There are so many things to prepare for when having a baby. I’m not super worried about the physical items. We still have a car seat that works, friends have given me cloth diapers, and clothes, and we still have basic beginner toys. I still have my breast pump and things like that. I think other than the home birth kit, high chair and a couple of nipples to turn canning jars into the few baby bottles I will need, we are all set to go.

No it’s the other things that I have to prepare for that take up my mind.

Preparing my business for being less hands on not only after the baby is born, but for the last month or so while waiting for the baby. I am planning on starting my baby moon when I take off for Christmas/Yule holidays and just going from there since baby is due at the end of January. So asking for help, making strategic plans, thinking about what I want to have available in case I want to do it during this drawing in period.

These are the musings of my pregnant mind.

These are the things I want to focus on as I am in my second trimester (which is so misnamed as it’s the longest of the trimesters and more than 3 months) while I still have a bit more energy than I had in the first or historically I will have in the 3rd.

I am finishing up partially done quilting projects. Because I know there will be a point when leaning forward to use the sewing machine will no longer be comfortable. I try to work on that a little most days.

I am also thinking about the family impact of having a new baby. You never know what personality you are going to get. I also know from experience that the personality of the newborn does not necessarily relate to the toddler or even childhood personality.

I have had newborns that were great sleepers, and ones that were up every two hours, or just didn’t really sleep at all. I have had babes who have hated teething and one that suddenly at just about 4 months had her first tooth erupt.

I don’t know who I am getting. I don’t know how my other four children will feel. I know that regression is normal, but could take 6 months before it shows up and it could be completely sideways. My third born will be a year older than my eldest was when our fourth was born. I will have 3 kids older than I have ever had while introducing a newborn and I don’t know what that will be like.

I know that I will have more ready arms to hold this small one. I should in theory have more opportunities to shower and use the bathroom alone since I will have a 13 and 11 year old who can hold their little sister. They might be better at sharing their feelings with me. Or they might not.

I am not too worried about my hubby. He knows from experience that he will be second fiddle for the first couple of years with a new one, that mum is their most important person. But he also knows he’s the best burper and he loves nothing more than holding a sleeping small one. I know he is looking forward to coming home from work and snuggling our newest one.

There are going to be six new relationships that get to be forged this winter, as we will each have a new relationship with this newest one. Having lots of time at home, just getting to know each other is important. But I know I will also need to talk to other adults, and get breaks and remember what it is like to be more than just a milk machine.

These are the musings of my brain lately. In between trying to figure out what to eat next and when I can next go to sleep or at least shut my eyes for a while. These are the things that pop up in my brain when I am driving or falling asleep.

These are the musings of the second trimester.

PS. Want to read more musings? Take a peep at my Mommy Rebellion Book HERE.

Am I the only one that hates waistbands when I am pregnant?

I mean to be honest I hate clothes full stop when I am pregnant

I don’t love them when I am not pregnant, I relish naked time in bed

But when I am pregnant and my belly is expanding

For the small person growing inside

Waistbands drive me

INSANE

No matter where they hit, under my boobs

Down at my hips

Or near my belly button

By the end of the day I want to rip them out

Of my clothes and do something cathartic

Like burn them

They are so annoying!!!

So where does that leave me?

Some dresses work

Though as I am in the middle of my second trimester

I find that even empire waist lines are driving me nuts

And a lot of other styles of dresses without any waist line

Makes me feel like I’m wearing a tent

Or the dreaded Mumu

And don’t even get me started on bras

I only wear those if I have to leave the house

And I care what someone else might think

Of bouncing nursed four children

And am prepping for the fifth child

Breasts look like

Or I know I am going to get super sweaty

Because under boob sweat is a thing

I am only half way done with this pregnancy

I still have such a long way to go

And getting dressed every morning

Feels like such a godawful show and chore

I am not wearing my “normal” clothes

I am wearing colors and styles

That I do not normally wear

Because I am thankful for the clothes

That friends have sent my way

Because I am not buying new for such a short period of time

But oh for the love of all things holy

I may not survive another 20 weeks of waistbands!!!

PS.

Read more stories from the Parenthood trenches in my Mommy Rebellion Book. Check it out HERE.

It is so nice not to be the only parent in the house again.  It was really nice to have a week and a half off after my husband made it safely back from India.  We did not get a lot done beyond putting 8 of our meat birds in the freezer and celebrating a daughter’s birthday.  Just reconnecting was really what needed to happen.

 Hubby is back at work this week and then we have the three day weekend thanks to Labor Day.  Some of the schools have started back up locally and some are starting on Tuesday. My Facebook feed is covered in first day back at school photos which make me cringe.  Because we homeschool, because it seems like a stupid reason to take a photo, because so many of the kiddos are smiling because they have to not because they want too… because it’s like Mother’s Day and I wonder how many Maine kids realize how lucky they are not to have to wear uniforms.

 We are slowly getting used to a new schedule.  I have been working on reading practice with my girls and we will bring in Math and other subjects in a few weeks after we have settled into our routines again.  

 Girl Scouts starts up again in about two weeks and that will feel a lot like the start of fall in our house.  The start of needing to be someplace on time on a regular basis. The start of really needing to think ahead in terms of dinner as we get home late at least one of those nights.  

 I usually try to get up before my kids.  But being pregnant this fall and knowing one of the few guaranteed times I can sleep most days is between 5 am and 9 am I am not getting up early unless I need too.  Which means less alone time for me in the morning, but also more energy later in the day because I actually got some sleep.

 I am really looking forward to soup season in a few months as that makes dinner prep so much easier.     

 Hubby and I can feel our youngest squiggling around in there, but she is still too small for her sisters to really feel her yet.  I am sure that will change in the next month or so as she makes herself known to more of the family. She’s been opinionated since the start, at least for me.

 I always feel a great sense of drawing in when I am pregnant.  It is also not a process I really enjoy, even though I have healthy daughters at the end of it.  I just don’t enjoy very much of the process. I know I may look glowy and other women seem to think I should be happy or excited, but honestly I am just trying to figure out how to make it to the next meal and/or chance to sleep.  That’s really most of my goals these days other than maybe listening to my audiobook and doing some sewing. I’m pretty boring when I am pregnant.

 It’s also super hard to predict what next year this time will be like.  Because I really don’t know what personality is coming to join us in January.  So much of parenting is unpredictable and even more so for those first 3 years.  So far newborns have been pretty easy for us. But that doesn’t mean this time around it will be.  I am grateful that my 3rd child will be a year older than my eldest was the last time we had a newborn so I should have more arms to hold this child and my kids already do more chores than what they could do last time around.

 I am looking forward to winter squash being ready at the farmers markets.  I am looking forward to making soup with whatever is in my fridge and having it taste yummy.  My kids like whole eggs dropped into the soup and it is an easy way to add more protein to all those yummy veggies.

 I am looking forward to having a fairly slow fall outside of the normal Girl Scouts/Midwife and holiday schedule.  We have a few more home improvement projects to get done before winter, but we still have a few months before the first snowfall.  Depending on climate change of course.

 How are you settling into a new schedule?

PS. To read more from Chase and to feel like you are not alone on your parenting journey, check out The Mommy Rebellion book.