Countdown to Baby: A Weekly To-Do List

No way. Am I seriously doing another pregnancy update so soon? The time seems to be flying by now.

Here’s what I had on the countdown checklist for this week:

Week 35:

• Sell changing table on Craigslist.
• Grocery shop for disposable paper items (green gods, don’t punish me!) and extra food to cook and freeze for postpartum use.
• Cook and freeze at least 2 meals.
• Schedule a blog post to publish postpartum
• Gather homebirth supplies

Thankfully, this week I’m feeling better. I’m sleeping more soundly and instead of waking up 4 times at night to “go”, I’m only waking once or twice. A little more sleep makes a tremendous difference. Those mystery chest pains I had last week disappeared too. The only new thing I’m experiencing this week are those weird sharp, pokey pains that feel like baby’s putting a fist in your cervix.

I did manage to sell the changing table, glad to have gotten that out of the way. I picked up some paper plates and cups at the store to use in those early postpartum weeks.

But the cooking extra food? Eh, it’s not happening. I’m not sure why – perhaps it’s fatigue, or not having much appetite. It’s  hard to cook when you are nauseated and have no appetite, no? All I seem to want to eat is frozen fruit. I did manage to freeze a loaf of banana bread. But Caleb cooked it, so that’s cheating. Or is it just smart delegating?

I did make a list of dinners that are super easy to throw together, or great for the slow cooker, or that the kids and hubby can prepare instead of me. My Mom will be coming over to help out for a couple of weeks too, and her cooking is always a treat when I have a new baby, so maybe a freezer full of dinners is overkill. I enjoy using the One Armed Cook cookbook a lot when I have a new baby. I only own 5 cookbooks, and this is one of them!

The last checklist item I added just this week – I had forgotten that in addition to ordering the birth kit, I need to gather other birthing supplies per my midwife’s instructions. Stuff like: hydrogen peroxide (they use this to remove blood from linens and carpets), witch hazel (to keep in the fridge and use to clean my girlie parts post-delivery), extra towels and linens, etc. So I began gathering those items together.

Oh and guess what? I solved the Red Raspberry Leaf tea dilemma. After unsuccessfully trying to choke back tea, I just ordered a bottle of RRL extract from Mountain Meadow Herbs. Problem solved. I’m tempted to get some of their Gentle Birth Formula as well. It’s got great reviews on Amazon.

I also found this great recipe for Labor Aid drink. I’m supposed to keep some electrolyte juice on hand for the birth, and remembered reading this recipe a couple of years ago on Stephanie’s site. I already have these ingredients on hand so I’ll just whip up a batch when I’m in early labor.

The other posts in the Countdown Checklist Series:

• 30 Weeks
• 32 Weeks
• 34 Weeks