The home stretch

Suzi helping Pluto feel Ivey last night

Wednesday we saw Dr. Stafford (or "Dr. Polo Shirt," as Julie calls him). He wrote my prescriptions, said the baby had a strong heartbeat, and we said thanks and goodbye until I get pregnant again! We picked up the prescriptions (two injectables and some pills we need to have available for the birth just in case) on the way home and luckily it was under $35 with our insurance. I'm 37 weeks and a day by the midwife's calculations. Our midwives are coming for the home visit Tuesday to bring the birth kit and go over final details.

Here's the list of things I've done to prepare so far:

1) Put together and made up Ivey's bed (Arm's Reach Cosleeper)
2) Got cradle set up for downstairs naps
3) Bought a food dehydrator and encapsulation kit for my placenta
4) Put together a basket of labor tools
5) Wrote an emergency hospital birth plan
6) Called Carey about 20 times with questions
7) Installed Ivey's car seat (well Jordan did)
8) Made and froze a chicken pot pie and a couple other things
9) Did a lot of cleaning in various places
10) Did some plaster belly casting (messy!)
11) Washed Ivey's cloth diapers
12) Made music playlist for labor
13) Packed in bins all the stuff we'll need; see below


When you're having a baby in the hospital, they supply all the linens and pretty much everything you need. For a homebirth, YOU are responsible for all that. I went through our linen closet and picked out all our crappy, mismatched towels and washcloths. Then I washed them on hot with Clorox, rinsed twice, dried them on high, and packed them up for the birth. Not only is our linen closet tidy, but we didn't have to spend any money! We also had to wash and pack up two sets of bedsheets, some receiving blankets, and clothes for the baby and me. We bought some teeny little Seventh Generation disposables for Ivey's first black tar poo (if you've had a baby, you know the one I'm talking about). There are many other things we packed up too, and they are all stacked in the corner of our bedroom. I had a good time getting them ready.

I decided not to pack a just-in-case hospital bag, because I don't feel like it. If I do have to go to the hospital in a hurry I probably won't need much and someone can throw a bag together for me. I need the stuff I would pack for my homebirth, and how can it be in the right place if it's in a suitcase? Besides, the whole thing seems so pessimistic. My emergency birth plan is in my purse, so I'll have that in case I need it.

I have just two weeks left of work and then I'm a stay-at-home mom. Big changes are coming for us!

One more picture... Because Suzi said "take my picture, Mommy!"