Nesting #5

As this blissful second trimester winds down to an end, nesting has finally kicked in.  Things are so different this time around.  The trend in each pregnancy, understandably, has been to be more and more distracted through the whole thing.  It goes by so fast.

I finally feel her on a more consistent basis, but nothing like the other kids.  Inside the womb, she behaves most like her brother, David.  I’ll admit that worries me a little.  😉  Like David, she will stop moving the instant she senses someone’s hand there.  Like David, her movements are few, but strong.  The other kids would kick back when they were poked, and almost play a game.  Like her biggest brother, when poked she will stop and think about what happened, and try to figure it out.

I wonder if my labor will be like his too.  Everything about David from the very beginning was intense.  I know I’ve said that before.  Like all her older siblings, I suspect she will blaze her own trails.  I imagine she will have her own traits that are uniquely hers.  She will teach us all something new.

Name discussions are drawing to a close.  Knut and I each have our favorites, but like always, we’ll probably go with his.  I like his name very much, and if I veto’d it, it wouldn’t even be on the table anymore.  I really like it, but I like mine more.  He really likes the name I like too, just he likes his name more.  We’ve been trying to figure out a way to break this tie of ours, and we had a discussion the other night about possible nicknames.  I had to admit that nicknames for his name are infinitely better than mine.  I still like mine, but he may have won me over. 

Preparation for this birth is so different this time around.  We are planning a birth with a midwife for the first time, and there is a bit of extra work involved with that, but it’s all fun work.  I’m really enjoying collecting things, and learning things I knew nothing of before.  I have another appointment with her tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to it.  We plan on discussing my previous births in depth this time around, and making some more specific birth plans around that history.

I bought a new little sleeper for her last week, in a teeny newborn size.  I like to get one new for each of the kids, so they own at least one new thing when they are born.  I like to walk around the house with it over my shoulder, and try to remember how much of my hand covers a newborn’s slender back.  That’s my way of bonding.

I also got her her own new Amber teething necklace.  Silje has a grown up tooth coming in that’s bugging her, so she’s wearing the new baby’s necklace today.  Sorry little one.  I guess most of what you’ll have will be used.  I’ve debated getting one for each of my kids, and the one Solveig had was passed around to the point where it finally fell apart.  I cannot believe I never heard of those before Solveig was born.  It has been such a lifesaver.  One for each kid might get pricey, though.

I find myself nesting, but nesting has a different face as you have more kids, I guess.  I’m not getting any nursery ready.  I know she’ll sleep in the cradle in our room until she outgrows it, or starts sleeping through the night.  At that point, we’ll see if Solveig is ready to give up the crib.  If not, then the new baby will sleep in the pack n play.  We’re not ready to renovate the girls’ room yet, and make the big room switch where Silje, Solveig, and the new baby will move into the bigger boys room, and the boys will move into the girls’ room.  The girls’ room needs to be gutted, re-insulated, dry walled, texturized and painted before we can make the switch.  That is certainly not going to get done this winter.

So I think when the baby is a few months old, and ready to move out of our room, she’ll probably sleep with her brothers.

I can’t get out the newborn clothes and prepare them until I have some place to put them.  I need a new dresser, and I have one picked out at a consignment store that fits the bill perfectly.  However, I have no means to move it at this point.  I certainly can’t move it myself, and even if I could, my van would need to be empty to haul it home.  It’s not like I could leave the kids at home and run and pick it up.  The consignment shop is closed on Sunday (Knut’s only day off) so I might have to wait for a rainy day, or harvest’s end to get it.  Then the clothes-sort will begin.  That’s the only part of my nesting that is getting frustrated right now.

The reality of this baby is starting to dawn on the kids, and that’s really fun to see.  During church last Sunday, David was having a tough time.  As I was sitting next to him, the baby started kicking.  I whispered to him that the baby was kicking.
“How do you know?”
“I can feel her.  She’s kicking me.”
“How to you feel her?”
I put his hand over my belly, and told him to wait.  I was certain she would stop kicking then, but she gave him a good punch, and his whole face lit up.  He looked up at me with amazement and said, “She’s strong!”

The baby has not kicked for Silje yet, so she’s trying to take every opportunity to feel.  Elias was the one who didn’t believe me about the baby for awhile, but all day yesterday, he was talking about how the baby in my tummy was still small, but she’s getting bigger and bigger.  He was having this discussion with Solveig in a very serious tone, and I’m pretty sure she wasn’t understanding.  However she felt important to have such a conversation with her big brother.

I have a feeling she’s going to fit right in.  Already the kids love her.  Already Knut and I love her.  I feel bad already that she doesn’t get the attention the other kids got when they were in my womb.  She’ll have no baby shower or celebration (nor do we need one!  I have bags overflowing with newborn items and my closets will hold no more.)  Although I have thought of having a baby celebration at our house in place of a shower.  Kinda like a shower without gifts.  It will be right around Christmas, though, so that seems impractical.

I also picked up a book of Knit Christmas Stockings this week at my local yarn store, because there was a stocking in there that seemed just perfect for this new little one.  Although her due date is December 22nd, I expect her to arrive before Christmas, as I have never gone late.  Not that I couldn’t go late, it would just surprise me…a lot.  For baby’s first Christmas gift, each kid got a Christmas stocking, and I think this Christmas will be her first.  I should get prepared.  I really need to find some time to knit it, as I have searched the stores over already, and haven’t found any knitted ones that would fit into the color scheme of all of the other knitted stockings in the house.  Most of our stockings are store bought, but I came across the same problem of no matching ones when Solveig was born, so she has a handmade one.

I love the nesting phase.  It allows my mind to drift to a new little baby.  It brings back to mind the smell of newborn skin, and the little noises they make.  I start talking to her at the oddest times, and I wonder if she knows that I’m talking to her just then.

Sweet little girl.  We’re getting so excited to meet you!  Take your time, though.  Good things are always worth waiting for!