Hello!
We’re nearing the finish line—I’ll be 36 weeks pregnant with baby number two in a few days. Time feels like it’s speeding up. We have our 36-week appointment later this week, when we’ll find out whether this baby is head down or breech like his big sister was. We’ll see!
These days I’m uncomfortable and tired, but also excited to meet our little boy soon and to no longer feel like there’s a bowling ball pressing on my bladder. 🙂
I haven’t felt up for much more than walking and very gentle, short prenatal yoga videos, but the spring weather has been lovely for getting outside.
The bump is definitely large and in charge these days—no mistaking it.
Riese is thrilled about her little brother coming soon. She also finds it hilarious to stick stickers all over my belly, as you can see in the photo below.
Matt and I spent most of the weekend preparing for the baby. Suddenly time felt short and we were like, “Yikes, we need to get our acts together!”
We pulled out our old baby gear and moved Riese’s car seat from the middle to one side of the car so we could reinstall our convertible seat for infants and younger toddlers. That led to the familiar scavenger hunt for newborn inserts and adapters—some items were in the basement storage, while the head cushion insert turned up in an upstairs closet. Whoops!
We washed the covers on the bassinet, play mat, and other infant gear to refresh everything since we’re reusing Riese’s items. Matt installed blackout curtains in the baby’s room and we finished most of the nursery prep; I’ll share updated pictures soon.
I also pulled out my old postpartum and nursing items and washed them. I still need to organize and put everything away, and I’ll be packing our hospital bags this week.
One frustrating snag: the pull-out couch we ordered for guests wouldn’t fit up the stairs—just an inch or two short on the twisty turn. We ordered it back in December and hoped it would arrive before the baby, since Matt’s parents plan to visit and stay for a while to help. If anyone has recommendations for pull-out couches that fit narrow or twisty staircases, I’d love to hear them.
I’ll be posting a pregnancy update soon that includes my maternity leave plans and what to expect on the blog in the coming months—stay tuned for that next week.
With so much to do, we ate out or ordered food a lot over the weekend, but Riese helped me test a new recipe coming to the blog on Wednesday: lemon ricotta pancakes.
The pancakes were a hit with all three of us. I’ll share the recipe in a couple of days.
Leftovers the next morning were served with yogurt, slivered almonds, and papaya—I’ve been obsessed with papaya lately; it’s so juicy and delicious.
We also threw together simple meals like a rice and quinoa bowl with feta, wilted spinach, avocado, and fried eggs.
Last night Matt had a soccer game, so Riese and I spent part of the afternoon at my parents’ house and then ordered pizza from Pupatella, my Arlington favorite. Their salad with grapefruit and apple was a surprising and delicious combo.
On another note, I received my second vaccine shot on Saturday morning. I was worried about side effects, but my arm was actually less sore than after the first shot and I only felt tired—though I’m already very tired at 36 weeks, so it’s hard to separate vaccine fatigue from pregnancy fatigue. I’m relieved to have it done; Matt will get his second shot this week.
Finally, a couple of timely deals I wanted to mention: Beautycounter is running a sale right now with sitewide discounts for a limited time, and Blue Apron has a flash promotion offering savings on your first boxes and bonus Calm app access. I personally like Beautycounter’s lipstick, eye brushes, and sunscreen options; their sunscreen is non-nano zinc oxide and reef friendly.
Zara the cat says: have a great day and don’t forget to rest. I love when she curls up in the leg nook like this.
See you back here Wednesday with the pancake recipe. And if you missed it, check out my recent Non-Fiction Reads book post from Friday—there are lots of great suggestions in the comments.