Week Two with Two

Now I don't plan on posting an update every week on how things are going, but I did want to write this to remind myself that it was really only about a week that things were rough.

The good stuff:

•        I'm not pregnant anymore! No more heartburn! I have comfortable positions available to me for sleeping again! I'm actually not crazy tired, despite having a newborn! (though, this may change once Josh goes back to work next week and I don't get to sleep in)
•      Laura's outlook has improved over the last week. The first few days home were a little rough, but in hindsight I think that was because she had been away from us for so long, not because there was a new baby. She is now very helpful and loving towards Rachel most of the time, and generally back to her delightful self.
•     Rachel is still a good sleeper, and really doesn't cry much unless she has gas pain - mostly just grunts and squawks. Please keep it up!
•     I would again like to mention that Josh has been extremely helpful to have around this week. We took another trip to the pool today (following going out for breakfast), and it was so nice to spend time as a family. I really wish we could just win the lottery and he could retire and be home all/ most of the time. <3
•     Breastfeeding has significantly improved in the last week. I am not bleeding anymore, and the engorgement seems to have subsided, which, in turn, has given my back a break. Rachel has decided she has trouble latching some of the time, but other than that, things are going much better.
•     Rachel's umbilical stump has finally fallen off. This might seem somewhat trivial, but it makes my life a lot easier re: diapers and clothes for her.
•     Generally speaking my mood has improved, and I feel much better and able to get around/ do things for myself now.

The bad stuff:

•      I'm not pregnant anymore. Clearly I have mixed feelings about this. Now that it is sinking in, I'm starting to feel like I got ripped off for not being pregnant for the last month. I'm still upset we missed our maternity photoshoot. And Josh says we're not doing this again, so having it end so abruptly and without warning is a little sad.
•      I am constantly paranoid about SIDS. It's exhausting.
•      When I took the Steri strips off my incision earlier this week, I discovered that it was not completely closed on one end. This freaked me out and is really gross.
•     I'm fretting about Monday and being on my own with two. I'll be outnumbered. What am I supposed to do when Laura needs me while I'm nursing? I am going to need to learn to multitask, and fast.

It's Been One Week

So, we now have a full week under our belts of being parents of two. How are things going, you ask?

The good stuff:

• We have awesome family and friends that have helped us out so much. My mom and sister & fiancee who watched Laura while we were in the hospital for most of a week, my in-laws for coming to maintain/ clean our house for us before we got home, my sister-in-law for coming to stay with us for a few days to cook & freeze meals for us and to generally be another set of hands, our neighbours for maintaining our cat and having Laura over for more than their share of playdates... all have been so much appreciated. I don't know what we are going to do when we're on our own again!
  
•  Rachel is a good sleeper so far. Last night we finally got to bed around 11pm and she didn't wake up until almost 3am, and then again at 7:30am. It was glorious - I can only hope she keeps it up! She is starting to have more wakeful periods during the day, too, which is fun to be able to interact with her more.
  
• Josh has been home all week, and will be home all next week, and it has been so nice to be able to spend this time together as a family (even if we are a little high strung at times). Yesterday we took the girls to the pool as a special outing for Laura and we had such a blast.
  
• Laura loves giving the baby kisses. So cute.
  
• Although we had a hell of a time picking out a name, I am really thrilled that we landed on Rachel. I think it suits her perfectly and it goes really well with Laura.
  
• I have two beautiful daughters now, and although a boy would have been nice, too, I am so happy for Laura to have a sister. Sisters are special.

The bad stuff:

•  Recovering from a C-section sucks. Recovering from a C-section when you have a toddler who doesn't always remember you have are recovering from a C-section sucks even more. Not being able to sit up without assistance has been a real drag. But at least now, after a week, I can do most things myself again without too much pain. I'm also dealing with some Baby Blues, too. No fun.
  
• Speaking of pain... breastfeeding really sucks at this stage, too. I mean, I am very glad that Rachel is a great nurser - one less thing to worry about - but, it has been so much more painful for me this time around. My nipples are sore and bleeding, my boobs generally feel like one giant bruise, and my back! My back is so sore from carrying around all the extra weight up top. Oi. At least I know it is all worth it to power through and it will get better and much easier as time goes on. 
  
• Rachel is jaundiced. It is common in preemies and low birth weight babies. She spent a day on the biliblanket and was doing better, so we didn't have to continue the UV treatment. But several days later she still looks yellow to me, especially in the morning, so we took her to the hospital yesterday to get re-tested, and her bilirubin levels were still going up. However, they said as long as she is still continuing to eat and poop regularly she is getting better. 
  
• I feel like we have no time to get anything done, which is stressful since we still have quite a number of things on our Before Baby To Do List due to her surprising us with her presence a month early.
  
• Laura is getting better now, but the first few days that we were home she started showing signs of jealousy towards Rachel and generally just acting out. It broke my heart. I have felt so guilty about the whole pregnancy "ruining" her life, and now that the new baby is finally here, I feel even worse that she needs to express herself by hitting Rachel. I know it will get better, and I'm thrilled that they will be so close in age and (hopefully) be best friends when they grow up, but right now it is so hard to see my baby feeling this way.
  We were out for a walk the other day and Laura kept stopping to pick up pinecones and various other items. Josh wanted to go home and was trying to hurry her along and so said, "Okay, bye Laura". The following look on her face made me want to cry. She looked so stunned and upset that we were going to leave her there, I had to run over and give her a kiss, trying to explain that Daddy was kidding and we weren't leaving her again.

Birthing Rachel

~ A very long-winded rendition of how our precious Rachel came into this world ~

     One week ago today I was at the doctor's office having my 35 week appointment. We had just had a tour of the obstetrics ward at the hospital the previous weekend, and I was uncomfortable with some of the protocols the nurse had presented us with, so I took the time at my appointment to go over our birth plan with the doctor and make sure he was on board with everything I wanted, as he has the final say over the nurses anyway. (Specifically she had gone on about how all VBACs had mandatory epidurals in case of emergency, after I had expressed that I really didn't want one. Our doctor said that was nonsense and I didn't have to have one if I didn't want it.) I felt very relieved after discussing my wishes with him.
     After a long day of running errands et cetera we came home and I had no energy to cook or eat dinner. We scrounged up something for Laura, and Josh was planning on going out for birthday beers and wings with his buddy later, anyway. Laura went to bed around 9:00pm, and I, exhausted from not sleeping well the previous night, went to bed shortly after. When Josh got home just before 11:00pm I woke up. In a warm puddle. I was confused at first, but then it dawned on me: my water had broken. MY WATER HAD BROKEN!!! I called down to Josh, "I think my water broke - for real this time! [as opposed to when I joked about it on April Fool's Day]." He came upstairs and observed conclusively that, "Yeah, you're soaked." I was wearing track pants that were soaked through, as well as a large spot on the bed. Thankfully I had the foresight to get a waterproof mattress cover a few weeks back in case of this very situation. I went to the bathroom and determined that yes, I was quite sure that this was amniotic fluid. Then I began to panic. It was like all my common sense had left me. We weren't ready for this!  We hadn't even done our maternity photoshoot yet! Or my belly cast! I still had 4.5 weeks left! Our bags weren't packed! What do I even DO right now!? I called my mom. "Mom? I think my water broke! What should I do?!" "Call the hospital?" She suggested logically. "Oh. Yeah. The hospital. Right." So we did. They said not to panic, but to come in to get checked out as soon as we could. I then went into shock... like, the real kind that you get after a traumatic incident to your body occurs. I was shivering and generally a wreck. We debated about going to the hospital in our town to confirm it was indeed amniotic fluid since it would be a HUGE pain to drag Laura and the dogs all the way to the hour-away hospital at which we were planning to have the baby - especially in the middle of the night. However, I was quite confident that I had not merely peed myself. So, we spent the next hour gathering up all the rest of things we thought we needed, and packing bags for Laura and the dogs, etc. We were finally ready to go just after midnight. We had called our doula, too, and she was going to meet us at the hospital.

     Josh dropped me off at the hospital at around 1:30am and then took the dogs and Laura over to my mom's house. Jenni arrived shortly after I did and stayed with me while we waited for Josh to get back. They performed a non-stress test on me and the baby, and I was having contractions already, though I couldn't feel them. They admitted me to the hospital and started me on Penicillin because we didn't know whether or not I was positive for Group B Strep, as I had only just had the swab test earlier that day. Then we waited for me to begin labour on my own. My doctor and I had agreed that I would have 24 hours to start regular contractions before any interventions were employed, as per our birth plan. So, we went to our room and tried to sleep. But it was too exciting for me, and I probably only slept for maybe an hour all night. In the morning my doctor came in and seemed very pleased with the situation. He knew I didn't want to be induced, and he was happy that the baby was a little premature because it would make for an easier vaginal delivery. He was very positive about the whole situation, and even said he wasn't too worried about Baby's maturity at this point and she wouldn't have to spend much if any time in the NICU. Yay! So, he checked my cervix and said I was still locked up pretty tight. That was a little disappointing, but not really unexpected. I had been having contractions overnight, but not at all regularly.
     After we all got some breakfast, we went for a long walk outside to try to get things moving. I had more contractions while walking about, but nothing really seemed to make them come regularly. Jenni decided to go home until things got started, since she wasn't really needed at this point. Josh and I napped a little in the afternoon, and continued waiting. It was rapidly becoming very boring. In between doses of Penicillin we even got permission to leave for a little while and went to have dinner at my mom's and visit Laura. Our doctor came back later and said that we could continue waiting overnight because it was silly to induce labour at nighttime if we didn't have to. Around 1:00am I started having a few somewhat regular contractions. They were about 15 minutes apart still, but were reasonably strong. After I had been having them for about an hour and a half, we told our nurse. She told me to just go back to sleep and save my energy. So I did. And then they stopped again. The next day was already quite busy for the obstetrics ward as they had 3 c-sections scheduled and an induction. They said they would get around to me when they could. I was grateful for the extra time to be able to start labour on my own and told them I was in no rush. By the afternoon of that second day, Josh in particular was getting antsy. We couldn't wait forever as there is risk of infection once the water has broken (especially since we didn't know the results of my GBS test), plus we had the rest of our family to think about. Josh is very anxious in hospitals, too, so when they finally said it was our turn, we took them up on it. It had been about 40 hours since my water had broken, which was far longer than we ever thought we would have been waiting.
     So we gathered up all our things and went down to the labour and delivery room. It took about 4 IV sites before they could get a good one, so we didn't start the Pitocin drip until about 3:45pm. The next several hours flew by. They started me on the lowest dose, and upped it by 1cc every half hour. It took about 2 hours before I was having regular contractions that I could feel. Our nurse felt my tummy and said we had skipped the mild contractions and were into moderate already. I was surprised by this and encouraged because I felt like I was handling them well. I could do this! My mom showed up soon after and took her turn in helping me through contractions. I was feeling them a lot in my back, and it felt great to have someone digging their knuckles into my lower back. Jenni showed up a little while later and my mom left. By then the contractions were becoming much stronger, but at least the nurse agreed and classified them as 'strong'. I was getting to the point of almost not being able to handle them when I noticed a burning sensation. I said, "Ow, ow, it's burning now!" And our nurse, in a somewhat panicky voice asked if it was burning in my back or front.
"In the front, along my scar line."
"Okay, get on the bed right now. We're turning this off."
Eek.
She turned the drip off and said it should be out of my system in about five minutes. She called the doctor to tell him our progress. I think it was around 10:00pm at this point, and we had been labouring for four or five hours. I continued having contractions after she turned it off, however, they were much more manageable, and didn't feel like my uterus was going to rip open. The doctor showed up a little while later to check our progress and discuss options. When he checked me again, he heartbreakingly announced that I had still not begun to dilate. How could I have been having that strong

of contractions - strong enough to cause burning at the scar site - and still not be dilated at all?? I was crushed. Basically our only option left was to go to section. I couldn't keep having those contractions from 0 to 10cm, not if they were already threatening uterine rupture. I had a good cry about it while Jenni discussed with the doctor some of the things I had hoped for should we have to have another section. The doctor agreed to comply with all of them, so I felt a little better after that. We waited in the delivery room for the surgeon to get there, and I continued having contractions, which at that point were just depressing since they weren't worth the effort anymore. Having the half hour to process the situation was helpful, and I felt much better about it by the time it was time to go to the OR. We got all prepped and started the surgery just after 11pm (48 hours since my water broke). Josh was there with me, and was allowed to take pictures. They lowered the drape so I could see the baby being born, which was kind of a blur, but I remember seeing her out on top of my tummy and no one had announced the sex yet!

"What is it? What is it?" I asked.
"It's a girl!" said the doctor, and he and the surgeon held her up.
"Look, there is a true knot in her cord." He added.
I looked over, and indeed, there was a full blown knot in my baby's cord. ?!! "Isn't that dangerous?!" I asked.
"Well... yeah." He replied. "If she had been born vaginally and it pulled tight, that could have been trouble."
Oi.
  So, there she was, beautiful and kicking and screaming, and receiving 9/10 for her first APGAR score. Because she was a month early, there was some question as to whether I would be able to hold her right away, but I really wanted her on my chest, skin-to-skin, if possible. And it was. I was sooo happy to hold my baby right away. This had been one of the most scarring things for me about Laura's birth. She was so little! One of the first things I thought was that she was smaller than Laura. I also immediately thought that she did not look like newborn Laura at all. Her fingernails were long. Everyone in the OR was taking guesses as to how big she was. They all guessed over 6 pounds. Josh's guess was that my uterus' capacity was 5 pounds 14 ounces - Laura's birth weight - and that is why I went into pre-term labour. I agreed.
     After Josh and I both had a chance to hold her and bond with her a little, Josh and she went away. I was given a 'tour' of the placenta afterward, which was something that I had wanted with Laura, but didn't happen, so I was glad I was able to make the specific request this time. It was pretty neat. I really wish we had gotten a picture of the knot in her cord. One of the nurses came back to the OR specifically to tell me that she was 5 pounds 7 ounces and 19 inches long. Longer than her full term sister!
     I went to recovery for a little while and then was wheeled back to our room around 1:30am where I got to try breastfeeding. I was completely
 exhausted after not sleeping well for two nights and also just having surgery, and could barely stay awake. Rachel was spending a few hours in the nursery since she was only 35+6 weeks gestation, so we got to sleep a little. At about 4:30am I woke up and really felt the need to be with my baby, so I asked Josh to go get her. The NICU nurse said she could just stay with us, she was doing completely fine and didn't need to be there. Yay. :)

Date Night

      We had arranged with my mom a few weeks ago that Laura would stay for a sleepover at her house this weekend. The whole thing had me feeling a little guilty because, well, I was the one who wanted kids, and to be a stay at home mom, and to live too far away from my mom. So when I felt defeated and needed help, I felt like I was failing myself, and Laura. However, I am happy to recount that, despite everything, I think we all came out happier: Josh and I for getting some time to focus on spending with each other, Laura for having a fun weekend getting spoiled by her Grandma, and my mom for getting to spend time with her granddaughter. Maybe needing a break isn't such a bad thing after all...

     We had a rough week. Josh has needed the one vehicle we have for work every day. I had no planned activities/ outings, which is not good for my psyche at this point. Laura, I think, is teething her last molars, and has not been herself, so being cooped up with her all this rainy week has been very trying.
     We had arranged to go for our hospital tour of the maternity ward on Saturday, so we were just going to leave Laura with Grandma for that and then she would stay over and come home Sunday afternoon. The hospital tour was somewhat upsetting to me as I learned of their (in my opinion, unnecessary) protocols, but that is a story for another day. I was glad we went though, because, if anything, it is good to know and be prepared for these things ahead of time.
     We came home afterward and had a quiet dinner to ourselves at home of fish and chips. It was nice to not have to deal with a screaming toddler who doesn't want to eat her dinner for once. (We decided to forego going out for dinner and go out for breakfast this morning instead. Mmmm, breakfast.)  We really wanted to go to the movies and take advantage of our night together, but we weren't overly thrilled with any of the choices that were playing. I said we should just pick something and go for the sake of going since we won't be able to for a long time probably (and we had a gift card). We ended up going to see Five-Year Engagement, which we weren't overly thrilled about/ expecting much, but came away pleasantly surprised. Despite being perhaps a little long, we found it quite funny and we really enjoyed ourselves. We came home and called to check up on the little miss, and then went to bed. This morning we got up and went to one of our favourite little cafes downtown for breakfast and then for a walk in the park afterward. I remarked to Josh that I was having such a nice time with him, and it was good to know that I still actually like him when we're both not stressed to the max with our children. ;) <3
     We worked on a few projects around the house, but it was such an amazingly nice day, I couldn't help but to just want to be outside and enjoy it, instead of working on our To Do List.
     My mom brought Laura back around 5:00 and she proceeded to cry from the minute she got home until we put her to bed. She was very over-tired from her stimulating weekend with Grandma, and just didn't know what she wanted. Poor kid. She did, without prompting, tell me that she missed me and Daddy, which kind of melted my heart. I didn't even know she knew what that word meant. What a sweetie. I'm glad to have her home. I missed her, too. <3

Growing Up. Again.

I haven't written much about Laura lately, mostly because, as I mentioned before, this new baby seems have taken over my mind, body, and soul. But that doesn't mean Laura hasn't been up to some noteworthy things, too. In just the last week or two, she has:

• Finally started saying her own name. Whenever people would ask her, she would just look at them blankly, I think mostly because she couldn't really pronounce L's or R's. But she will now reply "Raura", which is a step in the right direction! (and is really cute)
  However, she still refers to herself as "Babyou" when talking about herself in most other contexts.
• Climbed out of her crib for the first time. She has only done it once so far, and hopefully that is enough, but it has prompted us to try (for probably the millionth time) to get her to sleep in her Big Girl Room/ Bed again. I am just dreading it this time because there is no way I have enough energy to deal with night wakings at this point in the game, and she sleeps so nicely in her crib still.... so I don't think I'll push too hard. If she doesn't want to, fine. I don't know what we will do when the new baby gets here and his/her room is still being occupied by the older sister, but I figure we'll cross that bridge when we get there. :S
• Used her words to clearly articulate her feelings. Okay, so I guess she has been able to do this for awhile, but yesterday I felt like we had a noteworthy breakthrough:
  We had to leave in a few minutes to pick Josh up from work, and Laura brought her "beads" (pipecleaners) upstairs to play with. I told her we had to leave soon, so we didn't have much time to play with them. I let her take them out for a minute, but then we had to get ready and put them away. I started putting on my coat and shoes and asked her to come over and do the same. She stood by the window and started spitting on the floor. I have absolutely NO patience for spitting; I don't know why, but I just cannot stand it. (Clearly she has already clued into this.) Seething, I went over and reprimanded her, trying to keep my cool. Laura said, "Mommy mad!" To which I replied, "Yes! Mommy is mad! I don't like when you spit, it's very gross. Why are you doing that?" She said, "Babyou mad, too!" *Awwwww* I melted a little. My face softened (I know this based on the look on her face). "Laura! Thank you for telling Mommy you are mad! I'm so glad you used your words to tell me how you feel! Why are you mad?"
  "Babyou play beads. Want." (Whenever she wants something she always adds 'want' at the end of the sentence. haha).
  "Ohhhh. Okay, well I'm very happy you used your words to tell Mommy why you are mad, but right now we have to go pick Daddy up from work, so you can play with your beads again when we get home."
  "Mommy happy."
  "Yes, Baby, you made Mommy happy." Hugs and kisses. <3
• Started singing. Okay, so she has actually been singing for a long time now, but the last little while she has shown a real interest in learning and singing new, real songs with real words. That she didn't just make up. We now have a playlist on Youtube of kids' songs she tries to sing along with. Super cute.
• faces forward in the car now. Yesterday we finally got around to having the carseats installed, and we decided to finally turn Laura's around. I still have mixed feelings about this because I know she is safer facing the back, but I feel like it is so much easier to get her in the seat properly, that it is probably better this way. The belt and chest clip are so much easier to get tight and in the right position when her legs aren't bent up, and when you're in a hurry, that matters. She also has been getting fussy in the car lately, so hopefully she will be happier now that she can see more (= less distraction for me). When we tried to put her in it for the first time yesterday, she freaked out. She wouldn't let me put her in it. We were having the seats put in at the cop shop, so I decided maybe we could distract her for a bit by going to see the fire trucks (attached station). We went and had a look at them for a few minutes (cool!) and then came back and tried again. When we came back she was still quite resistant to this whole, new, forward-facing seat, but once I got her in and we started driving, she realized how cool it is to be able to see out the front. We had to do two loops of the waterfront.
  The only problem I can foresee right now is that the two seats side-by-side might pose a poking and prodding risk to New Baby. Because Laura is facing forward, and the baby will be rearfacing (obviously), she can pretty easily reach into the infant seat. :S It might be handy so she can give back a soother or something, but, it also might be an issue, so we'll see how it goes.
• Speaking of seating, Laura has been opting not to sit in her highchair on a fairly frequent basis lately, too. If we go out to restaurants now, we usually just get a booth and she is happy enough there. Even at home, she asks to sit in the "big chair" if she has a choice.
• She has been really into helping Mommy lately, too. This week we have started getting her to help feed the dogs. We scoop the food (she can't reach it), and she dumps it in their bowls for us. Awesome!
  She has also been helping me make cookies, and Jell-O and birthday cake for Daddy, etc. And she is pretty good at helping pick up her toys, too. I'm so glad she wants to be more involved with things like that now. Hopefully that continues after Baby is here! :)
• This is not so much a recent development, but I wanted to acknowledge it anyway: Laura is fabulous at playing with other kids. She is not a grabby, "MINE!" kind of kid at all, and even though she doesn't have a lot of opportunity to practice, she is very good at sharing and taking turns. She really loves playing with other kids, and is very patient with them taking toys from her, etc. This week we had a little friend over for her to play with, and the little girl taught Laura how to play Ring Around the Rosy. It might have been the cutest thing ever. Laura just wanted to do it over and over again. 
•  Also not such a recent development, but cute nonetheless, is the fact that she associates some common shared items with one parent or the other. For instance, it's 'Mommy's bed', not just 'bed' or 'Mommy & Daddy's bed'. I don't know where she gets that idea. ;) But, even more humorous than that is 'Daddy's Cuck' (truck). This never ceases to amuse me. :D
• Also a less recent development: Laura has pretty much weaned herself. This happened maybe a month to a month-and-a-half ago, she just stopped asking to nurse. I was happy that it was her decision, and I think it mostly had to do with the fact that I am producing colostrum now, but I was still a little sad because I had hoped to nurse her until much closer to when New Baby arrives. (Mostly for selfish purposes - I wanted to keep "toughened up" so I wouldn't have to bother with that again. However, it was still hurting a little to nurse Laura as it was, so not really a big loss, I suppose.)
• Hopefully she wants to lose the diapers next! (Our little stint with potty training served to let Laura learn what it feels like to 'have to go', but she has to choose to do that on the potty now, which is not something we can force her to do. If she is running around without a diaper, she asks for a "bum on" when she has to go now. So at least she knows, and hopefully that will soon transfer into wanting to use the potty instead of a diaper.)

Toxic Environment

     Earlier this week I was looking up healthy meals that I could prepare ahead of time to put in the freezer for when baby comes, and came across an interesting blog. It brought out my inner hippy. And then I got thinking about our life in general, and how, in the last few months, we have been living in a somewhat toxic state. Josh is, on an almost daily basis, grumpy due to some physical ailment that is plaguing him. I know he would feel at least a little bit better if we made more of an effort to eat healthier. The thing is, what with being pregnant, I often have very strong likes and dislikes of various foods, which has been problematic in us eating well for the last several months. I am, on an almost daily basis, grumpy due to one physical ailment that is plaguing me, too. ;) Once again, I feel guilty about Laura getting the short end of the stick on this. She didn't ask for another sibling; she didn't ask for her Mom and Dad to be short-tempered and impatient; she didn't ask for any of this. I'm sure in the long run, she will be happy and better off to have another sibling, but right now I feel like we have just been ruining her life for the last eight months, and probably the next four.
      Anyhoo, I have decided that starting now, as a family, we need to make a more conscious effort to control all the 'toxicity' in this house. Eating better food. Choosing our own moods rather than letting environmental factors influence us so greatly. Being thankful for what we have, which is a lot, and generally trying to have a positive outlook on life.

All Things Baby

I haven't posted in a while, mostly because I felt like anything I had to write about lately would be redundantly whiny. I feel like this new baby has taken over my mind, body, and soul. I spend most of my waking (and non-waking) hours thinking about baby, wishing baby was here, looking forward to baby snuggles, working on my long 'before baby' nesting list, or resenting the fact that I can't be working on my nesting list.
This week I cleaned out the car and both Laura and the new baby's carseats and got everything ready to have them installed. Since I am a Nazi about car seats, I won't settle for less than the cop shop installing them themselves, but the day we went to get it done, they couldn't do it. Maybe next week.
I have also finished gathering everything up for the baby's hospital bag: it consists of diapers, wipes, shampoo/ soap/ coconut oil, 5 preemie sleepers, 5 newborn sleepers, a couple 0-3 month sleepers and various onesies, pants, etc (probably overkill on the clothes, but we don't know how big the baby will be, and all the stuff we brought for Laura to wear when she was born was miles too big, so I wanted to have a variety this time. Plus we don't know how long we will be in the hospital, either.) Now we just need to finish gathering the stuff on the list for my hospital bag, which is significantly less fun.
Recently, we also purchased our double stroller (that we got on clearance - yay!), and a new mattress cover for our bed, since I'm sure the baby will inevitably end up sleeping with us and possibly puking, peeing, expelling some other form of bodily fluid, or some combination of all three on our bed at some point. So I think we are done buying things for baby now, which is a nice feeling.
There are quite a number of things left on my nesting list, but a lot of them need to be done closer to the due date. Seven weeks away. 7. Oi.

P.S. - I felt the distinct outline of a little foot poking out of my tummy this week - it was pretty exciting. :) <3