Peeks from the Week

It has felt like a long and stressful week. Last five days of work and the final week before the baby's arrival. I've wanted to soak it all in and have it done with quickly at the same time. Mixed emotions.

On Monday I really tried to focus on Kip and spending extra time with him. We played with the fake snow and snuggled together.

Tuesday I had my 38 week OB appointment and we've been packing the hospital bags in the car with us and saying goodbyes to Kip, just in case.

The appointment was at 8 am and for the first time since this entire pandemic started, we hit traffic getting into the city. I was stressed about being late and so my blood pressure was high when they took it at the office. That made the doctor worried so she took it a few minutes later and it was normal. Then I must have said something wrong about fetal movement because she suddenly wanted to do an ultrasound to check the fluid level. She could see that there was plenty but couldn't technically take a measurement because the umbilical cord was in the way. So she sent us to the hospital for monitoring. I was annoyed because I KNEW everything was fine and that I'd just get discharged and I did NOT want to go to the hospital unless we'd be leaving with the baby. But, I couldn't argue. So Dan drove me over to the hospital and I had to go in alone because he couldn't come in unless I was admitted.

I went up to the maternity ward and even though my doctor called ahead, the front desk people were confused by my presence and I had to explain everything. It was uncomfortable because everyone is suspicious of everyone and you have to repeatedly answer questions about any known Covid exposure. I had to get undressed and all hooked up and get a bed in triage. The nurse was at least nice and chatty so that helped. They took my blood pressure about 25 times and put the monitors on for the baby. They took a bunch of blood for labs and then left me to sit there for a couple of hours in a dark room stuffed behind my mask.

It was like Deja vu with Kip as I was in the exact same triage bed I was when I went in with him. Except it was worse because of the whole pandemic. Around 11 am the doctor on call came over to see me and said I could go. My labs were fine and my blood pressure was normal. Ugh. I knew that would happen. Then they ran through the whole list of scary things to look out for and I finally got to leave.

Back home and back to work. My doctor called later that day and moved the induction from Sunday at 6 am to Saturday at 10 pm...because I'm not dilated yet at all. So we'll be starting our sleepless nights early.

On Wednesday I had work calls seemingly all day. But my department surprised me with a few baby shower type games over our video call. Baby picture guessing and a game to guess how many spools of thread were in the jar. It was a sweet surprise during such a weird time.

Bonus of this weird time, mid-day snuggles!

Yes, he still has his pacifier. We're in the middle of a pandemic epicenter, people! Vices are embraced on the home front. I'll take the future orthodontic bill for a little peace right now.

Goodnight hugs!

Yesterday I was feeling so DONE with being pregnant and stressing about fetal movement and anticipation of delivery. Mandy went and got the last of our grocery shopping done so we are set for the week ahead. And I made my mom's rice pudding.

My mom always made Mandy and I rice pudding for our birthday and when Kip was born and she was here, she made it for when I got home from the hospital. It's a bummer that we can't have family visitors come for the baby's arrival but we know it's for the best and safest for everyone. The rice pudding was actually so easy to make! I'll have to share the recipe here the next time I make it.

Kip got a hold of my old phone yesterday and took, no lie, 235 photos that looked like this:

Getting lots of snuggles and pics with my first little babe until his baby sister arrives.

Even though things seems to be getting a little better day by day, there is still so much unknown and it's all pretty overwhelming to consider with a fragile newborn just days away. Trying to embrace all the things to be grateful for, especially her arrival on the downward swing and not right at the peak. And since I'm not sure I'll be thinking about this type of thing in a day or two, I figured I'd write a list of all the silver linings from the last 9 weeks that made this whole chaotic time more bearable.

- NO commute

- ZERO subway anxiety

- Extra time with Kip, Dan, and Mandy

- Being able to eat lunch and dinner together every day as a family

- New simplified routines

- Witnessing Kip's personality and speech explode on a daily basis

- Snuggles, any time I want

- Discovering Grady's cold brew coffee

- Technology that keeps us connected to family

- Continued employment and maternity leave ahead

Happy Friday everyone!