The final stretch

I think the mental phases I have gone through are rather funny.  There are some days when I really look forward to a new little one joining our home . . . but most of the time, that seems like the oddest concept in the world.  Last month I was so huge that I couldn't wait to be done being pregnant . . . but now I feel like being this big is just a permanent thing and have no real desire to be done.  I remember when I was 9 months along with Kaitlyn, everyone kept asking me if I was just miserable and ready to be done and I had to honestly tell them I was just fine.  I did get the flu with two weeks to go, and that was true misery.  I remember just setting out food for Tyler and laying on the couch for hours on end.  And I told my husband that no matter how "natural childbirthing" I am, if I went into labor his instructions were to get me wheeled into a hospital and put out of my misery in a C-section.  Thankfully Kaitlyn hung on until I was feeling better.

Right now, I am in the denial stage, where I have gotten used to telling everyone that I wasn't going to have a baby for months.  And I cannot wrap my brain around this baby coming any time soon.  Somehow even going through checklists and getting things ready hasn't helped.  In fact, we just moved the date up quite a bit with the whole Leap Day concept.  I'm still not happy about inducing at 39 weeks.  I know that the baby will probably be quite ready to go, and that scheduling things makes it much easier on my mom and everyone else, but I was really hoping to actually go into labor on my own for once!

Anyway, I have been trying to get everything done.  I made a car seat canopy last week.  I haven't used one of these before, and I don't think anyone had them when I had my other babies.  But I haven't seen a car seat in the last couple of years in Utah that didn't have one on, so there we are. 

I have my hospital stuff packed in the diaper bag, and all the clothes hanging up or folded and ready to go.  I made a pocket thingy to hold my ipod and phone, so I think this bag will work.

And I finished the curtain for the kitchen window!  I say all the time that my craft projects are easy - like the two I just listed above - but I have to admit, this one was a doozy.  I knew I wanted a roman shade for this window, since most of the time I want the light to come in and occasionally the sun is right in my eyes while I am doing dishes.  So I needed something that would scroll up and down, not across.  I saw some "cheater" tutorials, but they just didn't look like they would be decent when they were finished.  And then I found this tutorial.  She says that it only took her 2-3 hours per curtain, and I think she is a liar.  Since my window was so large, even just cutting the fabric the right size took me that long.  But look!  A professional looking roman shade made out of a store bought curtain so it matches the others!  I am dang proud of this silly curtain.

That might not look impressive, but just trust me on this one.

Anyway, those were my distractions from the looming induction date.  And then on Friday night, Tyler seemed a bit tired at dinner while Daddy was on a scout trip.  While I was cleaning up the kitchen, I had to dash over and get after Kaitlyn for talking Tyler into sharing his sucker (which she was chewing the last of when I discovered this).  And when I reached Tyler I found that he wasn't just tired, he had a roaring fever.  He threw up that night, still had the fever the next morning, and has now gone into the "coughing up a lung" phase.  Flu.  When I am due in two weeks.  That's sort of my worst nightmare.  And of course, I can't think of a better way for him to give the flu to his sister than to give her his sucker to chew up.

So, as awful as this sounds, I have spent the last couple of days avoiding my own children and washing my hands constantly.  I just take care of all their needs and leave the room.  Thankfully they are rather easy going little kiddos, and old enough to take care of themselves for the most part.  Tyler spent hours yesterday just sitting at the computer playing a patterns game.  And Kaitlyn still hasn't shown any symptoms, but it would be a miracle if she could avoid it.  Well, it will be a miracle if I avoid it too.

Avoiding your kids isn't all it is cracked up to be, though.  Especially when Tyler is such a sad, miserable lump of a sick kid.  Every time I look at him I just want to curl up with him in a chair and snuggle.  And when I needed my side projects the most, I actually managed to finish them all Friday night.  I spent Saturday checking the internet every three minutes for updates on sites I didn't care about just to keep myself occupied.  And today I organized my sock drawer, for heaven's sake.  Granted, my house isn't spotless, so there are better things I could do, but I need a project to get my mind off things, not a counter to clean for the fourth time that day. 

Speaking of which . . . I better head back to sweeping the kitchen.  And chanting "don't get sick, don't get sick" over and over to myself.