Third Pregnancy, Update One

Seeing as I am coming up to my third trimester of this pregnancy, twenty-eight weeks or seven months to be exact, (honestly, where has the time gone?) I thought I would write a quick update on how it has been going. As I will be writing about Montessori specifically each Monday for my Montessori Monday series, I thought I would post a second writing every Friday on other topics I have wanted to write about. If there is anything specific about our family, life, or honestly, anything else, please feel free to comment and I will include it in a Friday post.

First of all, the nesting has finally hit me - thus the desperate need to purge this morning, and I hope that means I will get around to some of the projects I have been meaning to accomplish for the baby. I have materials for a few of the mobiles, and it is just a matter of working on them. I have also yet to decide where I want to set up the mobile hanger and have the movement area.

Jerome was born ten weeks from this point in my pregnancy with him, so I am definitely feeling like the pressure is on. By now I most definitely had hospital bags packed with both boys, and probably newborn clothes in the dresser. (I'll be the first to admit I am a bit obsessive when it comes to being prepared for baby, usually)

As far as my pregnancy goes, it has been a pretty uneventful one, like the others, which I am grateful for. I have gone through bouts of extreme pain in my lower back like I did with Jerome, so I am predicting back labour this time around. I have also had a lot of tearing in my abdominal muscles, a strange sensation that rips through me every so often when I bend to pick Benedict up. Generally, I feel very peaceful about the pending arrival of this new person, and I try to pray for and take a little time every day to bond with my little in-utero sidekick. It has not ceased to be amazing to me when I reach this phase in pregnancy and can feel little feet and the curve of a little back so distinctly.

It is definitely a little overwhelming to think of adding another person into our daily rhythm, just as it was when I tried to imagine what life would be like once Benedict arrived, but I try to remind myself we will quickly find a new rhythm, even if it means a few months of our lives being a little less predictable. Seeing the way Jerome is beginning to interact more and more with Benedict, taking care of his little needs and interceding on his behalf, and the bond they are forming as they play together more and more, makes me sure they will adapt quickly to having a third amigo. My concerns when we were awaiting the arrival of Benedict (mainly that Jerome would be too rough around a newborn) are thankfully not at a fore this time around, as Jerome is definitely so much less violent, and Benedict has never really shown those same tendencies.

I am excited (and a bit unsure, truthfully) to raise this baby as Montessori from birth, dwelling more on the respect of personhood and simplifying infanthood that Montessori embodies for infants. It has definitely been a disappointment for me to realize I will not be able to have another homebirth with this baby, as my birth with Benedict was such a peaceful and quiet way to bring a baby into the world, but I am grateful to be with my midwife again. I will be writing a post, before the end of my pregnancy hopefully, about my love of midwifery care, and how I feel it compliments Montessori, but for now I will just mention that I am grateful to how midwifery care puts the parents in a position of respect and empowerment, which should help me to create a quiet around the baby wherever we are.

Strangely enough, for us anyway, we do not have a name picked for the baby yet, though we have mostly had it narrowed down to two since the beginning. My sudden uncertainty about these choices makes me realize I need to devote more prayer, and probably some research, into naming this person. We are leaving the middle name up to God, as all of the names we spoke about wanting to use as a second name have feast days in the month of December around our due date. This little surprise is definitely a source of expectation for me.

Thank you so much for reading. God bless.
Olivia Fischer