Everyone is growing

This week has been good so far, a healthy balance between productive and fun. I hit 38 weeks today, and I’m hanging in there. I’m feeling pretty well, although I’ve been very tired the last couple of days. It’s a good thing that most of the stuff on my to-do list is taken care of, since I don’t have much energy to spare. And coffee hasn’t been appetizing to me this week, so I don’t have my usual “liquid motivation” to rely on. But I really can’t complain – I’m grateful to be feeling as good as I do, to have everyone else in the house as healthy as they are, etc. I managed to finish packing the hospital bag, wash and put away Peter’s clothes and blankets, return library books, mail soon-to-be-due bills, etc. I’m trying to prepare for the possibility of being at the hospital for longer than just the 2 days for a healthy, normal delivery. With Jack I think I was at the hospital for about 5 days because he had to spend some time in the special care nursery, and with Thomas I was there for about 4 days recovering from the c-section. So while I hope to be gone from home for just 2 days this time, I don’t want to count on it. And I know my Mom and David will do an awesome job of keeping everything running smoothly at the house, but I figure it can’t hurt if I try and tie up as many loose ends ahead of time as I can.

I can tell that Peter is definitely running out of room in my tummy – he seems to squirm and try to stretch out more lately than kick and punch. I’ve also been feeling his “practice breathing” which is really neat. I can even see my tummy rise and fall rhythmically (it must be when his back is close to the top of my tummy) as he exercises his lungs. It’s slower and less jerky than hiccups, and I like feeling it because I know he must be getting ready to come out sooner or later if he’s doing breathing exercises, right? I’ve heard that unborn babies actually start labor (I’m not sure exactly how, but they get the process going when they’re “ready” to come out, by their position or by a hormone they release or something), so maybe Peter is checking off stuff on his to-do list before he gets ready to leave. Lungs work OK, CHECK!

Jack and Thomas have been a lot of fun this week. I’ve been trying to spend more time doing things with them this week rather than having them just tag along/help as I do chores around the house (or do baby-preparation stuff, which they must be sick of!). So this week we’ve played puzzles, board games, colored, made paper bag puppets, went to the park, played in their little wading pool, and watched movies together. Tomorrow after my doctor’s appointment we’ll hit the Zoo, and maybe go to the big swimming pool on Friday or Saturday.

Jack surprised me this morning by saying grace on his own! I was still getting Thomas buckled into his booster seat, so it wasn’t quite time for grace yet, but Jack must have been pretty eager to dive in and start eating. I know he knows many of the words, but usually he declines when we ask him to say it along with us. As long as he’s respectful and quiet while we say grace, I’m fine with that for now. But today he was just rattling it off without my asking for it, so that was encouraging! It was funny, though, because his version started off “Bless us, O Lord, and these guys’ gifts…” Actually, not too bad!

Thomas, who is always eager to be a big boy like Jack, surprised me yesterday by washing his own hands in the boys’ bathroom! I had sent Jack to the bathroom to wash his hands before lunch, and Thomas dutifully followed. Jack came out when he was done, but Thomas was still back there, so I finished up in the kitchen and went to see what Thomas was up to. His feet were dangling in mid-air, his tummy was balanced on the bathroom counter, and he was washing his hands under the water (with soap even!). He can’t reach the faucet or sink very well from just the step stool, so he hoisted himself up onto the edge of the sink by using the cabinet knobs as footholds (!!!). Ay yay yay. He was pretty proud of himself for doing it all by himself (and I made sure to praise him for being such a big boy), but seeing him dangle off the edge of the sink like that made me imagine more broken ankles, bitten tongues, etc. if he were to fall down. He’s going to keep us one our toes, this one!