Pregnancy update: 38 weeks

We moved Dio upstairs into Zari's room two nights ago, and it went without a hitch. I wondered if he'd be able to fall asleep with an awake sibling in the room (or vice-versa), but so far both kids have gone down with no problems. Amazing! Now I have the other downstairs bedroom free for laboring in. We set up the birth pool yesterday. I'll do a test run soon to see how long it takes to fill. As it was inflating, Dio said "bath! bath!" Zari told him in a slightly exasperated tone, "no Dio, it's a birth pool."

I feel my body slowing down. I've been falling asleep in all sorts of unlikely places. A few days ago it was on a friend's couch in the middle of a conversation. (Well, I wasn't talking at the time. And I'm desperate enough for sleep that I'll take whatever I can get!) And yesterday, Zari was really cranky after lunch. I told her to lie down on my bed and rest a bit. She fell asleep, so I joined her for a lovely afternoon nap in the sun.

Even though my body is gearing down, I've still been fairly busy with daily life. Take Monday, for example: first off, I painted woodwork for the bathroom while the kids watched a Little Pim French DVD. Then we ran errands to the post office, fabric store, and grocery store. We spent the rest of the morning at the indoor track with several other young families. During Dio's afternoon nap, I sewed two slings. Then the rest of the afternoon I cooked for the dinner coop and delivered meals.

The baby still likes ROT the best. Occasionally it swings over to LOT--I can tell based on where I feel hiccups and kicks and where I hear heart tones--but mostly it hangs out in exactly the same place where Dio did.

Although I'm not holding my breath on when this baby will arrive, I feel the clock ticking...after all, Zari was born at 38 weeks and Dio at 39. So I have to be ready for the baby to be here any day. It could be tomorrow, it could be 3 weeks from now. I'm not exactly in a hurry for the baby to arrive, since I have plenty of projects I'd like to finish! Zari and I worked on Dio's memory book today during naptime. I hope to get it finished ASAP. The bathroom is functional, but still has lots of small things undone: woodwork & trim, shower door, tiling under the tub.

I feel more mentally ready with the idea that I'm going to have a baby soon. I've been listening on and off to my Hypnobabies tracks, maybe 3 times a week. As with my other two births, my goal isn't to avoid pain, but rather to embrace all of the sensations that I experience.

We still haven't heard back from the OB who had expressed interest in attending a home birth. I'm still willing to have him come, but unless he gets back to my midwife soon, it probably won't happen! He's supposed to be a really good photographer/videographer, and I'd love to assign him that job if he can make it.

38 weeks pregnant with baby #3

Zari took this picture yesterday:

I don't have any equivalent pictures from my last two pregnancies. Zari was already born at this point, and my last belly shot with Dio was at 37 weeks. Will I have a 39 week update or not...??