We are in the final stretch of pregnancy with baby # 3 – referred to as “Baby C” and it still feels so surreal. I will say, I am quite curious to see what story this baby writes on entering the world. When I was expecting the twins I didn’t really realize why “birth stories” were such a big thing…but then after having the twins it clicked that truly every mom + baby’s story is so, so different. Even my twins have a birth story that varies from the other.
I wanted to try to make the time to write what I think may
be one final bump update. Currently writing this at 38 weeks & 4 days pregnant.
Baby could potentially debut any day now and while last week (37 weeks) I wasn’t feeling
ready at all, over the past weekend + week,
something shifted and I felt more of a sense of calm about welcoming baby. We
aren’t ready, the house isn’t ready, but is anyone ever fully ready? We just
get ready and go into action when baby decides to show up.
Week 38
BUMP UPDATE –
Baby is a size of a – winter melon or mini watermelon
Gender – we are waiting to find out until birth – we did this with our twins too!
Names picked out – we just decided our boy name this week. Girl names have been a bigger struggle for us this time…. We’ve made some progress though. We formed a TOP FOUR list, and over the past week narrowed that down to our TOP THREE & then our TOP TWO….I am eager to decide on the ONE this week. Also, after we nixed one name from the TOP list, it hit me that the name we nixed was actually a “C” name. Which was a little comical since all along we’ve referred to this baby as “Baby C”.
UPDATE -- a day after publishing this, we officially have our boy & girl names selected and ready to go (38 weeks + 5 days pregnant). The girl name we landed on is actually a new one we thought of over a Sunday breakfast today of biscuits and gravy. We both instantly were like, yea, I like that, it's perfect. Which was the feeling we had been waiting on for a girl name. What a relief!
Feeling – still pretty decent. Energy levels ebb and flow. I’ve had pelvic floor pressure and I am moving slow but fortunately, not a ton of discomfort yet. Week 37 was a little rough, I think I must have caught a stomach bug, which had me down for two days. But now I feel back to “normal” in a pregnancy sense.
Best Moment – the shift that came over the past weekend. One that took me from a constant state of list making & overwhelm about being “ready” to feeling a sense of calm.
Prep Done –
Finally a bump update where a good amount of prep actually took place!
Since I last wrote a bump update, we have transitioned the girls to their new room (at week 34 of my pregnancy). They did really well with the transition. We decided to leave them in their cribs longer and not make that change pre-baby, and I think that's one reason their transition to the new room went so smooth - keeping their beds familiar. I haven't done much to their room yet, I plan to wait to do much "styling" until we transition their beds.
I ordered my breast pump through insurance - I use the Aeroflow site, and it makes it super easy. I ended up deciding to try this Zomee Z2 Double Electric Breast Pump (I'll write more on why in the FAQs section below).
We picked up baby's crib. We bought a secondhand one off my friend who was done with theirs. It's really similar to this one. Other nursery updates = the new rug I ordered got backordered but just shipped - this one. I haven't done much of anything in the nursery yet at this point and don't plan to before the baby arrives. We have all the essentials like a rocking recliner, lamp, changing table, etc and only got the "new" crib + rug so far. I do plan to spruce it up a little after baby is here and I know the gender. This is the inspiration for what I want to do in there along with some decor flair depending on gender.
I've pulled a lot of our newborn items out of storage and have them washed - boppy pillow, clothes, sleep sacks, carseat, etc. I have a few more things to locate and get ready but I feel peace of mind in this area now. All my favorite baby items that we used with the twins are in this amazon list of Baby Registry Must Haves.
I've also prepped some things at home for when we are gone at the hospital. Things like - stocking up on some meal, drink & snack items for the girls and my mom, who will be staying with them while we are in the hospital delivering the baby. Easy grab and go type items, nothing fancy. But just keeping more of a backstock than usual.
I've also prepped some things for when we come home from the hospital --
Things for our soon to be big sisters to make this time a little more special for them. I've been grabbing new small activities / crafts to do when baby is here. Some of the items are this big box of sidewalk chalk, this sorting toy, this activty mat, new bouncy balls & stickers from the Dollar Store, mess free coloring pages. Basically little things I find here and there on sale.
They are getting this bubble machine for Easter (that way I can hold/ feed the baby and not be the one blowing bubbles).
My friend Jenna also gave me the idea to create some little boxes of fun items so that the girls can each pull one out when I am feeding the baby to help keep them occupied (maybe...hopefully). So, while I had thought to stock up on activities, I hadn't thought to sort them into easy to grab boxes.. So, I've been adding books of ours that have been out of the rotation that will seem "new" to them, toys of theirs that they havent played with much lately, I'll occassionally add a bag of freeze dried fruit that they can snack on (their special snack), bouncy balls, I grabbed some slinkies - just random small things I think they will like and want to play with for a little bit.
Another friend suggested buying a special game that is for us to play when baby is sleeping. Something special to pull out with just them. So I am buying this Let's Go Fishing game that I think they will like.
Things I'm prepping at home for me = a back stock of protein packed snack items like granola bars and protein shakes to try to make sure I can easily hit protein goals for breastfeeding & Liquid IV for extra easy hydration (use code ROOTSOUTWEST to save 25% off and get FREE shipping). I grabbed this 3 tier rolling cart to put all the newborn / breastfeeding essentials in that I can roll around from room to room for me and baby. I've also been stocking up on some beauty items + toiletries to make sure I don't have to worry about running out of anything early on - extra mascara, shampoo, razor blades, tinted hydrator (I've been loving this!), deordant, all that little stuff.
Baby’s Position – head down & ready to go. No progression on any front yet as far as baby is concerned. Which I find to be a relief each time and my Nurse Practioner chuckles because she says I am basically the only patient with that reaction. The majority of her patients are ready to deliver baby and be done with pregnancy at this point.
Birth Plan – I had a scheduled C Section with the twins at 36 weeks but am hopeful for a VBAC this time with Baby C. I am looking forward to the chance to be able to experience both, and while I hope it's successful I plan to keep an open mind for whatever ends up being best. I will say I'm pretty nervous about the potential of my water breaking (apparently this only happens to every 1 in 10 women), going into labor and the delivery process. None of that sounds too enticing, but neither does a major surgery....so, alas, we shall see!
A Few FAQs Regarding This Pregnancy-
What Breast Pump are you getting from insurance this time?
I ordered the Zomee Z2 Double Electric Breast Pump through insurance for free using the Aeroflow site. I went with this option because I liked that it was portable and rechargeable. I want the option to be portable even around the house, what with having twin toddlers to also tend to. Then in case the suction isn't great on this one (what seems to be the common consensus on portable/wearable pumps) I have the Spectra S2 & Evenflo Advanced Double Electric Breat Pump as more stationary pumps from with the twins. If I end up deciding I want a more discreet wearable pump, I plan to go with this one that I have good things about that is around $100 on Amazon.
And as for the Insurance side of it, the Aeroflow site is super easy to use. You enter your insurance info and then it will send a follow up e-mail to let you know what pumps (& additional products - compression socks, etc) that you qualify for with your insurance. You then select a pump and enter your doctor's information and the request for the perscription from them gets sent to the doctor's office directly, then Aeroflow sets a ship date based on your due date! It was a quick turnaround for me.
I also purchased the Elvie Curve with my Amazon Baby Registry Completion Discount. I've heard good things and liked that it offered the option to catch or suction and is wearable. This was a helpful post on @karrie_locher's Instagram comparing the pros vs. cons between different collector options - read more here.
Other breast pumps that were recommended to me are on this Amazon List of Baby Products for Baby 3.
What's In My Hospital Bag?
I started this Hospital Bag List in my Amazon Storefront for now to catalog some of the items I am packing. Things like my robe, cloud slides, nursing bras + tanks, my portable phone charger, a 10 foot charging cord, etc. I will write a new blog post on everything I pack soon - you can get on my e-mail newsletter list or join my Insiders Facebook Group to be sure you don't miss it when it goes live. Until then, this Amazon List is a good resource as well as this "Hospital Bag" highlight saved on my Instagram @rootsoutwest.
What Baby Monitor did you get to accomodate 3 kids?
I wanted to upgrade our baby monitor to one with 3 cameras (one per screen). I also wanted a split screen option. Our current one has 2 cameras and does a scan feature, which works fine, but I didn't want to have an increased delay in time (with the scan feature) to check on whichever child was crying.
I found this MoonyBaby non-wifi option with 3 cameras and a quad screen view. The brand as a whole has lots of positive reviews on their products, but this particular monitor (+ bundle) was only a month old at the time I purchased, so few reviews on this listing. Hoping we love it, we have to set it up still.
Second Time Mom Money Saving Tip —
For any other moms on their second pregnancy like me - set up a gift registry on Amazon & Target even if you don't intend to have a shower/sprinkle. Why? Merely for the completion discount & other perks! Head to this post to learn more on that. I just placed my Amazon order with my completion discount (available 60 days before you are due) and saved 15% on items that we needed a refresh or more of like - pacifiers, breast milk bags, and an Elvie Curve (a new item since I had the twins).
I also set up a private Target Registry, primarily for the return barcode to use on diaper returns and exchanges. Having that makes it a million times easier.
Other Bump Updates –
Read all my updates from this pregnancy - Week 20, 24, & 28 all here & Week 32 here
You can read my bump updates with the twins here – 16 weeks / 21 weeks / 25 weeks / 31 weeks / 34 weeks
Helpful Amazon Lists in my Storefront --
+ NEW OR EXPECTING MOM MUST HAVES - Handy items for moms to have during the early days of bringing your newborn home from the hospital and postpartum.
+ BABY ITEMS & GIFTABLES - Functional or cute items for your newborn baby + gift ideas for baby showers
+ HOSPITAL BAG ITEMS - Items I’m packing in my hospital bag for delivering baby # 3.
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