Gettin' ready...

My belly is huge, my back hurts, sleeping is becoming difficult, and this is still the easy part!?! Matt and I are less than 10 days away from the due date of our first child. We are happy, excited, nervous, and anxious about his approaching arrival. We have the nursery almost complete; crib, changing table, blankets, diapers, wipes, etc. We have the bags packed for the hospital, although we have repacked them several times already. A contacts list has been made for sending out news and pictures of the little guy. We have bottles, formula, breast pump, and all kinds of feeding accessories ready for use. And we have the Pack N Play with bassinet ready for the first few weeks. All of these things make us feel prepared for bringing a newborn into our home. However, the getting ready does not stop there. Now that we have all the stuff we have to read up on how to use it, what it does, and what we are supposed to do with our new baby once he is home. We have been reading books on eating, sleeping, pooping, and common baby ailments. These books, written by parents and doctors, help us feel even more prepared for baby Huff's arrival. In spite of all of this preparation we still feel a sense of unknown and at times I am filled with anxiety. I have come to the conclusion this is what being a parent is all about. I can "prepare" all I want, but there is no way to be 100% ready for the wonderful change that is about the happen to our family. All we can do from now on is be 100% ready to face the change, and together we will handle all the joys, challenges, excitement, and struggles that this big change brings.

So, I am sure we will repack the bags again, read more books, and do more online research, but I feel better knowing that even though I am still scared and anxious, I have a partner here to help and support our family, and we are "ready" to meet our baby boy.