Almost Ready

It's almost baby time, and we are close to being prepared. Not quite there yet, but close.

I've been trying to put our boxes of goodies together for the birth. Mine is the big laundry basket full of towels, a heating pad, and there is more to come. I'd say my box is the hardest to put together because pretty much everything that goes into it, we won't want to use again. I still need a nightgown (I don't really have one I want to part with), a strainer, a bowl... then we need to gather basic household things like a couple garbage bags, some ammonia, a flashlight. I should probably do those things tonight since we actually do have them around the house.

Matilda's box was much easier. All she needed were diapers, a nightgown, cotton balls, q-tips, peroxide and alcohol. The only things left to go in her box are 6 receiving blankets, and I am struggling with that one because we only have really nice new blankets we have gotten as gifts, and we are supposed to use ratty old disposable ones. Then she needs some olive oil, and it's just a matter of putting that on the grocery list and then making sure Jeff doesn't cook with it :)

All the other pictures are of the birth pool, in case anyone was wondering what a birth pool looks like. The top picture is just a photo from the company web page. It would be really hard to take a pic of the inside of our pool because we already have the disposable liner on it, so all you can see is thick plastic. You can see from the picture, though, that is has a padded bottom and also a seat to sit on. Quinn said he is mad, because that is what a proper kiddie pool should have looked like growing up. The other pictures are of the actual pool I will be using. Jeff blew it up last night for me since he is out of town this week, and I tried getting into it (which was REALLY hard to do because I am uncoordinated and lost my balance on the padded floor!). It's a lot taller than I thought, which I really like. Someone had told me the pools were only waist deep, but this one is shoulder deep. It's supposed to be one of the better pools out there. My midwife said I should fill it up and practice relaxing in it, but considering it takes over 100 gallons of water, and the hot water heater has to be turned all the way up in order to have enough hot water for it, I think I will just wait until the day of! All we need to do for the pool is get a hose for fill up (has to be a clean, potable water hose) and get a tarp to lay under it.

The only other major thing left to do is order the birth kit. That consists of most of the medical items like gloves, syringes, vitamin k, a cord clamp, and all that kind of good stuff.

So reading over this, we would actually be in big trouble if she came this week since we are missing some major things. I guess we better get on that! we're getting close, though.