The Final Countdown...

We're at 38 weeks now... and in the final countdown to getting to gaze into the Rookie's eyes (whatever color they may be). While my due date is October 20, of course things could happen at any time-- before or after then. Of course, the Rookie keeps on getting bigger (and therefore, so do I) but no real tangible signs that he's hankering to come out. I'm still active (have walked 3+ miles for the past few days, for instance) and, in comparison to most women in the home stretch, fairly comfortable.
I figure we should answer a few common questions as a part of this week's post:
What will his name be? We haven't made an official decision on the first name and instead have officially decided that we will decide in the first few hours after the Rookie arrives-- to get a feel for what name, amongst a short list, works best. The top two candidates are Sean and Miles, but there are some others (including Evan, Ian, Luke, Nicholas) in play. After some deliberation, we've decided the last name will be Dodson-Green.
Are you really planning to do this without drugs? Yep, sure am. For those who don't know, we have been doing our prenatal care at the Family Health and Birth Center in NE DC, and we plan to birth in one of their three birthing rooms. We've really enjoyed all of our interactions with their nurse midwives, doulas and breastfeeding peer counselors (that facilitate our bi-weekly group sessions) and it has a very different feel from a hospital. As a stand-alone birth center, they have procedures in place if I, or the Rookie (or, I guess, Chris), needs intervention-- they are an 8-minute ambulance ride from Washington Hospital Center. I'm, of course, somewhat nervous about the labor and delivery pain but think I will be so much more comfortable in the midwifery model of care-- I'll be able to move around, eat and drink, and labor and birth in water if I want (they are the only places to do water births in the city).
Do you feel ready? Well, I'd like to think we are almost as ready as what can be expected for first-timers. I think emotionally we are ready-- this feels like a glorious shared adventure and (to get gushy for a moment) I'm not sure I've ever loved or appreciated Chris as much as I do right now. I think we will make a great parenting team. Logistics and supply wise, I struggle with figuring out what is really needed vs. what commercial culture says is a good idea. I so much appreciate that we have a good support network to help after the Rookie's arrival since I've probably guessed wrong on a lot of this.
My last full day at work is a week from Friday, October 17-- just a few days before our due date. While I imagine there are additional "last minute" things we'll come up with to fill the time, I think we've got the core stuff together already.
What's your plan after the birth? First of all, assuming things go well we should be home much sooner than is typical with a hospital birth. We will stay at the birth center for a minimum of four hours and the average stay is about six, and never more than 24. I'll be on paid leave (a combination of parental leave and accumulated vacation/sick/personal time) until New Years. Chris is right now "banking" time at his 20 hour/week research gig so he can be off for a few weeks and be at home, and then will go back part-time. In addition to the help of our fabulous DC-based sisters and friends, my Mom will be around some (a short trip right around the birth as well a week or whatever makes sense a few weeks later) and it seems like Chris' folks will make the trip from CA in November as well. All are welcome, of course-- though our small apartment will be crowded with the three of us.
We are discussing how to combine Chris' part-time schedule with possible changes to mine (maybe 4 days/week instead) to be the main providers of child care after New Years as well, and then will of course have to reevaluate how that works for us and the Rookie (and our checking account) next year.
How will you educate the Rookie about important life lessons? Well, this pregnancy, as people have gathered, has been well-timed with the baseball season: the Rookie went to spring training when he was the size of a blueberry, last night wiggled around to celebrate another rookie's clutch play to get the Sox into the ALCS and he's due right before the World Series starts. Our friend Alex also bought some very cool A's onesies, so the Rookie will also learn about the very important AL West team.
On a slightly more serious note, one of the things that was so striking about Chris when we first started dating 15+ years ago was his strong sense of right and wrong, the kindness and respect he always gives others, and commitment to making the world a better place. Not sure if it will be nature or nurture but I anticipate that will be passed on.

Those are the questions I can think of now. Feel free to post more in comments and we'll try to answer them. I anticipate we'll have at least one more post before the big event-- and you may want to subscribe to the posts to stay updated as things progress. :)

Love to all!