THIRTY NINE

sorry about the white on white. makes it hard to tell how big the "bump" is. but holy moley! 39 weeks! how did i get here!?

also I'm trying to get creative with my outfits. my t-shirt options are limited as I don't really want to be showing off "under belly" or be constantly pulling down my shirt. so I've been rotating through about 4 or 5 shirts.
my scarf I purchased in Spain and I love it. It's often cool enough in the morning for trousers and a scarf, although this morning went straight to shorts (or short-pants as they're often called here) as I usually end up changing into shorts or a skirt by mid-day anyway.

I've been feeling lots of movement still! a few twinges earlier this week, but nothing since. my legs and feet feel heavy by the end of the days but thankfully no noticeable swelling - hooray! this is my first pregnancy that neither my feet nor my hands have swollen. absolutely amazing.
sleep has been a bit harder to come by, but once I'm asleep, I'm usually good until the morning.
I've been feeling quite a bit more tired during the later afternoon/evening but then often toss and turn once I go to bed. I must be still clocking about 6ish hours of sleep, though. which is more than I will be in a week or so.
I'm feeling fine with waiting until Mr. Uganda arrives on his own - although I am seeing my doctor on Tuesday and may inquire into a stretch and sweep as I had multiple (2.5!) s&s with Jude and that seemed to help things along.
I haven't lost my mucous plug (sorry if that's TMI) yet so I'm taking that as a sign that this baby is hanging in there 'til at least my due date. Jamie keeps hoping he'll arrive earlier. I feel confident that he won't. but whatevs.
I've been following a handful of bloggers who are also pregnant (or were pregnant) and due right around this time and it's been fun and exciting reading their birth stories (the ones who have had their babies recently) and making me excited for what's to come!
not much else is new other than I'm glad Nick is here so that if Jamie and I need to go to the hospital, we've got someone here to watch the boys. and Lisa arrives tomorrow morning so that's two people to help with the boys (which at this point is probably the thing I'm most anxious/concerned about) while I deliver at the hospital.
everything is coming together.

will update after my Tuesday appointment with more details of how that all goes.

ready, set, GO

So the pack 'n play is set up.
Lisa {our other STINTer} is arriving on Sunday morning with the missing piece that didn't get sent with Nick {just a small pole that helps to give the bassinet section of the pack 'n play more support}. She's also arriving with this that arrived at my parents this week:

It's a nursing-friendly kaftan that I bought off Etsy! How gorgeous and comfy does that look? I thought that since I'll be just hanging out around the house for the first few days/weeks, it might be nice to wear something comfy but not shlubby or too revealing. I'm excited.

My friend Aletha dropped off the car seat that her son has outgrown and now we are ready.

Mr. Uganda can come any time he wants now. Not that I'm feeling grouchy or grumpy or impatient. I'm feeling more content like I was with Noah. Except with no fear of parenthood. Since I'm already sorta doing that. I mean, I hear horror stories of how going from 2 to 3 kids is so hard, but then in some ways, it's got to be easier, right?

After he's born there's tons of paperwork. Paperwork for our organization and healthcare in Canada. Paperwork to get him a Canadian passport. Oh paperwork. I dislike paperwork.
But we've finally got Jamie's paternity leave sorted out and I feel so much better about all that and I think it's going to work out splendidly.

Didn't end up meeting or hearing back from the doctor so I guess we're just going with my appointment next week.

And now I need to rest. I tossed and turned until 12:30 last night when I just decided to get up and play solitaire on Jamie's iPad until my eyes got heavy {it only took about 10 or so minutes. I'm so addicted to that game on his iPad, but it makes me so sleepy.}

heart beat

We {Jamie came this time!} met with our midwife today and got to hear our sweet boy's heartbeat. It's always so sweet to hear the heartbeat.
I had a bunch of questions written down this time like, *gasp* circumcision {how much, procedure, who does it?} and how much it will cost to deliver here {around 2 million....shillings. ha. this is just under $1000 CAD} and when will I meet Dr. Busingye {the doctor who will likely be delivering this baby since our midwife will be going back to the UK when I'm due} and what if I had to deliver the baby at home {we got a good set of instructions for if I felt I couldn't make it in time - Jamie thinks this would be cool. I kinda do, too.} and a bunch of other things.
Phew. Having a baby in a hospital seems to add a whole other set of additional details to consider that I've never had to think about before {my biggest concern at this point is someone to watch our boys & getting to the hospital in time}!
I am sad that I won't be able to attempt a third home birth, but I'm not freaking out about it {anymore} and I'm really just feeling a peace surrounding this entire pregnancy and birth regarding all the details. God's in control and this baby, while his arrival is unknown to us, is entirely known and planned by God. I love that.

13 weeks

Today I'm 13 weeks pregnant.
All of a sudden time has slowed down.
This morning I started googling "what to bring to a hospital birth" and doing some other searches related to that.  I'm not all that upset that I'll be giving birth in a hospital. Obviously I'd love to have a third home birth, but right now that's just not an option so I'm choosing to embrace what I've been given in my current situation.
Jamie and I talked about him taking a parental leave since I'm clocking in very few hours as it is and won't take a maternity leave. He can qualify for up to 35 weeks! If he started taking his leave when I'm due (September 1st) he wouldn't be off parental leave until the first week of May! That's almost our entire second year on STINT. Crazy. Obviously he's not taking the full 35 weeks, but we haven't decided yet how many weeks he will take.
And this morning I got a message from a woman who lives in Kampala and is a photographer. I had messaged her many months ago when I was still on Facebook and she never replied re: a family photo session and just today she did.
When I told her I was pregnant she asked if I was interested in labour/birth photography as well! I definitely am. I have never had professional maternity, birth/labour or newborn pictures done and I have always wanted it. So I'm excited. I don't know what her pricing is, but I'm hoping it'll be reasonable and we can do a maternity/family shoot, labour/birth shoot and a newborn one too! How precious those pictures would be.
I guess I should start taking some belly pics. {Maybe tomorrow.} My belly is getting a bit thick, but doesn't really seem to be a "bump" per se and all my clothes still fit me normally.
Jude often requests to see my belly and then comments, "Yah belly is getting biggah and BIGGAH!" Ha. You have no idea, kiddo.