Simply Cintia: Baby Prep at 36 Weeks

Today I turned 36 weeks of pregnancy and yes, I am preparing for the arrival of our third bundle of joy. You can say it took a while to prepare (in a physical way) this time, mostly because by the time third baby is here, we have had the experience of the previous two. Gadgets might improve, new products hit the market often and one thing is for sure: child birth is a natural thing and it doesn't really take that much to happen. Here's a mix of things happening in my world:

Baby Shower

My first baby shower for baby number 3 was very special. The Pastors' Wives of my church has a bi-monthly gathering so they decided to give me a Baby Shower during this month's get together. It was also a pool party, which was awesome. God knows I've been wanting to swim for a while and I always wanted to have some celebration in that way. I thought that was totally God's gift to me. Another surprising gift: my bathing suit still fits me. I don't do belly pics of pictures of me on bathing suits on the blog (or anywhere else) so you'll have to believe me in this one. I decided to reach out to my pre-pregnancy clothes and give it a try right before the party. To my amazement my bathing suit still fit, so I just went with it. That and my grandmother telling me I haven't gained that much weight was VERY encouraging. Our church choir is hosting a baby shower for us in a few weeks. We're so thankful for the love and looking forward to celebrating!

Baby Swag

A few friends sent me baby gifts earlier this year and I was blessed with a lot of great baby stuff at the MOPS exchange. I am so thankful to God for all the baby items I got!

Mãe (Mom)

My mother will be here in a week exactly. The last time I had just given birth to my second child. Things automatically got better when she showed up. She's an amazing help and support and just lots of fun to have around. She's also the one person I trust with the care of my family. Everyone looks forward to being loved on and fed. It's gonna be amazing to have some help engaging the kids, especially because they still need a lot of attention, so I won't be the only one to give it to them.

Exercise

According to Foursquare I've been exercising at least 3 times a week for the past 14 weeks. This is quite a record compared to my last pregnancy when I was very inactive. Exercise gives me energy and helps me tremendously in more ways imaginable. The myth of laying low for 9 months doesn't work for me. I choose exercise over the aches and pains I had from being inactive last time. I also believe it's helped me control my weight gain.

Nursery

The plan is to keep the baby with us for a few months, then transition her to a room with one of her siblings. I have no photos to show, only stories to tell. My first baby went to his own room immediately because we didn't know the crib was going to be too big to roll it to our room. Quite an independent child. My second baby was with us for a few months, then she joined her brother. Sometimes she likes to have a room for herself, sometimes she doesn't mind sharing. I'm sure the two girls will share a room at some point.

Name

No name to report yet. I'm thinking this time we may announce it when she's born. I'm just now realizing the amount of people who are born knowing what names their kids will have because they're the ones bothered with us not announcing a name along with the positive pregnancy test.

Hospital Stay

I took the first step and put the carseat in the back of our van. My husband will have to install it later. I also took the 'big' step of selecting a hospital bag (the same one I've used for all kids). Now I need to pack it. I keep thinking I need to pack light. For some reason I never do. I know what PJs I want to take so I just need to throw them in there along with some cute outfits for the baby. The funny thing about this c-section is that the doctor works in the afternoon. My other two were in the morning, so for the first time we'll have a Texas baby and a baby born in the afternoon. The only bad thing about afternoon c-sections is the fasting time: it starts at midnight the night before. I usually try not to eat at 11:59 because of heartburn, so help me Lawd and bring on the jello once this baby is born and we're all well and ready to rock and roll.