What Month is This?!

Okay folks!

I'm close to 37 weeks pregnant right now. That means it's crunch time! I thought, though, that since I may be absent for awhile, depending on how I feel in the next few weeks, I'd poop out one last substantial blog post for all you sweet ones!

As some of you may know, this is my first pregnancy. And as some others of you might know, the hubs and I are are crazy and courageous people and we decided awhile back that we'd do the whole a-naturale thing and have a home birth. So that's what we're preparing for right now. My husband is preparing by working insane hours at work. I'm preparing by cleaning my house obsessively and checking things off the shopping and do-to lists.

Up till now, I've been sort of lax about things. I said, "oh, I've got time!" And then we rounded the 36 week bend and I suddenly realized that there is literally A MONTH before D-day and I still had MUCHOS THINGS TO DO! And really, who knows if it's even gonna be a month? Right? I mean after 37 weeks, they say the kiddo could come any time! And, although I think I could probably stave off labor by sheer willpower until my house is spotless and everything in place, I'd rather be prepared early.

Things I'm doing:

I found this cool blog called Dear Baby the other day and read this post. containing a practical list of things one should do before her due date. While my list is a little more humble (I'm my OWN cleaning service and what is this "paid maternity leave" of which you speak??) there are some good tips there and it launched me forward a bit. By the way, a few of the "essentials" in my shopping list include the fun, girl stuffs she mentions. If you're prego, go read the post. 

• Cooking. I'm kind of a loner over here in Southern Oregon. My families live nearly 400 miles away, so I'll unfortunately be lacking a team of obliging familial servants after I deliver. Hence, I'm cooking meals and stashing them in the freezer, so I won't have to think about it during my "babymoon." Things I'm making: Sausage and Bean Cassarole, Zucchini Rice Cassarole, homemade frozen burritos, my mom's lasagna (secret recipe!!), and probably something with chicken in it, too. I bought disposable foil baking dishes with lids. And a whole mess of paper plates. No dishes during babymoon!
• Cleaning/Arranging. This is a big one, folks. I like to think I'm not being obsessive. But really? Nobody would even think to ask if the hospital's bathroom was clean if they were delivering there. I want to be able to take a clean bathroom--and kitchen and living room, etc.-- for granted. Also, since the baby's room isn't close to being a baby room (it's currently the "storage room" and the hubs and I have not been up to the task of tearing it apart and putting it back together), our room is going to be baby's room too for awhile. So, I've been busy rearranging things appropriately in there.
• Shopping. Sort of. I'm on what people call a shoestring budget right now, but I'm gearing up on the essentials. I think I've got pretty much everything I'll need as far as the smaller stuff goes for both myself and da bebe. But I do need at least one more nursing bra and we still haven't procured a bassinet or a crib. Yeah. I know...
• Sewing. More diapers! I'm making mine out of soft flannel. Right now, all I've managed are some prefolds, but I'm going to get started on a few fitted diapers, too.  
• Reading. I've been reading almost anything I can find on topics like breastfeeding and the immediate post-partum period.

So there ya have it. My work cut out for me! If I don't post for a while, it's because I'm either hard at work "nesting" or hard at work with a new little humanoid! Huzzah!