flannel | shirt | leggings | water bottle
And by final pregnancy, I mean FINAL!! I am 39 weeks pregnant today and hopeful it’s my last.. but with that comes some bittersweet thoughts as I approach the end of this journey. I am so ready for my hip pain to be gone. I am ready to sleep on my back and stomach again. I am ready to have a social life (CHAMPAGNE!!!). I am ready to meet this boy who will complete our family. But with that, I know I’ll miss being pregnant at some point in my life.. probably when I see my friends have more babies in the future. I know.. I will miss this.
I’ve been lucky that my pregnancies have been very easy.. this one was definitely the hardest since I had to care for my other kids at the same time but overall, I can’t complain. I had your typical pregnancy symptoms, aches and pains that every woman experiences. I was never bed-ridden, I never had any “scares” of pre-term labor or complications. Text book. My kids come on time weighing just over 8 lbs and as healthy as they come. I’m just made to have babies (my doctor actually said that to me when I gave birth to Cammy lol.. prob cuz he came flying out) and for that, I will be forever grateful. And this next season of life is going to be so sweet. I get to witness Jackson become a big brother for the second time. He’s so excited.. he actually understands what’s happening this time around and LOVES babies.. like obsessed with all babies he comes across and has all the questions. And Cam, my baby, who I thought would always be the baby, is going to graduate to big bro.. and it’s going to be the roughest on him I’m sure. Cuz the kid still wants to be carried everywhere and cuddle on my lap every chance he gets, which I love but is going to change once Parker gets here. I know he’ll adjust. We all will. And Parker.. this baby boy who has caused me so much pain and discomfort is going to steal our hearts in an instant.
Life with three kids is gonna be crazy, don’t get me wrong. I am going to lose my sh*t on the daily. I am going to have to take a lot of deep breaths while locked inside my pantry. I am going to struggle immensely (and I promise to be honest about it). My husband and I will have moments of being at each other’s throats.. but I have to remember that this is just a phase. The sweetest, most fleeting phase that yes, I will miss. I always miss the newborn phase because for me, I think it’s the easiest. No, it’s not easy being sleep deprived. It’s not easy juggling the daily responsibilities of having two other kids. But the baby stage.. the newborn stage.. is bliss. And I don’t mean to discredit anyone in the newborn stage who is having a hard time… because YEAH IT’S SO HARD. Especially your first time around. But what I’ve learned and what I know is true is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. One day, your newborn is going to be flying airplanes around your head, zooming race cars off the kitchen table, asking for treats at 7 am, fighting bed time and repeating naughty words. It’s a different kind of wonderful but it comes fast and one day, you’ll miss that tiny newborn who slept all day 😉
All this to say that I plan to soak it up. Relish. Savor. But as always, I will be as real as possible about my daily struggles. You’re going to see dark circles under my eyes, tears, milk-stained clothes and a whole lot of champagne coffee boomerangs on Instagram. These women who only post the happy, blissful moments on social media drive me up the wall. I get it.. it’s a highlight reel.. but PLEASE! You are not in newborn love all day, every day. Show what’s real. Show what’s up. And the next time you see a mom struggling with a baby/toddler meltdown, just give her a smile and say, “You’re doing a damn good job.”
Finally, some last minute items I’ve picked up in my travels as I prepare for life with my sweet P:
Thank you for following along my pregnancy journey and always being so encouraging and supportive.. this little network of people we’ve created is truly the reason why we did this in the first place. You all offer up so much great advice and we appreciate you!
Now let the insanity begin.. cheers to the next chapter! xx, H
