Bring it on

Dan and I were chatting last night about how unbelievable it is that we are going to have another baby in a mere 10 days! It does not feel like 9 months have already passed by! Where did the time go? I think because this pregnancy was so easy for me and other than some nausea in the beginning and now the last couple weeks feeling huge and uncomfortable I've really felt great pretty much the whole time! Feeling good apparently makes time pass by faster. We are ready for this baby. In all the ways that parents can prepare, we are prepared! Clothes and diapers have been washed, neatly folded and put away in drawers.....they've been ready for weeks. Linens and towels and baby blankets have been laundered and organized. Boppys and bouncy chairs and swing covers have been cleaned and set up. The co-sleeper is set up in our room and ready for bed sheets and then a baby! We are set.

But it doesn't feel like it should be baby time already. I mean physically I'm ready to not be uncomfortable, not be waddling around and incapable or bending over to pick things up. Emotionally I feel like we're ready to meet this little baby, to get to know him or her. So, I guess its just the mental aspect that's tripping me up. I know how hard newborns are, how exhausted we are all going to be, how hormonal I am going to be and I just feel like I could wait a bit longer to jump into all of that. Things have been running so smoothly in our household for such a long time, it is hard to imagine going back to square one and doing it all over again! Don't get me wrong, I know this baby is coming.....and soon.....and I am over the moon excited, but it's a little bit scary to be doing the baby thing all over again, a little bit scary to think about having 3 kids four years old and under.

I am so blessed that I have such great moms who are willing to come and help out! My mother in law is going to be here to watch the girls while we are at the hospital. Maddie and Charlotte love their grandma and I know it will make them feel secure to have her here while we are gone. She is going to stay with us for about 5 days and I know that having her here when we bring the new baby home will be so incredibly helpful both with entertaining the girls and with an extra pair of hands for holding our tiny newborn. My mom is coming out on October 20th and she will be staying with us for one whole MONTH!!! I am so looking forward to seeing my mom, it's been since May that we've seen her, and I miss her. She has come out and stayed with us after each birth (the visits have gotten subsequently longer with each kiddo) and I can't imagine not having her here during the early weeks with a new baby. I don't know how I'm going to manage 3 kids on my own, but I don't have to figure that out for quite some time with all the help we'll have!!

So, we're ready! I have my OB appointment on Monday and we'll find out if I'm dilated, if my placenta has relocated and what the game plan is for having this bambino. I'm praying that everything is a-ok and that I'll be able to have a natural birth.....if you have a minute, send a shout out to God for me, I could use all the prayer I can get! Until then we're living life, cooking, cleaning, sewing, playing and generally trying to stay comfortable. I'll keep everyone updated as things progress!

Approximately 10 days till baby Schultz!! OH MY GOODNESS.

The babe will be in our room for a while
Here is his/her dresser (next to my side of the bed)

Changing table (in the same old spot)

Top of dresser with accessories
Burp cloths, shoes and booties, medical things, diaper doublers, prefolds

These little drawers have our nasal bulbs,
thermometer, snappis, butt cream, babylegs, lanolin cream etc.

Doublers for extra absorbency in cloth diapers
(my MIL and I made the colored ones and I dyed them!)

Dyed prefold diapers

XS diapers, covers and wool

Small diapers and covers

0-3 month onesies, pants and shirts
I have boy/gender neutral and girly things segregated
but all in the drawers....we'll just pull out what we can't use

0-3 month outfits

0-3 month pajamas

Sleep sacks, sweaters, jackets, OS pocket diapers and wool longies

Shoes and booties

A whole drawer full of socks!!! There are a zillion pairs.

Hats

And by request (Cheri!) here is the free Ikea dresser we got off craigslist
It is bigger than Dan's old dresser so he gave the baby his old one and now uses this one.
We are planning on stripping it and staining it red.....eventually.