Three Weeks and Counting

Today I am 37 weeks pregnant. Just three weeks left until my due date, May 29th. Of course, I can’t know if Baby Boy will show up early or not. I’m 1-2cm dilated, but my midwife says that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. In any case, I’m physically ready to be done, but my to-do list is still quite long, so I’ve been trying to knock out as many things as I can before returning to those sleep deprived newborn days.

Of course, it’s harder to knock things off a to-do list when you’re nine months pregnant and your belly closely resembles that of a giant teddy bear…DSC_9432I shouldn’t complain. I feel very blessed to be expecting a healthy full-term baby boy. I’ve gained less than thirty pounds and can still wear my wedding ring, which was not the case at this point with either of the girls. This pregnancy still feels harder to me though. I don’t know if it’s because I’m over 30 now, because it’s the third time around, or because I’ve got two other kids to keep up with, but yeah, I’m exhausted.

DSC_9418Alethea and Lydia seem more or less ready to make the transition to a family of five. They enjoy giving my belly kisses, and telling perfect strangers about their baby brother who is coming. Alethea has really been on board from the start. I think she’s so confident in managing her sister that she figures it can’t be much more work to be in charge of two. She seems very eager to be Mommy’s helper.

Lydia on the other hand, up until about a month ago, kept telling me that she did not in fact want a baby brother, she wanted another sister. Fortunately, that has ended and more recently she has started saying things about helping her brother walk and discussing where his car seat will go in our new-to-us larger vehicle that we purchased to accommodate three car seats.

Besides the new vehicle, we’ve also managed to acquire a fairly complete first year’s wardrobe for our little guy. We have a couple wonderful neighbors who were getting rid of their baby boy clothes and gave me first dibs on them. Between that, the things we already owned that were gender neutral, some gifts, and a few Target clearance finds, other than getting a few more 0-3 month sleepers, I’m about done with the “Find Boy Clothes” item on my to-do list. And everything is even washed and put away! Sweet little hats that probably will never fit my baby’s head… awwww…

Baby Boy ClothesAs far as the nursery update goes, I’m not as far along as I’d hoped I’d be, but we have made some progress. I bought the airplane fabric I was eyeing and my mom came over and helped me turn it into drapes, or rather, I helped her turn it into drapes. (Let’s just be honest about who did more of the work.) I also went to Home Depot and bought galvanized pipe to make a curtain rod, which I spray painted last weekend (never fear, while wearing an OSHA approved respirator). Now we just need to get the rod and curtains up, then pin the curtains at the correct length, take them down to do the hem and put them back up again. Sounds fun, right?

Dresser in Sherwin Williams LagoonSo not too much has changed in the nursery. I have gotten most of the girly accessories out, although I still haven’t made any decisions on the artwork situation, hence the continued presence of that bit of pink.

Nursery in transition

I did find bookends on eBay to fit the new theme. I love them, but I just can’t decide if I leave the current paint job or do something else. Spray paint them a solid color, perhaps bronze? Paint just the red parts with a color that better matches the rest of the room? Maybe go bold with a fun green to liven things up?

Train BookendsSo that’s where things stand at 37 weeks. Just for fun, and because I’m running out of mental decision making energy, leave me a comment and let me know whether I should paint the bookends and if so, what color. Opinions please!

13 thoughts on “Three Weeks and Counting

    • Thanks so much, Kammie! We caught a brief glimpse of his face on 3D ultrasound and he looked so much like Alethea, but it was just a quick second before he moved and now I’m dying to see his little face again.

  1. . Elise, you look great. Time has really gone by. The train looks ok to me with red. It looks like the old train I use to take my kids on when we went to Lancaster. We would sight see on the Strussberg rail road. The nursery says little boys room all over it. The girls will be a big help handing you wipes and diapers. I’m waiting to see pictures of the little fellow.

    • Thanks, Pearl! Everyone keeps saying how quickly this pregnancy has gone by and they can’t believe he’s due already. I confess that I do not feel the same way. I think I’ve been pregnant FOREVER! :-) I too think the girls will be good helpers.

  2. I can’t believe you’re 37 weeks already! Your pregnancy has flown by for me…haha! I’m sure you really want to hear that.

    I like the train as is. It has a vintage vibe which is kind of cool, I think. Looks like the curtains kind of have more of a vintage look? Hard to tell. I can’t wait for you to introduce him to us. I heard that you and the Konchals both picked a biblical boy name. Paul and I spent quite some time going through some boy names that would be obvious to us, and we settled on a couple that we could see you guys naming him. Excited to find out! Praying for a safe and EASY delivery for you.

    • Yeah, the red train does have a vintage vibe. And yes, I was trying to go for a more vintagey feel in the room, so maybe I should just stick with the red, even though it isn’t one of the “official” room colors.

      Yes, we are apparently both picking a Biblical name. Neither of us are telling though, so it will be interesting to see if we end up with baby boys of the same name.

      Thanks for the prayers! I do appreciate them.

  3. If it were me, I’d leave the bookends alone. They look perfect! Can’t wait to see the curtains. I can’t believe ‘Bob’ is going to be here soon!! So excited!

    • Hmmm… not painting seems to be the general consensus, doesn’t it? I’m sort of bummed because I wanted to improve them, but honestly, I’m not sure if there is a “better” look for them, so I suppose I shouldn’t do anything to them until I’m sure.

      I’m excited for you to meet Bob too!

    • My to-do list is getting shorter, but it doesn’t feel like it’s shrinking as fast as my “before baby” time frame. I think I’ll end up leaving them, especially since no one seems to think they can be improved upon.

  4. Can I just be difficult and vote that you paint the bookends spearmint green?? Haha. Really though. You asked.

    The nursery looks great and I LOVE the curtain fabric :)

    • Thanks, Erica!

      You think everything should be spearmint green! :-) I think I’m leaving them, but I appreciate the vote of dissent just to keep things interesting!

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