The Calm Before the Storm

Wow, that went quickly! I'm officially in the single digits portion of the countdown to baby Cooper's arrival. Just 7 more weeks. Preparing for Cooper has been very different from preparing for Jacob's arrival. I think a big part of that is the excitement level. Not that I'm not overjoyed to be having another sweet boy joining our lives, it just different the second time around. There's no rush to decorate the nursery and buy strollers and car seats and well, everything. Especially with a second boy on the way, we've not needed to buy much at all. We have all the big gear still from Jake, we only had to get a second crib as we have been and will be converting Jake's as he grows. We also still have all of Jake's clothes that weren't completely destroyed, and there's more than enough. So, with not much to do, we just get to wait anxiously for his arrival. Of course I'm the most excited for him to come. A few weeks ago I reached that point of no sleep because nothing is comfortable, and it's wearing on me. Even waking up with a new baby will be better because I'll be able to sleep at least a little in between wakings. Even the days with this little guy have been uncomfortable. 98% of the time he's either nicely tucked right up in my rib cage or clear back on my back. My pregnant belly is not big and hard like most because he never surfaces. At my Dr. appointment last week, Dr. Kammeyer told me Cooper is and over achiever, meaning I'm measuring 2 weeks ahead. I guess that could explain some of the discomfort, ha.
I don't think Jake has any idea what's coming his way very soon. We tell him the baby is coming, and he loves taking care of his baby doll, so that's reassuring. I just don't know how he will react to a new little one invading his space. Based on his personality alone, I have high hopes that he'll be a wonderfully sweet big brother, but he's surprised me before, so we will see.
The nice thing about this time around is that I already know the day this little guy will be coming. October 17th! Yay for repeat C-sections, for that reason anyway. Not so yay when I think about the fact that Jason will have zero time off, so I'll be coming home to recover from the surgery and care for a newborn and busy 2 year old pretty much on my own for the most part. EEK!