Life lately

The end of a (really short) era is fast approaching.  If  everything goes according to plan, Lucy will have been promoted to the rank of sister by next Friday, March 7. 
I've got one last infusion this Friday and then it's bye bye IVIG for the forseeable future.
Life has pretty much become one big waiting game.  Luckily nothing laborific is happening around here, and the doctor said he thinks we might just make it to my scheduled c-section without any hiccups.

I've been soaking up the last few weeks of it being just Lucy and I.  I haven't really been able to take her to the park for the last few weeks, but we've been finding fun activities to do inside and out on the patio.  Yesterday we tried out Color Wonder finger paints, and it was a hit.  She had a blast smearing the paint all over her desk and the paper, and I was grateful that the paint is clear so I didn't really have to use oodles of baby wipes and end up with paint on my walls or the dogs.

I'm still feeling pretty guilty about having our time as a duo cut short at 18-months, but everyone I talk to who have kids close in age say it's actually pretty awesome and they usually are best friends that love to play together.

I've had a blast being her mom for the past year and a half, and she's really turning into a smart and funny little kid.  It seems like she's been learning a word a week (this week it's "done") and has learned how to make a fish face.  She's really big on giving kisses and hugs, especially to Andy, myself and her dogs.

I'm nervous like last time about having a c-section, simply because it is major surgery and there are risks.  But it's the safest way for him to arrive, so I'm willing to take on those risks.  At least I know what to expect this time.

Hopefully we get a way different hospital experience this time around.  We went into Lucy being born expecting that we'd have a baby in my hospital room with us, giving us time to bond and her and I time to learn how to breastfeed successfully with help from awesome nurses and lactation consultants.

That didn't happen at all, instead it was a really traumatic situation where my baby was downstairs and I was upstairs.

If everything goes right this time, Andy and I will get that time with our new baby in my room, getting to know him and learning the ropes of nursing together.  I'm really looking forward to the three of us having that bonding time without the distraction of visitors for the first few hours. 

I feel really robbed of having that time with Lucy, it's time we'll never get back.  We're doing the same thing as last time, not having visitors until much later in the day after he's born so we get that time together.

Plus it's really glamorous having nurses coming in every 30 minutes, asking if you've farted/pooped yet, and if you've peed, because if you haven't the catheter is going back in.  Add feeling like a swamp creature since, you know, my abdomen was just cut open, and postpartum hormones making me weepy as hell, I'm definitely not going to be up to visitors way later in the day.

More power to those people who are up to visitors while they are pushing and right after birth.  I'm just not one of them, no matter how close I am to someone.  I'll be undergoing a major medical procedure, and that's a big deal.  My husband and daughter are the only ones I can handle during times like these.

I still can't believe we've only got a week and two days until he gets here!  That is just crazy to me.  This pregnancy has just flown by, and I'm really hoping that his baby days don't fly by, since this could potentially be our last one.

I leave you with a dog who wants more borscht.