It’s hard to believe that today I am 27 weeks pregnant. Baby Jack is doing well. Our next appointment is later this week. My belly continues to get enormous with each passing day. The third trimester brings a lot of unwanted symptoms that nobody ever talks about: severe heartburn, swelling, low- and mid-back pain, hip pain, constipation and the horrific hemorrhoids. BLECK!  I didn’t have too many symptoms during my second trimester, so I thought it was smooth sailing for me. Wrong! A few weeks ago the nausea and fatigue even started rearing their ugly heads again. So, here’s to the last trimester, patience and grace to get through it, and hoping we see Baby Jack at a healthy 37-40 weeks!

So, in preparation for the big delivery day, I have been forewarned by many new parents to start packing my hospital bag to have ready by the 30-week mark. That’s only three weeks away! Are you kidding??? So, tonight I sat down and made a list of things I wanted to pack and the things I needed to buy. I plan on laying everything out in my guest bedroom until I accumulate most of it, and then having it packed and in the trunk of my car no later than 34 weeks. Some things that I need are on my baby registry, and I want to wait until I have my baby showers before I go out and buy anything else. We’ve strategically planned for all of the showers to be wrapped up by the first weekend in March for that very reason. Then, Sean and I can go out and buy the things we did not get and have it all ready to go. (Side note: I am a nightmare when I am unprepared, so if it’s all laid out and set-up before the baby comes, I’ll be able to concentrate on my new baby boy, and not what else needs to be done before I get home. That would surely drive Sean crazy!)

What else does week 27 hold for us? Well, we are finally tackling our closet nightmare. Sean has come up with a great idea for organizing our very odd nursery closet space. It was brilliant! So, we are heading off to Lowes this week to buy everything we need! YAY! Then, I can start washing all of the baby clothes and getting things either hung up or put into the drawers, so it all stays dust-free and clean. Did you know you have to wash baby’s clothes in color-free, fragrant-free detergent? We have a high-efficiency washing machine, and you can’t use normal detergent in those. So I found a line by Tide that works out great! It’s a little pricey, but I’ll search for coupons to help bring the cost down a little bit. The baby is worth it anyways, right? (That line of thinking keeps all the credit card companies in business - haha!)

I guess that’s about it for now. We’ll update you again after the doctor’s visit! Until then…