Now that I am less than 2 weeks away from my due date, I am really trying to prepare for this baby in every way possible. I feel like I am in the "nesting" phase that people say happens at the end of pregnancy. I keep thinking of random things that I need to do, and add them to my lists that I have going on. However, I've been able to cross most things off my list by now.
On Sunday I brought up the infant car seat from the basement and cleaned it and the two bases and they are ready to go! I was also motivated to organize our kitchen junk drawer since I KNOW I won't be doing that again for awhile after he baby is born. Today I went through my bags of samples that I received from Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us, and organized my coupons, and put most of my samples (diaper rash cream, wipes, sunscreen, etc.) in the diaper bag. The samples are perfect travel size. I totally reorganized my diaper bag to include items for both Avery and a newborn. I absolutely LOVE my diaper bag - JuJuBe B.F.F. - it has so much room and is so easy to organize, but it's not giant and heavy (somehow.)
I have a small list of things I still need to get for the baby, but the major thing is the monitor. I considered getting a video monitor, but we never had one with Avery, and I don't think we are going with to get one for this child either (at least for now unless I change my mind.) After reading a lot about monitors, I realize the problem with many of the video monitors is that the audio isn't what I want, and the audio is the most important feature to me. Most of the wifi monitors that connect to phones don't have voice activation audio settings, so they are either totally on or off. We are planning to put the baby in the crib to sleep from the first day, instead of our room. We had Avery in our room for 10 weeks before putting her in the crib, and as soon as we moved her she started sleeping through the night. I think we were keeping her up as much as she was keeping us up!
But back to the monitor...the monitor that I am going to use is the Angelcare audio and movement monitor. There are several reasons I am choosing this over the video monitor. First, the audio is very highly rated, and it's voice activated, meaning there will be no static or noise unless that baby is crying or making noise. It also won't be affected by white noise/Sleep Sheep. Our old monitor was voice activated too, and I liked it, except it was cheaper and couldn't always find a good connection so sometimes it would start beeping and wake me up for no reason...which is annoying when you are already waking up several times at night. Travis and I are both light sleepers and we don't want something that is loud all night, and will be keeping us up, so this seems to fit the bill. We also plan on using the movement sensor, mostly just for the first 3-4 months. The movement sensor makes sure that the baby is moving/breathing, and I think it will give me a little more peace of mind having the baby in the other room. The reviews are somewhat mixed on the movement sensor, but most people say the audio is so good that it's worth it even if they didn't use the movement sensor as well, so I'll be interested to see how it goes.
I've also been reading of my two favorite baby books every night - Babywise and Secrets of a Baby Whisperer - both of which give me a sense of how a routine and planning can make life with a newborn easier. With Avery, I bought these books when I was in "survival mode" (around 6 weeks or so) and it was hard to get a lot out of them because we had already created some bad habits that were hard to break, such as walking with Avery around our kitchen island for 15-30 minutes to get her to sleep. It was exhausting! This time my plan is "start as you mean to go on" and my priorities are to make sure that this baby has full feedings and a simple eat-activity-sleep schedule. I know it won't be as easy as it sounds, but at least this time I feel prepared having goals in mind, instead of just flying by the seat of my pants, and barely surviving. I'm looking forward to seeing how my planning strategies pay off, or if I'll be laughing at this post in just a few short weeks.
Lastly, I had my 38 week doctor appointment yesterday, and all is well. My doctor offered to sweep my membrane...which she said has about a 50% chance of starting labor. Travis freaked out and said no, haha, and I agreed. As much as I'm ready for the baby to come out, I'm also trying to be patient and let the baby come when she's ready. I also want to spend as much time with Avery as possible - knowing that this chapter in our life is about to close and a new one will start soon enough!!
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