Slow and steady

“Life is always a rich and steady time when you 

are waiting for something to happen or to hatch."

~ E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

Progressing to 36 weeks!

It is a rich and steady time, indeed! As the days and weeks grow nearer to the birth day, we are getting increasingly more excited and the addition of this child to our lives and family is becoming more real. On Monday, we went to Seton Williamson Hospital and toured the maternity unit. The hospital is one of the newer hospitals in the area and the facilities are state-of-the-art. We got to see the labor & delivery room and that made things feel very real! Seeing that bed, and those stirrups....very real! After the birth, they keep the babies in the room with the mothers, with only a few exceptions, like when they take the baby for prints. Otherwise, mom and baby (and dad) are all together for good bonding and feeding time together. Hopefully things will go as planned and I will have a normal birth and will only be at the hospital for a day or two. I saw Dr. Brown on Tuesday and she did my first cervical exam. She said I was 1 cm dilated and I will now come in every week to get checked out from here on out.

This past week, Nick also packed the diaper bag for the hospital. The newborn diapers are just the sweetest, smallest things! He picked out a couple of potential "going home" outfits and I ordered a monogrammed baby cap for her to wear as well. She will be a little sweet bundle as she makes her journey from Round Rock, to her first home in Austin!

We continue to attend our classes. We have had 4 birthing classes and 2 baptism and hypnosis sessions. We are almost done with our training! Nick starts his final internship course at Texas State University on Wednesday and he will have a lot to focus on in the coming months. We are hoping that we find a good balance, and hopefully some external support to help us through the busiest/most demanding times. 

So what's left? We are planning to make on more trip to Allen over Labor Day weekend (the holiday, not MY labor day) and see family and friends. Alex and Chafin will be in town from Las Vegas, and it will be nice because we haven't seen them since Trier's baptism. This weekend I will be preparing my birth plan, and starting to pack my hospital bag. The baby's room is basically set up, with just a few odds 'n ends needed yet. I have another baby shower at work this Friday that my fellow social workers are hosting and I am looking forward to that one last celebration before the baby comes. I am just hoping that I can continue to work up until I deliver. Walking is growing increasingly more difficult, with pressure and pain in my lower-mid back on each step. Standing and walking all around the hospitals is really starting to wear me out!