Swedipino 3.0

Mattias is under the firm belief that, because he is the third child, his parents don't remember that much about his early childhood.  That's not to say they didn't remember anything at all, but in those early days when he didn't speak much, and in comparison to what they recall from Gunilla & Jonas' childhoods, it doesn't seem like much was written into their hard drives, if you know what I mean.  We ask "Was Mattias like this when he was little?" a lot, because from what we can tell Lille Magnus is an exact mental replica of Mattias.  And the answer we get most frequently is "Hmmmm, yeah, I think so.  I think I remember him doing something like that..."

So there it is: the third child experience.  Your parents don't remember nearly as much as they did with the previous two, or maybe it's that they don't pay as much attention.  They certainly don't sweat the small stuff and they sure aren't buying you anything brand new, if they can help it.  And for Swedipino 3.0, it means your parents don't even blog about you until the week before you are due!

3.0 was a mere gummy bear back in June, when we first saw his little heart beat.

 

By September, at the 20 week ultrasound, he was waving and sucking on his hand.

 

It was a break from our tradition of surprise, but this time around we had to know this baby's sex.  We needed to prepare ourselves for boymaggedon, give ourselves time to accept the chaos to follow.  Now that we've known for several months now, we're really excited about the idea of a testosterone-filled household.

 

This past weekend, we took the boys to the hospital for a sibling tour.  We weren't sure if Magnus would really appreciate it since he prefers to run wild during most structured activities, but he sat down and listened quietly as our nurse-instructor talked about what newborns were like.  From the looks of her face (below), they must think newborns suck.

After walking through the labor and delivery ward, and showing the kids what the mother-baby rooms looked like, we brought out the baby dolls.  After I sat down, I had a real "Aha!" moment-- there I was holding a baby, with 2 little boys looking up at me.  I am about to become the mother of three.  I am about to become the mother of three boys.  In that tiny moment, I realized all the joy and fatigue that is in my future. 

We changed the doll's diaper, which Linus and Magnus both retrieved for me.  I guess it's best to start training them now.

Then we went over handling basics: be gentle, no poking at his eyes, DO NOT touch his hands (you dirty little germ carriers!)

Lastly, they got to hold the baby with my help.  I might regret saying this, but I'm not really worried about jealousy issues.  Linus never showed a bit of negativity towards Magnus, and recently Magnus has shown a great interest in his baby brother's arrival.  Daily he says "Tiny baby in there. Pop from Mamma?" He's even given him a name: Mulli (moo-lee)

I'm officially on maternity leave now, even though I'm only at 39 weeks.  Standing, walking, and commuting to work got too difficult for me.  And after experiencing some early labor signs on Monday I didn't want to take any chances of going into labor at work (and having to get home through Beltway traffic!)  So here I am, resting/nesting at home.  Most days Kerstin takes the boys because all I can really do is yell at them.  I'm feeling helpless, tired, and really uncomfortable, and worst of all I've become an angry mega-bitch.  So even though I'm enjoying the rest and care I'm receiving, I'm pretty ready for Swedipino 3.0's arrival.