Transitions

Last week I went to a Christian school open house. My son will be starting kindergarten this fall, and I have mixed feelings about it. I have been homeschooling for preschool, but my husband is not on board for homeschooling for K-12. So, I have been looking at Christian schools in my area to see what might be a good fit.

I liked the one last week, but wasn't totally impressed with it. After leaving the open house I felt so depressed. When we got home I kept looking at my precious little boy, and sadness overwhelmed me and I began to cry. He's still my baby, and I'm not ready to depart from him just yet.

This baby is coming at a great time, I suppose. Maybe I will be so engulfed in caring for a new baby, that it will ease the pain of my oldest entering kindergarten.

Maybe.

Waiting for Baby

I'm pretty excited and anxious about meeting my new little one. I'm also kind of excited and scared about labor. You know how when you're really excited about something the time seems to drag? Well, I feel like this pregnancy is going slowly, although I know it really isn't.

So, I've been focusing my mind on a few things:

*Enjoying every minute that I can with my two children. My goal is to get out of the house each day and do something fun that they would enjoy from now until the baby comes. It will be a fun adventure for all of us, and it's great bonding time. Today we went to the mall and I let them play in the children's zone, and they had a blast. We then ate lunch in the food court, and had ice cream cones. Then we walked around the mall, and I did a bit of shopping.

*Organizing/Decorating my home. I'm in super nesting mode. For the past few weeks I have been consumed with decorating thoughts and ideas, and ways that I want to spruce up our home before the baby gets here. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I organize and slowly decorate our place.

*Continuing to read childbirth books. I absolutely love reading about childbirth and mothering.

*Making sure that I complete most of my online master's work ahead of time, so that it's done with before baby gets here. Now, if I had excellent forethought, I would have just not taken any classes this semester, but I was not exercising smart thinking. Not sure if I've shared, but a year ago I started my Master's in School Library Media. Although I got recertified to teach, if I have to go back to a full or part time job, I would love for it to be in a school library. In a few years it would be ideal, I think, to work part-time as a school librarian. But, it would be even more ideal to work successfully from home doing something that involves books or something else that I love.

So, I have enough going on that I'm not too anxious about our pending arrival. But, I can't wait to meet her, and the children are so excited too!

Have You Had A Doula?

So, I'm about seven weeks away from my due date. Writing that just now made me nervous, because that is pretty soon! :) As I've mentioned before, I am trying to go for a VBAC this time around. Part of me is accepting of having to have a C-section again if I have to, but I really want to experience a vaginal birth.

With that said, I'm considering hiring a doula. I've read that doula's can make such a positive difference with giving birth. I wanted to know if anyone out there has had a doula, and is it something that you would highly recommend? Or did you think you could have done just as well on your own?