Made It!

March 1, the day I start my maternity leave...2 wks before the due date. Ah. When I was pregnant with Maggie I worked until the day after my due date, and she was born the next morning, so in some ways I feel like a little bit of a weenie stopping 2 wks early. It seems different this time, though. I don't know if it's the 6500 ft altitude, the entirely uphill + 3 flights of stairs walk to the hospital every morning, the toddler I now have to chase around when I come home, or maybe just amnesia about what exactly happened last time, but I am exhausted!

Preparing to have a baby in Kenya seems completely different to me as well. Eric and I had to come up with a plan last night. No longer is it just, pack a bag, wait for labor, and go to the hospital where I know all the nurses and can request a nice private room with hardwood floors, a delivery bed, and a jacuzzi tub (and the possibility of an epidural, just in case I need it). I do have 2 great OBs (the Popps!) who know me and will do a great job, I'm sure. But no private room, minimal privacy, no nurse to monitor my baby's heart beat on a regular basis, and definitely no jacuzzi tub! In fact, I packed a bag this morning and included things like, my only baby monitor, a hat, diapers, and a blanket...because the hospital doesn't always have these items on hand. Eric and I came up with plans on how long I actually needed to stay at the hospital after the delivery if things go ok (2hrs? 4?) and the best way to get home (walk down the hill? drive the van?). I am even making my own ice packs, since the hospital has no ability to make ice. I thought that the second baby would seem easier because I've been through it all once before, and maybe it will be, but the unknowns are so much greater! I don't even know if this kiddo will be a boy or a girl, since our ultrasound machine isn't very good. All I really want, all I really pray for in the end, though, is a healthy baby.

Things I look forward to being able to do in the next couple weeks:

Meeting/holding my son or daughter

Being able to set my son or daughter down

Breathing

Bending over

For Kenyans to stop staring at my gigantic belly (apparently not so rude here?)

For clothes that fit again

Hopefully we'll be posting an update soon! :)