Family of three

So here we are patiently waiting. Honestly, I feel pretty long on the patience right now. Since Matt is done with school and home, the three of us are having an especially delightful time. We wake up together around 6:30--perhaps a bit earlier than Matt and I would like, but it's hard to complain when Tobin wakes up especially funny and charming. We eat all our meals together at our table. We take morning walks with Hannah. We run errands together in the afternoon if we feel up to it. And Matt and Tobin often have some play activity scheduled, usually with our friend Bryon and his son Miles, which allows me some down time or "nesting" time, whatever I prefer. We've even enjoyed some movies on DVD (Cars and Wall-E thus far) in the afternoons when the weather has been oppressively hot or, like today, rainy.

Matt and I have steadily been taking care of our baby to-do list. The big items were arranging care for Tobin and Hannah in the event Baby Brother comes "early"--i.e., before Ashley arrives late on the 19th and Mimi, the 20th. With those plans in place, the other things seem easy, because after having a newborn once, we realize that our littlest one only needs so much stuff: a carseat, some clean clothes and diapers. We've made some space for him, mainly for his little clothes, in Tobin's room and might even get around to converting the toddler bed back to a crib, but there's no hurry about that.

I have my 39-week check-up this coming Friday. Wow. I realize that I've written very little about this pregnancy, but honestly that's a good thing because it's been very healthy and uncomplicated, much like my pregnancy with Tobin. Except for being slightly anemic and having to supplement iron, I've felt good. My weight gain is about the same as it was with T (30 lbs.) and I venture to say that this pregnancy has been easier on my body in its later stages. I'm not having the ankle swelling I had with Tobin, and I also feel like I'm sleeping more comfortably than I did the first time around. Emotionally, I feel considerably more peaceful and relaxed. I'm less fearful of labor and delivery. My greatest concern these days is how Tobin will handle being away from us for a couple of days and then the transition to big brotherhood. He seems to be looking forward to meeting his little brother, and often comes to talk to my belly and will spontaneously tell us, "I love my baby brother." The other night he even gave my belly a very gentle fist bump. Adorable.

There are no imminent signs that Baby Brother is coming soon, but things can change very quickly over the course of a day, or even a few hours. I'm been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for the last month or so, but nothing that resembles the increasingly painful pre-labor contractions I started having three days before Tobin was born. My official due date is this coming Sunday, the 21st. Unofficially, we consider June 26th my due date based on my 18-week ultrasound and our own calculation of our conception date, but my midwives didn't want to change it based on just a 5-day discrepancy. And it this point, it doesn't matter much, except that my midwives have tentatively scheduled me for an induction at 41 weeks (7am on June 28th). Given the choice of scheduling for 41 or 42 weeks, I chose 41 because Tobin was over 9 pounds. Assuming this baby is similarly sized, I figure it's better to have him sooner than later. My intuition tells me that he will arrive well before the induction date.

Again, right now we're really quite content to enjoy this precious time before the excitement (and work!) that will come with transitioning to a family of four. We appreciate so much all the inquiries and especially your prayers. And we will do our best to keep everyone posted on any changes.