Thoughts from a mom of 1

I'm not sure how much longer I will hold that title, be a mother of one child. Each morning I wake up relieved that I didn't go into labor during the night! I'm due in 12 days, Jackson came 7 days early and came really fast, going into labor at midnight and was born at 9:30 am - so that's just how I picture it happening this time too. I've wanted to record my thoughts on several different topics for weeks now, so here goes..

These pregnancies have been very similar and I'm thinking the delivery will be that way as well. The only real difference we're hoping for is not a 9 or 10 pound baby girl! Jackson weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces 1 week early, so we've always been concerned that I could have a 10 pounder if I went past my due date. I am not measuring big with this baby, but I wasn't with Jackson either. I've gained almost exactly the same weight, so all signs point to big baby I think. But then had an ultrasound on Monday to get an idea of how big she is, after all the measurements and calculations from the ultrasound they think she weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce. I don't know how much I really believe that's accurate but they say 90% of the time, it's within 10% so it can't be too off. I still think she'll be close to 8 pounds if she comes early. I did notice that her head was measuring closer to 39 weeks along while the rest of her body was about 37 or 38 weeks so it looks like we'll have another baby with a big head!

Tyler was in Miami for the past 2 days and I was really hoping nothing would happen while he was away. Luckily he is back in Orlando now and won't be more than 30 minutes away for the next 2 weeks. I guess I am "ready" for her to come now but I really hope she waits another week or so. I'm thinking a birthday around April 9 or 10th would be good but who knows!

Jackson and I have had some really fun times in the past couple weeks and its so weird that these are some of our last days together with just the two of us. There have been some difficult moments as he is turning into a 2 year old and his new favorite word is "No" but for the most part, he's been lots of fun this spring.

From Feb 27 - March 23 he had swimming lessons every weekday morning at 9:45. There is a great swim school out here that specializes in infant and toddler swim and survival skills. With so many lakes, ponds and pools all around Orlando - it's pretty normal to have your babies start swimming lessons early. We didn't start until this year, but they have kids as young as 6 months in the pool. It's amazing to watch them learn how to flip over to their back and float in the water which will basically save their life if they fall in water.

Jackson was terrified at first and started crying the second he got in the pool. He kept telling the teacher "all done" after she made him swim with her. But after the next couple days he started loving it. He would swim back and forth between the teacher and the steps to find his toys and he was great at kicking, reaching for the side and holding his breath. I thought it was going to be a great 4 weeks! But then week 2 she started introducing the concept of floating on your back ... and how if you can't get to the side of the pool - that's how you can get a breath. Well he absolutely hated the sensation of being on his back - and still does in fact. So the crying came back and he started to dislike it again. He still likes swimming back and forth like normal, but as soon as she put him on his back he would thrash around and scream. It was really hard for me to watch but I knew it was best for him.

Now that we're done he still hates floating on his back - but he will do it. He knows if he is in the middle of the pool and can't make it to the side, he can turn over on his back and breathe. One day she made him get in the pool with all his clothes and shoes to simulate what it would be like if he fell in the pool accidentally. I was really nervous for this day, but he actually did great. His shoes and diaper weighed him down so much but he kicked extra hard and was able to float just fine. He knew he needed to step it up that day and he did. Now when I go swimming with him luckily he still enjoys the water and loves swimming back and forth from me to the steps. He really doesn't like to float if I'm in the water with him because he figures ... why do I have to do this if you're here to save me?? But I really believe that he knows how to save his life and breathe if he were to fall in the water.

He is still very much obsessed with all cars, trucks and trains. He got a big dump truck and digger for his birthday that he loves playing with outside. Also loves his trains, race cars and other trucks in the house. He really loves books and we read about 10 before his nap and bedtime each day. He would keep going and going if I would let him. Of course his favorite books are the ones about trucks, trains, etc...

Right now he is supposed to be taking a nap but I just heard him "ROOOAR" from his crib. Looks like he woke up a bit earlier than I was thinking! He still does normally sleep really great every afternoon for about 3 hours and sleeps 11 hours or so at night. Hopefully he keeps up these patterns when baby sister comes... But he loves making animal noises - normally only when he sees the animal or we're talking about it, but recently he has been known to throw out a random roar. Not sure what's going on in his mind right now but he's still roaring away in his crib. I think I'll go get that little guy :)