Counting in weeks

One mark of an infertile is how we count the passage of time. Days in your cycle, two week wait, days for the transfer, etc. once we moved over to adoption world, our time markers changed. Rather than counting in days or weeks, we moved into months. We got our match eight months into our wait.

But now that we are so close to passing the great divide into the life of parents, something reminded me that even when we finally reach our dream of having a baby, we will always be part of the IF community. You see, I am back to counting my time in weeks. One week until birth. 2 or so days until termination of parental rights. One week revocation period. This is, then, one of the biggest two week waits we have ever endured. One week from today, my life gets crazy and exciting. And I'll be on pins and needles for a week after that.

Hotel rant

OK, this is a minor rant about the hotel we will be staying in for the first few days while the baby is in the hospital. The baby will be born in a small town and so we will stay in a different hotel after discharge that is in a larger town. Anyway, this hotel is a major chain hotel and the rant is more about their chain than the hotel itself. I belong to their rewards program.

Here's the thing: my assistant regularly makes my travel reservations for me and so her email is connected with my rewards membership. That hasn't been a problem until now. I made our reservation over the weekend. When I made their reservation, I purposefully did not give my member number so they wouldn't connect me to my prior reservations with them. I figured I could do that on site and still get my rewards. I also made sure to use my personal email address and my personal credit card. In other words, nothing other than my name should have alerted them to who I was or any previous reservations I have made (which were always with my assistant's email and my assistant's company credit card). And then today my assistant forwards me an email from the hotel chain with an "about your upcoming trip" notice. Umm, shouldn't you use the email I gave you when making the reservation when communicating with me about the reservation?! I had already told my assistant about our plans, but what if some travel I want to keep private?!

Details, details

I can tell the time is really getting close now as we are focusing on last minute details. Reserving our hotel room, buying a present for the birthmother, getting the car seat installed, etc. We are buying her a silver necklace with the number 7 as a pendant. This will be her seventh child and with the c-section on 3-7, she said she calls this her "lucky" baby. So I hope this is a little something to help her feel closer to our son. I wanted to find something that also had a little four leaf clover or horseshoe or some other good luck charm, but since we wanted to keep the price down to avoid any taint of bribing her, the choices were limited. We also are buying a couple of games for her older children.

It is also getting harder to talk to people that we have decided not to tell about the potential adoption. I find myself trying to make a lot of noncommittal statements and figure out a way to not have someone count on me for the next few weeks, at least until we know the baby is ours and then can give them a reason for our absence from something.

Who and What to Bring for ICPC

OK, since I was gone all last week, I did pack a bunch of stuff just in case our son came early. But now that I am home, I want to make sure we have all that we need. Since he will be born in a different state, we need to be prepared to live in a hotel in that state for about 2 weeks to clear ICPC. We are staying a regular hotel right next to the hospital for the first few nights and then moving into an extended stay hotel that is farther away. So, what are the key things you couldn't live without for the first two weeks? We plan to use a pack and play for a bassinet. We plan to use disposable diapers until he grows into one size cloth diapers. And we don't want to worry about washing diapers in the hotel. I have probably way too many clothes for him in the suitcase, but I don't want to be wishing I had something and have no idea if he will be a tiny or somewhat bigger newborn. In fact, my whole set of stuff to bring is way too big, but I am worried about leaving anything behind and then wanting it. We are driving to his birth state, so it's not like we need to worry about fitting into two suitcases.

My other dilemma is WHO to bring for ICPC. My mom, sister, and ILs all want to come to his birth state. Now, if I was giving birth my mom and sister would be right there with me. And E's parents would be around all the time. But being stuck in a hotel room with them seems totally different. I have heard other adoptive parents say they felt trapped in their hotel and having my mom there telling me everything I am doing is wrong will drive me crazy. With the added stress of wondering if the birthmom will take advantage of the revocation period, I am not sure what to tell them. Today my sister found $99 tickets and wanted to get them for her and my oldest niece (who is 14) who really wants to meet the baby.

Coming closer

I am finally home from my trip. There were some bumps along the way, but overall, the project was a success. Now I just have one more week until my FMLA leave starts!

Unfortunately, I returned with a bad cold. Hopefully it will clear up in a few days, but this was one of our last weekends before the baby's arrival and we wanted to get a lot done. Oh well. One thing I insisted on doing anyway was go scrapbooking with my friend. We used to get together monthly to scrapbook, but have both been busy lately. This is a good friend and I wanted to spend some time with her. As we were leaving, it hit me that the next time I see her, my life will have completely changed. The date is really getting close now.

Inducing update

Thanks for all your comments on my question about what I was experiencing as I started pumping. I still get a little something each time, although it has gone down a bit so that it is barely a drop from each breast. There is still no milk. I have noticed that my nipples have gotten huge and I need a bigger size of the shields on the pumps. My breasts have maybe gotten a little bigger, but it is hard to tell.

Today I finally wrap up my trip and head home. It's been a long but productive trip. I will be glad for some relaxing time this weekend.

Birthdays

February is a big month for birthdays in our family. Today is my E's birthday! His mother's birthday was a few days ago, and my mom's is tomorrow. Through in my grandma, our nephew, and a few aunts and uncles, and it is a full month indeed. That was one thing that made it so exciting when we first heard about this match. The due date was originally in February. Perfect for our family! When it was pushed back to March, we did have a sigh of relief of a few more weeks to get ready. But still it would have been cool to have him born in February with so much else in our family. And I will admit that part of me is hoping for a leap year baby! I am quite content to wait until March, but wouldn't leap year be awesome? Happy Birthday, E. I love you and wish we did not have to be apart today. I hope this next year is all you have dreamed of.