Our second daughter is due in two days, and my wife and I have been going pretty much non-stop for more than two months.
First, we had to wrap up two home improvement projects. We finished the basement, which was supposed to be done in early January but lingered into April, thanks to an incompetent contractor who is still awaiting and will never receive final payment.
Next up was gutting my old office and transforming it into a new bedroom for Caitlin, my three-year-old daughter. Caitlin has been a trooper through this. She was very excited to move into her “big girl room” so her new baby sister would have the bedroom closest to mommy and daddy’s room.
In case you were wondering, my office – formerly a private upstairs loft with two windows, has been downgraded to a 4 x 8 cubicle-like nook in a dark corner of the basement. Whatever it takes for the kids, right?
Then, the furniture debacle in Caitlin’s bedroom. The furniture store delivered a damaged headboard three times before we finally told them to refund us. Caitlin actually prefers having the mattress on the floor for the time being anyway. Win-win.
But it was another time waster when we had no time to waste.
The first objective was to get the house looking presentable for Caitlin’s birthday party at the end of May. Mission somewhat accomplished.
The second objective was to get everything in order for the new baby’s arrival. Mission accomplished – we think – with literally hours to spare. Thank goodness this baby is punctual.
My wife, Kelly, ordered the new bedding and came up with some great homemade decorations for the new baby’s room to really make it her own. She also has the job of carrying the baby for nine months and enduring however many hours of labor.
My job was to dig through the garage and basement to sort through everything else we need. I know, I know – I have it easy.
I don’t know if this is normal, but I couldn’t remember what we had and what we didn’t. We ended up buying a new bouncer when we already had two. We thought we had tons of leftover bottles and burp cloths but didn’t have nearly enough.
As I sorted through the chaos, the clouds lifted when I realized how much storage space I was regaining by taking out the crib, the swing, the pack-and-play, the car seat, the two bouncers, and about four storage containers loaded with hand-me-down clothes and toys. Score.
Then I played “beat the clock” to clean stuff, put stuff together and find a place for everything. I actually just put the car seat in the car a couple hours before typing this. I had nightmares of having to drive back to the house with my wife in labor because we forgot the car seat.
One last thing – I decided last week would be a good time to leave a long-term contracted assignment that was essentially a steady part-time job and focus completely on running my own business as a marketing copywriter and consultant.
Yes, I have new clients to replace that income and I’ll be working from home full-time, but you could still say it’s a touch risky.
Now, we’ve reached the real final countdown.
The countdown to labor. The countdown to having two kids. The countdown to figuring out how to take care of two kids. The countdown to remembering how to care for a baby. The countdown to working and functioning on no sleep.
It should be a wild ride.
Any advice? Pity? Prayers? Reassurance?
