Month 9+

We’ve been in Colorado for over a month now. It’s so refreshing to have warm weather, sunshine, and normalcy again. The lower price tag on EVERYTHING is nice, also. Alaska sure gets ya on every.single.thing you buy. Inflation + Alaska do not mix well.

Ben’s at his new firm. No more remote work. That’s been an adjustment for me being Emery’s sole parent during the week 8am until 6pm or after, but it’s going well now that we can actually step outside of the house! We also shipped Lilah off to a 2 week board and train program to learn manners and learn how to live in society with people all around (she’s been struggling lately), and from the videos we’ve seen from the trainer, she’s made remarkable progress. She comes home Sunday. We have wanted to invest in a board and train program for Lilah for years, and finally committed to sending her away. So many programs want a 3 full weeks with your dog and that just seems excessive. We found a trainer with 100% positive reviews who only takes 2 dogs at a time and trains in 2 weeks, followed by 3 weeks of 1:1 hour long sessions with dog parents and the dog. Because of course (if not more so), dog parents need training, too.

I am super pregnant. Like, really, really pregnant. Really, really ready to meet this baby. The 39 week mark has come and gone, and I really don’t have too many signs of him coming. I hear the second child is different. One day you’ll be walking around miserable and the next day your baby is in your arms with little signs he’s coming because it all just happens so fast. My midwife says on average labor is about half the time of your first. Emery was a full 24 hours. We’re hoping this baby is 12. If only we should be so lucky! Emery came a few days before her due date, but I just don’t think we’re going to get that with him. For so long I thought he’d come early because he’s measured a week and a half ahead since Day 1. But here we are. Seemingly no baby any time soon. Maybe we’ll be a 41 weeker, and he’ll be a 10 lb baby. Wouldn’t that be ridiculous for a first time home birth attempt?

He’s an active little guy. He moves around constantly. Almost all day, every day. It is so exhausting. We are really wondering how he’ll be once he’s on the other side of the womb? Emery is an active child. She always has been. Active brain, active body. Two active kiddos? Good thing we’re back in Colorado. I’ll need all the help from nature I can get!

Today I head to the chiropractor and then this evening, the acupuncturist. Anything to get my body ready for a home birth and maybe give this baby a nudge in the right direction (ie. out). I’m walking maybe 5 days a week, am on my feet most days with Emery when I’m not actually walking outside, and doing daily stretches to help him get in a better position for labor. We have our birth room entirely set up. Our family and friends have been so generous with all of the gifts from our mail-in “sprinkle” (No in person baby shower this time around). Our house still needs some unpacking, but we can only do so much. And by we I mean Ben, because I pretty much can’t do much manual work, at all. The way I’m carrying this baby and his non-stop movements have really limited my over all movement this go around. With Emery I worked until 38 weeks. With this baby I could have never. It is really crazy how different this pregnancy has been. In some ways easier (no back pain, no numb fingers, no insomnia) but honestly, it’s been absolutely miserable in other areas. I loved being pregnant with Emery. With this little guy, I cannot wait for him to arrive. We are praying he’ll arrive soon and be a healthy little boy. Only time will tell! But, I mean, he’s got to come soon because time is juuuuustttttt about up.

For our home birth we’ll have my midwife (she is AMAZING), a midwife assistant (who is also a trained midwife but took a few years off to raise her babies) & my doula. Ben will be here. And Emery will be here. And that’s it.

Hopefully the next time I update this thing, we’ll be well into the newborn phase! ❤