Here’s two helpful tips I thought I’d share that I did with baby Celia that I found very helpful.

1. Diaper changing bucket – I picked up a cleaning bucket like this one and keep diapers, changing pad, wipes, wet bag and some extra clothes in it. I can move it around in the house to change anywhere, important when Josie sleeps in the room with the changing table and diapers. I took it to bed with us each night for the first many weeks until she stopped needing to be changed at night because then I didn’t have to get out of bed. (Note to first time moms: limit getting out of bed at night as much as you can)
2. Extra freezer – This isn’t entirely novel but I would recommend this to anyone who is willing to do some cooking ahead and wants to save money. I stuffed mine full and lived from it for two and a half months without having to cook dinner and some breakfasts. Even if you stuffed it full of things from costco, there’s nothing like knowing that every day you can just go downstairs and grab something for dinner rather than having to go to the store. Then when people asked me if there was something I needed from the store I could list one or two things most of the time (like eggs, milk, or bread) and we’d be pretty set. It was serious relaxation, home cooking that my toddler would eat and good nutrition to keep us relaxed for the early months of the new baby.

(Works for me Wednesday is a concept I’ve found on other blogs for ideas for how you do things that others might find useful, like here’s one)

We’re all healthy and we got out ASAP and made it home about 3:30 today, not too shabby considering all the hoops they want you to jump through. It’s great to be home and have gotten a nap in our own bed and stop being bothered for constant questions and checks. Hopefully we can get things back to normal for Josie, or at least the new normal.

So my fluid level is low, seems to be that my water broke somewhere up high and is leaking very slowly as opposed to the dramatic one last time. I’m having contractions that are stronger, but far apart and some other signs of early labor. But given the low fluid, we’re in for an induction again, hopefully it won’t take much this time and we’ll have the kid a lot faster. Like today would be nice, please? Josie told the baby to hurry up too.

So I may be running out of things to say here. Let’s get the important stuff done up front, the non-stress test yesterday and ultrasound today all showed a healthy baby and me. So the medical profession doesn’t demand to see me again until Tuesday unless things happen before that (please). Next week though I’ll be seeing them Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and ultimately Friday for an induction at 42 weeks.

Today I’ve been a bit more tired and sore but I’m feeling good about myself as a mom. I figured out the library book interloan system and got a big pile of books for Josie delivered to our local library that she has been dying to read (more Elephant and Piggie, Cat the Cat, Clifford the Dog in spanish, etc). Took Josie to sing-a-long and then after nap spent a solid three hours in child-led play including making a cool Halloween/fall themed art project. We don’t get too many afternoons where I can totally ignore the house (I figure I better practice ignoring it now for when I have two) and not take breaks from playing. I even got the camera out and took some pictures. And I got dinner on the table, which Josie rejected except for the cheese, but Jordi and I enjoyed.

We’re still here waiting. Had the acupuncture today and she went all out, I had needles all over the place, which was  fine with me. Then she took a few of them and ‘stimulated’ things more, i.e. circled them around a little which is less comfortable but no biggie. No major changes, I’ve got some lower back pain with contractions, but I also stood up for two hours afterwords playing with Josie at the park and outside which also tends to cause that. We’ll see.

Tonight I also got some good news/bad news is that our favorite Chinese restaurant, Qingdao Garden, is under construction until November.  Which is good because they haven’t answered the phone the last two times I’ve called so now I know they haven’t closed, but bad because I wanted Chinese tonight. Chinese food seems to cause contractions in me, I don’t know if it’s the salt or MSG or something, but I was hoping to piggy-back on the acupuncture to get things started.

Exactly tonight in my pregnancy (40 weeks 6 days) my water broke with Josie at 2am following a birthday dinner for our friend Wing at a (now closed) chinese restaurant. You can bet we’d have been back if they were still open. You may also remember though that that labor lasted for 42 hours from water breaking to birth, so we’re hoping for a non-repeat in that aspect.

And just like my first child, my due date has come and is about to be gone with no new baby. Today has been even particularly quiet for contractions. We made a night of it though and I took Josie into harvard square on the bus (“it went bump!” – Josie) and we had dinner with Jordi at the Border Cafe to get our salt intake for the week and followed it up with ice cream at Lizzy’s for Josie and chocolate at Burdick for me! Josie loved the cow on top of the ice cream store, but she wanted it to lick the ice cream (it was a statue obviously). Her ice cream cone per usual managed to melt and drip and be tossed before we all finished it.

did I make you click extra quick? Josie managed to buckle herself the entire way in. She is definitely over the weight limit at this point though, wouldn’t be if we got the bigger version, but she hated this seat anyway. She likes putting her doll in it now, we’ll have to throw it in the car though.

Last week we went out to Walden Pond on a nice warm day to get some fresh air. Josie got to model her new bathing suit!

Josie has picked up a fussy streak a bit lately and I’ve found a wonderful tool to help me comfort her and get the use of my hands. It is called the Moby Wrap. I wrap the fabric around myself, put her in it in one of several ways and she calms within minutes if not seconds. Here she is all wrapped up!

Josie is 4 weeks old tonight. What has changed? Lots since she first arrived on the scene! She’s been putting on weight, getting some pudgy baby legs and arms. She has gotten good enough vision to LOVE her mobile above her changing table. Sometimes we put her there with the mobile on just to get her to stop crying. She sleeps less now and is awake more of the day. She nurses much more efficiently and now gets a meal in under half an hour. Here are lots of pictures, including some from the visit with uncle Javi from this weekend so you can see the changes for yourself!