38 Weeks and counting...

I only have 3 days of work left! Our maternity leave budget forgot to include those days because I'll get paid for them in June, so I don't technically need to work next week, but I can't in good conscience forfeit the extra money. Of course, if Aida decides to come a little early, I won't mind!

We've installed her car seat, put the bassinet together, and mostly packed Evan's bag, but we still need to pack ours. My doctor's appointments have been fairly non-monumental. I'm only dilated 2 centimeters. She's offered to induce me next week, but I'm going to hold out. If I haven't gone into labor by my due date, I'm pretty sure I'll end up being induced on 6/2. She won't let me go past 41 weeks and that's her on-call day, so that's our deadline.

I've been thinking a lot about my "birth plan." It's not something I intend to write down because I want to maintain a little flexibility, but there are definitely some things that I hope to do differently this time around. For starters, unless we're induced, I'm going to labor longer at home. Not too long, of course, Clarian North is quite a drive and I have no intention of having this baby in the car. But the first time around I was at the hospital way longer than I needed to be and I don't want that to happen again. Also, I've asked my sister, Morgan, to Doula. I'm very task-focused and get easily frustrated by lack of progress, so I'm hoping that if she can keep me busy trying new things, maybe I can outlast the pain. My only concern is that I might smack her. I wouldn't smack a stranger, but a sister...

The nursery is ready for it's "photo-shoot" and has been since the weekend, but I've been waiting on a sunny day so I could make the most of the natural light. Hopefully, I'll take those pictures this afternoon and post tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's one of Evan creating his own art for Aida...