preparing for Sheldon

Racing her cars- excited to have Sheldon race with her someday.
A few pictures of Sheldon's room in progress.

Before I start this post- please let me know if you’d like to continue reading my blog. I am working on making it private, so e-mail me at karialyssam@gmail.com if you’d like to continue reading. For a full, lengthy explanation of why, read the last post!

I am now 31 ½ weeks along! How did that happen? Are we really going to have a son in 8 weeks or less? We are getting really excited. I am personally starting to feel really tired of being pregnant. You know when it even hurts to sleep? Yup, I am there. The achy hips, the really sore back, a very tight belly, and a sometimes ruthless little kicking boy inside. Sheldon feels bigger than Coranelle was, as if he is taking up more space inside me- if that is possible. When he moves around he scrapes my insides and now has been pinching some nerves in my legs and back. But, I know now that this is the easy part and he is still in there, being fed, clothed, changed, and cared for- so to speak. The really hard part is when he arrives!

Fortunately, Ryan has been awesome and faithful to giving me a backrub every day. My horseshoe pillow handed down from a friend has made sleep possible (which is amazing) and I have a massage scheduled for next weekend! And, I really don’t have the rights to complain as I have had healthy weight gain, good blood pressure and urine samples, and no real complications to speak of. So, praise God for that!

Coranelle is getting very excited for baby Sheldon to arrive. She has not yet mastered her “s”, so when she talks about Sheldon, it sounds more like “Law-don”. The other night, I was giving her a bath and asked her if she would like to share a bath with Sheldon when he gets older. She got really excited and started patting the water next to her, saying “Lawdon sit. Coranelle help. Coranelle rinse, Coranelle wash. Soap”. I told her that she would be very helpful, as long as she was gentle. She suddenly got impatient, got onto her knees, peered at my belly and started yelling “Lawdon out. Lawdon out now. Bath”. Many times in the past few days, she’ll look at my belly and say, “Lawdon OUT!”. I think she’ll be an awesome big sister. She’s been telling me how she”ll help “Tuck” him in, “cuddle” with him, “uug him” and “elp Lawdon NEEEW dipa” – which means, she’ll help get Sheldon new diapers. She’s excited to race her cars with him and wrap him up in blankets to keep him warm. We’ve also told Coranelle that when Sheldon comes, he is going to give her a green bike. (We’ve heard that a gift from the arriving sibling can help the adjustment). She is so excited about the bike, she asks me about it daily. “Lawdon- greeeeen bike. Daddy elp ride”. She knows what the bikes look like because she and Ryan have watched Utube videos of young toddlers learning to use their Strider bikes for the first time. And of course, the bike HAS to be green, because, well, it wouldn’t be Coranelle’s if it wasn’t. Ryan asks me every day when he can order the bike for her. He’s just like a little kid! Coranelle points out bikes and helmets everywhere and in any book she spots them in. It will be so fun to watch and help teach her to ride a bike.

Ryan wanted me to have some time and opportunities to focus on Sheldon, rather than always Coranelle. So, he and the moms are working on organizing a little baby “sprinkle” for me and I am excited to celebrate with some other moms and girlfriends. Also in the works is a cleaning day for the Mork household. When I say cleaning, I mean a huge, scrubbing, all-out deep clean. See, Ryan’s aunt loves to clean and is awesome at it. She has an eye for what needs to be done and how to do it. So, she, Ryan’s uncle, Ryan’s parents and my mom have all graciously volunteered to come make our house spotless for the arrival of a baby. I am SO excited. See, I clean. I really do. I clean bathrooms, and sweet and mop almost daily. I sanitize counters, vacuum, do laundry, all that. But, I don’t get around to the big stuff- like cleaning the oven, or behind the fridge and washer and dryer. I rarely think to dust. But, when the cleaners come, all this will get done, plus carpet cleaning and I’ve heard, even the outlets are cleaned out with toothpicks and Q’tips. How awesome is that?! My nesting will be done for me (at least the part that involves heavy lifting and stuff I don’t particularly love to do). How spoiled are we?!

Coranelle has also had multiple sleepovers with both sets of grandparents recently. She has a total blast and it is a great break for us. Having done this pretty often is making me feel pretty relaxed about being away from her for a few nights/days while in the hospital. I think it’s been great to have some trial runs and see how well she does. It will help me focus on Sheldon and worry less about how Coranelle is doing.

So that’s the update on baby #2. We’re getting anxious to meet him.

I hope you are all doing well!

Below are the predictions for Sheldon's birthday and birth weight. We'll see who gets the closest. If you want to add your thoughts, leave a comment and I'll keep a running list. Anyone think I'll deliver in March? Or have an 8lb baby? Or deliver 2 weeks late?

Derrick- 4/10 7lb 4oz

Kari- 4/12 7lb 3oz, 4:30pm

Josh- 4/12 6lb 8oz, 10am

Lesley- 6lb 12oz

Lauren- 4/13 7lb 4oz

Claire- 4/13 6lb 9oz

Ryan- 4/14 7lb

Bruce- 4/14 6lb 14oz, 4:30pm

Adele- 4/15 7lb 13oz

Grandma Marcia- 4/15 7lb 2oz

Heido- 4/15 7lb 4oz