Bags are Packed, Crib is Out

We are now all set and on the home stretch. The bags are packed as you can see; one for labour, one for post-partum and six little goody bags for the doctor and nurses. The other photo shows the last minute add-on list for the bags and our "Peanut Exit Plan" pasted on the tv cabinet door in our bedroom. With all this, hopefully we won't forget anything when the moment comes to head to hospital. It's now just a matter of waiting for the bell to ring in round 1! So maybe I shouldn't look at what lies ahead as a gruelling boxing match, but I am told you sometimes do end up looking like a boxer at the end of the process, because your face goes black and blue from pushing with your face as much as with your you know what. :-) Ammi arrives tomorrow and then we'll really be set. Thaththi is only due on 28 February, but I think he will be most happy if he can arrive in time to say hi to his nicely cleaned up grandson, rather than having to go through the waiting room jitters while Peanut meanders down the birth canal. The next doctor's appointment is on Friday. At the last appointment, Dr Marci said that our baby is a "low rider" and that hopefully, I won't have to push for too long since he is already about to fall out. :-)

I can't believe the nine months have gone by so quickly. It really feels like yesterday that we were calling around and telling everyone the news about me being pregnant. Now we are on the cusp of becoming parents. It's been such a fantastic, life altering experience so far and I can only imagine how much more it will be so once Peanut is actually with us. Roshan and I have both come to realise (in a real sense as opposed to an abstract sense) just how miraculous and amazing this whole experience is and how perfectly it has been engineered. I find it fascinating that till Peanut is out in this world, he would have never taken a breath of air, but that from the moment he arrives, he can no longer live the way he has been living for the last nine months - swimming around in fluid like a little fish.

So that's all for the moment. It's a cold, cold day here and now I need to get myself a cup of tea. And Roshan just called to say he's on the way home. We're having a date night tonight at a new restaurant we haven't tried. It will be the last time, for a long time, that it will be just the two of us, alone.

Getting Close, Close, Close....

I've just completed what I have called the "Peanut Exit Plan" as well as the more traditional "Birth Plan". The Birth Plan is what I am supposed to give to Dr Marci and the nursing staff at the hospital. It basically spells out Roshan's and my wishes in terms of the whole birthing process and experience - yes to family coming in and out of the room during labour, no to perineal massage (trust me, most of you would probably say no to this too if you knew what was involved!), yes to trying a dry epidural followed by a light epidural first (with the option of cranking it up if the going gets tough), no to cutting the cord etc etc. The Peanut Exit Plan on the other hand is for us to use at home before we get to the hospital, sort of a checklist of what to do and when to do it. It's mainly meant to be a reminder of things we might forget while transferring from home to hospital during the first stages of labour, but also includes how to handle a minor emergency like the water breaking or a more major one like Peanut fast-tracking his exit while we are en route to the hospital. Can you imagine Roshan having to deliver Peanut on the side of a huge Dallas highway? Frightening! Thankfully, highly unlikely too. At least we are prepared for all eventualities! Yes, I am a bit of a control-freak. :-)

Can't believe it's just 3 more weeks to go, and that is assuming Peanut is a polite little boy and arrives right on time. Who knows when he'll decide it's time to move on down. I've felt cramps and/or Braxton Hicks contractions twice so far, though I don't really know to tell the two apart. We're teaching Kolla to "leave it" with a baby doll and this weekend, we're going to put up the travel crib that's going to be Peanut's bed for the next few months as we globetrot our way closer to home. I'm a little under the weather for the first time since I've been pregnant, but hopefully this barbed wire sore throat and nasal congestion won't last long. Roshan's doing great; though he says he could use another 3 months to get ready for the impending responsibilities of fatherhood, in the nights, he talks to my bundi and tells Peanut to "hurry up man". Our new thing is singing to Peanut while Roshan rubs the body butter on my bundi. It's our version of an old favourite:

Jesus loves you, this we know

For the Bible tells us so

Little ones to him belong

They are weak, but he is strong

Yes, Jesus loves you

Yes, Jesus loves you

Yes, Jesus loves you

The Bible tells us so

And so singing, talking, sleeping, eating, walking, laughing and going about our day to day chores and responsibilities, we wait for that moment when things will change forever.