Let the Countdown Begin...

This happens a lot at my house right now. I thought you should know.

The second trimester of this pregnancy flew by so quickly, some days it's hard to believe it happened. At the tail end of the first trimester, we began looking for a new house. Within a few weeks, we had our own on the market, less than a week after hosting Nora's birthday party (because our families are both out of town, this easily becomes a weekend-long affair).  I spent the next several weeks cleaning compulsively in case we got a showing, and thankfully, the house sold in about a month (actually, it sold twice, sort of - we accepted one offer, which fell through about a week later, and then ended up accepting another shortly after).  We offered on our new house around the same time, and then began the huge job of packing.  We closed on our new house on one Friday, left early the next day for a week-long vacation, moved two days after arriving home, and closed on our old house the following Friday.

And just like that - it was the third trimester.

And time began to crawl.  Though my to-do list is longer than ever, I know exactly what week and day we're on at any given time.  I won't allow myself to actually start a countdown until my due date, though, knowing that my siblings and I all arrived late, much to my mother's discontent.   At this point with Nora, we knew with some certainty that I would be having a c-section, which means we got to pick a date on the calendar in my 39th week for her to be born. I didn't want a c-section, but knowing I wouldn't go past that date was oddly comforting.  This time, we won't have a date on the calendar, as Baby is head-down (Nora was breech) and I'll hopefully be attempting to have a VBAC as long as my body cooperates and goes into labor on its own before 41 weeks.

It's only just begun, my friends... things could get ugly.

When you're to the point in the pregnancy where you're just waiting, it's hard to focus on much else. I'm big enough that I get weird comments from all sorts of people.  I was purchasing water softener salt at Lowes a couple of weeks ago. You have to ask for it at the counter and then get it on the way out. They weigh about 40 pounds a piece. The conversation went like this:
    Me: I need 4 green bags of water softener salt.
    Cashier: weird glance at my stomach
    Me: ...and some help carrying it out...
    Cashier: I thought so.
Then a few days later at the grocery store, I had a conversation like this:
    Jolly Old Man: If you don't mind my asking, you don't have too many shopping days left, do you?
    Me: Nope, not many.
    Jolly Old Man: When's your due date?
    Me: July 5.
    Jolly Evil Old Man gives me a weird look and says: Oh, well, you won't make it that long!
Yes. I am huge. Thank you for noticing.

Obligatory phone-mirror picture. Almost 36 weeks.

Sleeping is becoming more and more of a challenge (though the last few nights have been better, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues that way). I'm usually okay for the first few hours, but after that I'm so uncomfortable that no matter what I try, I sleep only fitfully. I tend to be awake from 2:30 or so until about 4:30, during which I do some combination of following activities, including but not limited to:
   - googling "how to survive the last weeks of pregnancy with a toddler" (BTW: there are no good
     suggestions for how to handle this)
   - panicking about the vine of poison ivy growing up a tree in the backyard because what will we do
     if any of us gets poison ivy and if Nora gets it we'll all get it, and I can't take it down because I     
     can't have poison ivy and have a baby, but if Ryan gets it they won't let him in the hospital and
      ohmygosh. (This is now been handled, thanks to the husband...and he didn't get it.)
   - crying because I can't sleep and I'm so uncomfortable and how can it be possible that this is going
     to last for SIX MORE WEEKS, and the baby is only going to continue growing?!
    - reading a book
    - wondering why they killed off McDreamy when I just got back into watching the show
    - putting reminders in my phone for the things I can't forget to do the next day
    - trying all of the pillows in the house to attempt to find one that is supportive
    - saying bad words
    - going to the bathroom 12 times

Oddly, though, I am much less concerned about some things this time around.  The nursery isn't complete yet. The basics are there - crib, rocker, dresser, enough clothes to get by until the grandmas go nuts buying for the appropriate gender, a few packages of diapers - but the decorating isn't done. I'd like for it to be, but not enough to actually lose sleep over it.  I also haven't even thought about packing a hospital bag yet. (Actually, I'm worried that packing it early will jinx it and I'll end up being pregnant FOREVER.)  I suppose I should also prepare a few meals to stick in the freezer, and sterilize the bottles and pump parts, dig out some of the tiny baby toys and the pacifiers Nora never wanted...but I haven't yet.  Also, I have exactly zero pairs of newborn size socks.  I have no idea where they are.  But, again, I'm not that concerned...I just figure, eh, it'll be the middle of summer! Who needs socks?

And on that note, friends, it is time for me to go to bed. At the sheepish rate I've been writing lately, the next thing I post may be a birth announcement. But let's not worry about that just yet.  After all, if the baby comes now, I'll be one of those unprepared women who didn't pack a hospital bag and whose baby has no socks.

Oh, and because I know you're wondering:
No, I do not have any strong feelings of what the baby is, but if I HAD to guess, I'd guess boy.
We have a girl name picked out. We are between 2 boy names. No, we don't want to tell you right now. :)