intense nest

I don't know if there is really a "nesting hormone" or if I've just been taking advantage of my time off, but the past week or so has been even busier for me than usual as far as getting the house clean and organized. I  went through old files in my office and literally recycled pounds of paper that I don't need anymore. We also had the carpets cleaned the other day and they've never looked better. Everything in Griffin's room has been washed, folded, and put in its place.  Then today was my big task- the kitchen! Our space in that room is VERY limited and I've been frustrated lately with things being difficult to access (i.e. on top of the cabinets) or hard to find (i.e. buried in the "catch all" drawer) so I decided to tackle it. I started by doing a big purge and getting rid of all the items I never use to donate to Goodwill. Then I took the items I rarely use (the blender, my tiny crock pot) and put them in a plastic tub to store in the basement. This didn't free up a TON of space, but I was able to move my KitchenAid mixer and family sized crockpot into more accessible places and the cabinets are more organized. The "catch all" drawer is also much emptier and easier to find things in so I'm feeling pretty good about that project. For the first time in years I feel like the kitchen makes some sense!

I had another midwife appointment yesterday and I met the last of the clinic's four midwives. This was good because they do rotations and if "our" midwife isn't available, it will be the midwife on call delivering Griffin- so I'm glad I'm now familiar with each of them! They're all incredible and I adore them all so luckily I will not be heartbroken regardless! Since I'm 39 weeks, she offered to check for dilation and effacement. My clinic's midwives don't generally do that before 39 weeks because even routine exams can sometimes disturb the body's natural processes, but at this stage, they present it as a choice. I decided against it this time, since technically Griffin is still on schedule- I'm just leaving him alone to do his thing. But if he still hasn't arrived by my next appointment (scheduled for his due date!) I might have them check then. The exciting news is that Griffin seems to have moved into proper birth position and is facing my back! He could always decide to turn again, but at least for right now I'm proud of his compliance.

Drew bought me a fun "how to care for baby" book for Christmas and in reading it, I found out that because newborns have a difficult time regulating their internal temperature, you're supposed to keep the house between 68 and 72 degrees at all times. I thought Drew would throw a party considering that I generally keep the thermostat at 65 when we're up and 58 when we're in bed, and he always complains that he's freezing. I must have finally gotten to him though (either that or he's already morphing into dad mode) because he was all irritated and started mumbling about all the extra money this is going to be costing us! Luckily we're on a set budget for our gas and electric so we likely wont see the increase until next year!

I finally packed my hospital bag so I think we're ready to go when the moment comes. I'm hoping that means that the next few days (if there is no impending labor) will be comfortable and relaxing. What an amazing way to cap off this decade. Happy New Year, everyone!