was running on very little sleep considering my rather pregnant state. My children received a hearty lecture on why the most important part of their education is that they learn to work hard at and to be thorough with whatever task they are given-- it was the right idea, but the deliverer wasn't exactly feeling gentle or gracious and I'm sure the recipients heard that louder and clearer than anything else.

I was glad to end the day and look forward to a new morning.

Thursday the work upstairs continued and the progress being made certainly far outweighed the dust accumulating in the rest of the house. (At that point I gave up on putting the vacuum away and, instead, just started leaving it out where I could easily grab it to clean up the dust on the stairs before Claire coated herself in it several times a day, which has worked much better than trying to keep her off the stairs.) We skipped the books again for the more urgent task of de-decking the halls and doing a deep cleaning of the entire first floor of our house. Attitudes were great, enthusiasm was high, we were accomplishing lots!

And I got a little carried away with reorganization, but had a blast doing it.

Today, more dry wall is going up (yay!). A new couch arrived, which completes the furniture arrangement I've had in mind for the sitting room (triple yay, since this is a couch I've had in the back of my mind for well over a year, only to recently see that it was on Final Sale and marked down to half the price!). We finished school and chores by 10am, a record for us that was significantly aided by my 4:30am wake-up this morning (don't ask).

Yes, Aubrey is sick with a fever. Claire is in what we call a "funk", testing every instruction and generally getting into mischief whenever we're not looking. The delivery men tracked mud all over the room I thoroughly cleaned yesterday. The dust continues (and continues... and continues).

But, boy, has this week proven to be a useful one in so many ways!

Three prayer meetings at the beginning of the week, all missed by yours truly but attended by Daniel and a few kids each night, were amazing and good even for me here at home. Fasting of various kinds for each of us was a rude and necessary reminder to our over-indulged flesh that of our deepest need of all is to belong wholly and completely to Him. New mornings proved even to this melancholic soul that would have liked to give up on the start of the year before we even got one full week into it that He is a God of second chances.

It's been a week.

A good, normal, crazy, ups-and-downs week.

Here's to 51 more!

 

Dry wall really does make it all feel so much closer to being DONE!

Two bedrooms, ready for mudding and taping, which starts Monday.
Thanks for awesome cheerful work, Lafaver crew! 

 

Yes, this cupboard was here for years (!) before I moved it to the sitting room a few months ago. Yes, I emptied it out, moved it back, and resettled its contents after a thorough purging yesterday. It allows for our new [to us] bedroom door to actually open all the way and it's more functional for homeschooling anyway (since it houses pretty much all our supplies). 

 

The black shelves are back where they used to be.
Musical furniture, which Daniel just graciously rolls his eyes at me about.

 

The new couch (in the middle) is just right!