Week 29: Winding Down and Gearing Up
Week 29 was also the second to last week that I had at home. The to do’s that had been waiting until go time were finally ready to be checked off, and the sort of anticipation and excitement that comes with any big change started to fill my heart.
I spent the week doing what I could to prepare for our trip to Turkey. Making sure we had all of the supplies needed for the dogs’ to fly, confirming their vet appointment to ensure their health clearances would be done in time for our departure, applying for the Military Star Card (*interesting tidbit – gas in Turkey is like $9 a gallon (!!!) but you can get the Star Card and have a chip installed in your car so you will be able to purchase gas off base at on base (American) prices), organizing our documents, and working on my game plan for maximizing time with family before we leave.
I worked in a mountaintop dinner at the Pisgah Inn with my Mamaw and Papaw, a pedicure date with sister and my mom, followed by a delicious dinner al fresco at the Oyster House in West Asheville, a late lunch with Will’s mom and grandmother, and a sort of impromptu dinner of pizza pie at Standard Pizza Co. with my parents, sister and Jeffry, and Jill and Missy (can you tell I was trying to work in some restaurants at the last minute after basically not eating out all summer?). Then the weekend filled up with an early Saturday breakfast at my cousin Tug’s, followed by a family reunion, and a rainy night originally intended to be spent downtown substituted with a family outing to the bowling alley. I was holding my position as the overall winner with a big score of 145 until in the very last game my Dad pulled out a 165 and totally smoked me. I’ll demand a rematch when I don’t have a bowling ball attached to me getting in the way 😉
Sunday I finally made it to church with my mom and dad, ate a quick lunch at my Granny’s, then went back to the church for our last baby shower. I wasn’t quite sure who would be attending, but was absolutely amazed when an entire fellowship hall of friends and family showed up. It was a beautiful shower, and Baby J was spoiled rotten. Unfortunately all of the pictures my mom took were accidentally deleted from her memory card so I don’t have much to show for it, but the theme was The Best Nest book. The tables were decorated with fresh flowers and real birds’ nests the host and her son had collected over the years when he was a little boy. We had cake and my favorite church mints (what’s not to love about butter and sugar mints??), and church punch. Everyone decorated little onesies and t-shirts, and by the end we had about two tables full of goodies for the baby.
That afternoon my parents and I worked to sort through all of the baby stuff I have received or bought while home, washing the newborn stuff so it was ready to go, removing packaging to maximize space, and packing what we could into Will’s big green military sack which I will check as luggage on our flight, and the rest into boxes to be shipped. Thanks to my Dad and I’s excellent packing skills we managed to fit everything into three boxes for shipping. I still anticipate a hefty shipping cost, but I feel like it could have been much worse.
That night I ended the week over at Sister’s for another Sunday dinner.
It was a full week, with not too many changes on the baby front. I learned that as the baby is getting bigger and slowly running out of space to “swim” around in there, the kicks become less frequent and the bigger movements like rolling or a jab to the rib become more prevalent. I’ve been seeing a lot more movement from the outside than than before, and Little Bit has made it a hobby to roll over my bladder from time to time putting me in a panic to find a bathroom. Ahh the joys of pregnancy 🙂
With just 11 weeks to go I’m getting so excited to meet this little person. I’m also realizing that I don’t think I’ve done near enough research on how to actually care for a newborn baby. I woke up this morning wondering how the heck I’m supposed to know their schedule. I know new babies typically eat every 2-3 hours, and nap pretty much on and off for 2-4 hours at a time throughout the day and night, but exactly what time does that routine start? Haha! I realize when the baby arrives I will probably fall into their routine naturally, but being the planner that I am I can’t help but want to know what kind of schedule I’m looking at…which I realize is impossible. But to appease my poor mind I will probably be picking up a few books in the next few weeks so I will feel a little more prepared.