#sproglet

[wheresonichedgehogwnt]

In today's Two-Under-Two Parenting Moment, I couldn't find the felt tip pen we'd been using to label moving boxes (probably Mr. Hedgehogwnt had hidden it from the kids), so I grabbed one of Baby Strider's crayons and used that instead

[wheresonichedgehogwnt]

Mr. Hedgehogwnt, at the zoo: Do you want to find a more private place to nurse?

Me: If people care about seeing a mammal feed her kid, they shouldn't be at the zoo

[wheresonichedgehogwnt]

Omg Sproglet's social smile is excellent in terms of timing but in terms of appearance he looks like an awkward muppet, I love it so much

[wheresonichedgehogwnt]

Mr. Hedgehogwnt and I went to Zoo Lights in The Big City for the first time about 12 hours after my egg collection for IVF

That was three years ago

Today we went back with our two spontaneously conceived kids (and one of my best friends, who was vital to help us manage the new two-under-two chaos), and it was awesome

Here's to a 2026 full of awesome moments

[wheresonichedgehogwnt]

Weird postpartum thing 594: Laying down and waiting for fetal movements like you have for months and then remembering that you're going to have to reach over to the crib to feel them, and also now they're newborn movements

[wheresonichedgehogwnt]

In the past three days I have:

-Decluttered so much stuff omg, a fair amount of my pre-pregnancy/non-nursing stuff and also most of the stuff I didn't have time or energy to go through after residency and fellowship and during COVID is not getting dragged through a(nother) move and I'm so thrilled

-(I still didn't go through my mama's stuff but whatever, it's stuff, it'll keep, if I drag it to my new corner of The Middle of Nowhere it can wait for me to get the emotional energy to deal with it but in the meantime I'm going to use my energy elsewhere)

-Hung out with Baby Strider a lot

-Contracted off and on a fair amount and apparently it wasn't a bunch of obnoxious prodromal stuff because I asked for a cervical check and was 1 cm dilated at 37 weeks, which isn't super impressive, but given that I had a Bishop Score of 0 at the start of my induction with Baby Strider, I was pretty stunned that I had made any progress at all

-Went to Costco to stock up on various things but mostly Baby Strider's preferred Midnight Snack Yogurt

-Did so much laundry

-Seriously so much

-I am pre-laundering things like winter sheets and dog beds

-Made some freezer meals

-Slept, but in the not-restful, gazillion-weeks-pregnant kind of way

-Realized I've spent over half of the past two years pregnant and had to sit down for a minute

-Got back up because Baby Strider was pointing at the clouds and saying, "Wow!" and they were some very nice clouds, so we got to look at those together

Things I still need to do:

- Continue licensing and credentialing stuff for my new job

-Pick up newborn diapers from The City (we don't have them here in town)

-Get the crib here and get it set up (Baby Strider still sleeps in her crib, so new crib it is - if I go into labor over the weekend we do have a backup safe sleep surface, but still)

We're term and I'd like to stay pregnant until my induction date for sheer convenience and also because I'd love to not leave vacation days unused, but we shall see what Sproglet's plans are

Either way, I'm loving my time off!

[wheresonichedgehogwnt]

Good news: My nesting energy is directing itself normally this pregnancy - rather than obsessing over why my horses and garden had mud on them in late spring, I'm cleaning my house and doing a ton of laundry and figuring out how to organize my kids' clothes

Bad news: I am up at midnight cleaning the bathtub and could not tell you why

[wheresonichedgehogwnt]

It's that time in my pregnancy: Time to tell patients I will be out on maternity leave

Responses are overwhelmingly positive and along the lines of "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you!", but I do get a few others, which are also positive but a bit more teasing in nature

The most common alternate response is, "Already?!" to which I reply, "Yes, already!" and depending on my relationship with the patient I may sheepishly add, "We didn't expect it to happen this quickly, but we're thrilled!"

I have gotten a few, "Wow! You know how that happens, right?" to which I joke, "I'm not absolutely sure, but I think I'm starting to narrow it down!"

I got one, "Congratulations, how exciting! Wait, that's going to be two under two. How's your husband holding up?" from a patient with a great sense of humor and who I know especially well (and who remembers that Mr. Hedgehogwnt is the stay-at-home parent), and I said, "Well, he hasn't scheduled a vasectomy, or at least not one that he's told me about, so I guess he's doing okay!" which made her laugh

My favorite is little kids who look at me, look at my belly, and say something like, "Wait, you have a baby in there???" (these are mostly rancher kids who are used to seeing pregnant horses and cattle and sheep, who show a little differently than I do - I comfirm that yes, he's in there right now, and if he's moving I will offer to let them feel him moving as proof, which about half take me up on and then make funny faces about, and about half are too shy to accept)

I then tell people the plan for while I'm out, and everyone nods and agrees that's reasonable and wishes me luck

It's a very human moment to share with them, and I'm glad to be in a place where my patients know and respect that I'm human