More craziness

Argh, has it really been two weeks since I posted? Things are going all right around here. I had my 37-week appointment today. (I'm really 37 1/2 weeks, but who's counting?) Oh my goodness, that means the baby is full term now! Hooray! I had my last progesterone injection (at least until the baby's born) this weekend. The baby is doing great, and the doctor guessed she's about 6 1/2 pounds now, which is good. I've gained 38 pounds by my doctor's records. We'll have to take some pictures--we haven't documented just how huge I am yet!

I'm trying to get the basics in order by Saturday, which will be two weeks to the due date. I'll have plenty to do after that, but at least I'll feel like we'll be OK if I go into labor. So far this week, we've got our birth plan pretty much written, hired a doula (our Bradley instructor, who is great), I bought two nursing bras, we're in the process of washing some cloth diapers (we're planning on prefolds and covers, so we bought two different kinds of prefolds to see which we like better once they're washed), and we've got most of (what seems to me to be) the important stuff. We have the newborn carseat (but not the convertible yet), we have a bassinet, and we're finishing the staining of the cribs. For the rest of the week, I'm going to be working on listing a whole bunch of stuff on craigslist, getting the babies' room ready (can't believe I don't have that done yet--it still needs to be emptied and painted before we can move in the furniture), writing thank-you notes, packing for the hospital (which will include buying some pajamas and a robe, since Mr. X has noted that my robe is now too skimpy to be appropriate for the hospital), washing baby clothes, and figuring out what else we need!

We've been spending a lot more time with friends lately, which has been really nice. I know we won't have much time to spend with friends for a while after the babies arrive (especially since we'll be trying to keep things low-key for our son as he adjusts to us), so it's been fun to do that now. We've got two more parties to go to this weekend, we're going to try to have a barbecue for the friends who wrote our adoption references over the weekend of the 4th, and I'm invited to a friend's baby shower on the 12th (which is due date + 1, so we'll see about that one).

TCIE asked on the last post about the adoption stuff . . . I promise to write more about our process (I am, of course, writing down what's happening so I'll remember and so I can post about it later) once we have our little guy home. I just feel uneasy about posting too much now. But the short version is that, yes, we have been matched with a baby who is almost 11 months old. And I thought he'd be here much sooner than this. But my best guess is that we have at least two more weeks to wait . . . and, yes, we are 2 1/2 weeks from my due date right now. Things are about to get very interesting around here!

Looking back

The other day, I refilled our hand soap containers with the last of a refill bottle I found way back under the sink. When I had my surgeries in Omaha, Mr. X brought lots of disinfecting wipes to make sure the hotel room was clean, and we brought bottles of antibacterial hand soap, too. Usually, we use a different soap, but the refill bottle I found is that same antibacterial hand soap we used in the hotel room. Every time I wash my hands, the scent reminds me of the surgeries and the recovery--which was about 6 weeks for the big laparatomy.

It's interesting to be reminded of that right now, when I'm able to appreciate and be thankful for all that those surgeries did for us. My due date is almost exactly two years after the laparatomy.

When we decided to move ahead with the adoption process last fall, I was really happy about that decision. We knew we wanted to adopt, we found the program that fit, and I felt like we had done all of the "major stuff" in terms of infertility. I had the two surgeries, then went back for the follow-up HSG, and it seemed like anything else would be just tweaking what we'd already been trying. I felt pretty confident that we'd have a biological child someday, but that day might be years in the future, and I was very excited to adopt a child.

When I was single, I was pretty confident that I'd get married someday. But I thought about how wonderful it would be if someone could just tell me when I'd meet my husband. It would take away so much of the suspense and uncertainty. Now, as I'm getting ready to give birth and adopt--both within a matter of weeks--I think about how much easier it would have been to face the surgery two years ago if someone had been able to tell me, "in two years, you'll be getting ready to bring home two children." I wonder what I'll be thinking two years from now, looking back on this time, and what I'll wish I could have known.

35

. . . that's weeks for the baby and years for me (and look how nice you guys are, guessing I'm younger!). It's just nuts around here. Panic is beginning to set in! We have new furniture in the house, in boxes, with one crib half-finished being stained (we ran out of stain and are waiting for the rest to come in the mail). We have home improvement projects half-finished, and the babies' room is still full of junk. Help! I don't know how we're going to get this stuff sorted out before the babies are here. There isn't one room in the house that's the way it should be. We'll see how it all turns out . . .