North has taken some great developmental leaps in the past week or so. He has discovered how to climb and now not a tabletop or high surface is safe from his explorations. He sings/yells stories as he plays around the yard or the house. His independent play has expanded into longer amounts of time and now includes many ideas or objects that do not immediately exist.
This creative play has brought on a sense of outside wanderlust as he will start out in the backyard then into the front yard and then up the driveway to the vacant street. He travels into the fields and will go across the culdesac to check out the water in the drain. Most of the time, as I see him move out of one space I will go with him, but I have lost him a few times. Once I found him behind the chicken coop tangled in berry vines. He was not upset surprisingly, he was working hard (and making it worse!) to get unstuck.
It all sounds really bad, but our space around the house is so open with no deep holes or traffic, I feel that North is safe as he wanders. Obviously he is a bit young to be unsupervised, so I am working on his awareness of play boundaries and my own responsibility to be more diligent!
North has also started biting and running away as we call out to him. In one aspect, I am glad that these behaviors have begun before the baby arrives, so that we may work on curbing his impulses without the baby being an underlying issue. I am trying to focus my patience and remember that he will feel out of sorts after the baby arrives. Our time together now is even more special and meaningful as our last moments with just the two of come to an end.
The baby has been very active in the last few weeks. I feel like a prostate cancer patient as I have to pee all the time, yet often it is only the baby pressing on my bladder that is making me feel uncomfortable. All is well health wise as long as I can keep the cramping under control. Walking on the beaches (or even across the grocery store) can often bring on painful cramping so I am moderating the amount of activities I do within each day with napping and book reading with North used as personal resting time. It seems to be helping along with drinking as much water as possible. At the last doctor's visit, he offered to check for dilation, but honestly, I don't want to know! The baby will come when he is meant to. (Let's hope he waits at least another two weeks for the home birth!)
I am gathering supplies for the birth. The midwifes are really picky about the amount of sheets and towels a family must have on hand. I also need that have at least 8 newborn hats and receiving blankets ready along with various other small things. The birth tub is ordered. Reed and I plan to conduct a dress rehearsal of the entire set up and drainage, so that we know how much time to give. Our water heater is tiny, I am worried I won't have enough warm water to labor in. We are brainstorming different ideas to work with that problem.
I don't feel anxious about the labor anymore. After the last ultrasound showed the placenta high and out of the way, I felt a lifting of stress. I am excited to be able to be given the chance to prepare for a peaceful birth again. I have been thinking of different ways to make a print with the baby's placenta. I would love to frame it and keep it up on the wall. Nice to know it won't be cut in half from a surgery!
No pictures for now. I am dreaming of a time when back fat and stretch marks disappear. After this pregnancy, I will certainly not be whiny about beginning to run again. I am feeling taken over!