The last 4 weeks before parenthood.....

So the last 4 weeks of Barbara's pregnancy were filled with anticipation, preparation, and getting as much sleep as possible before the big day.  She went on maternity leave on Halloween and spent the month just really catching up on "me" time.  Barbara doesn't take a lot of vacations and doesn't take a lot of time to be by herself - she thrives on being around people (which is totally opposite of me), but this was a time for her kind of wind down, relax, and enjoy a little time where there wasn't much responsibility.

We went to a few baby classes which were long (4 & 8 hours), but they were informative and useful.  It was comforting to be in a room with other 1st time parents.  I learned quickly that I knew nothing about changing diapers or how to properly bathe our kid.  We learned some labor exercises for Barbara which ended up never being used because she had an epidural.  We had to watch this cringe worthy video where they played Bette Midler's "The Rose" while watching all of these parents holding their new born babies.  You'd think this would be a touching video, but it was just more awkward because a lot of the moms had their "labor faces" on and those were more comical then anything.  The only thing I walked away with was that I was CONVINCED that I wouldn't watch the birth mainly because I'm not good with blood and also the birthing of the placenta was the most horrid thing I've ever watched.   

After the classes, Barbara went to the doctor pretty much every week.  There was a minor scare that the baby wasn't facing the right way, but she was diligent about making sure we went for walks and did some exercises to increase the chances that he'd turn himself around.  I think we were as prepared as we could be - hospital bags were packed, I was working but ensured to delegate/assign tasks for people while I was out, and Connor's room was prepped (though ironically he hasn't used it yet...that's for a later post).  Her two good friends had their babies early, in fact right after they went on maternity, but for us Connor wanted to stay in there until the end.

As we got to his original due date which was 11/24, nothing had happened and it was pretty uneventful.  Admittedly though, I was always on edge and anxious because I knew Barbara's water could break at ANY given time.  She went to the bathroom multiple times at night and I always prayed that she wouldn't wake me up that it was time to go.  Who knows how my brain would function at 2AM with little sleep!

A week later, I started my paternity leave/vacation and got to wind down a bit myself.  I was actually relieved that Connor hadn't shown up because that meant I could play with my new toys - Xbox One and PS4.  I knew Connor was MY SON because only my kid would understand that daddy needed to play some videogames first.  We ended up spending Thanksgiving with our families - all of them concerned and wondering when baby Connor would show up.  The day after, we were getting kind of stir crazy, so we ended up getting a Christmas tree and decorating it.  It was our first house, Barbara loves Christmas, and loves real trees, so it all made sense.  It also got us out of our house which was equally as important.  Once we finished decorating, Barbara took her last pregnant picture - signifying that she reached 40 weeks.   Little did we know that the next day, miracles would begin to happen....

Barbara - 40 weeks pregnant