If Baby arrives in the same 2-day gestational window as its brothers, then our family will be back to even numbers between Thursday and Saturday of this week.

The boys seem mostly aware of the impending change. When prompted, they confirm that they are excited. They understand that if they wake up in the morning and GiGi (my mom) is here, it’s because Mom and Dad went to see the doctor during the night because the baby is coming. And, when it came up just yesterday that A is the “littlest bro,” J corrected Dave: “no, the new baby is the littlest bro now.”

“Well, technically the baby may be a girl; we still don’t know,” Dave said.

J, without missing a beat: “girls can be ‘bros’ too, Dad.”

(In our house, “bro” is indeed an abbreviation for “brother,” but clearly more often is used as a compliment – someone who is a good friend, shares their toys readily, takes care of another bro in need. Really, we should all aspire to the status of ‘bro.’)

We spent the weekend ensuring we were caught up on laundry, hair cuts, and my mom even took me out for a manicure to carry me through the end of the pregnancy and first week or two of Baby’s life (so even if I’ve not showered in days, I’ll look kempt… at least from the cuticles down). We stocked up on convenience foods like Lunchables, hot dogs, and pre-cut fruit. I took O to a park for the rare 1:1 play date with a friend from daycare – an event in & of itself for him to be the sole child in the car, to say nothing of the focused attention and lack of competition required to dictate the terms of a given activity compared to when his brothers are around. We played at the pool, ate meals on the patio, made crafts, played games, and kept the big boys up past bedtime for a bonfire and s’mores in our backyard (their first but definitely not their last this season as they thoroughly enjoyed that the treat itself is the objective).

As for me nearing “go-time,” I did some working out, took some naps, got to bed early, and was only occasionally self-conscious about the number of involuntary noises I make while doing things around the house like picking up objects from the floor, leaning over to buckle the boys’ sandals, or, you know, rolling over during the night. Most importantly, I am still feeling great and had my latest check-up today with Baby looking good and in the proper exit position.

With my first 3, I went into labor during the wee hours of the night, so I admit it’s a bit anxiety-inducing to fall asleep the past week+ lest I wake up shortly thereafter in active labor… but then again, each morning I’m finding the predominant feeling is a little less relief of a full night’s sleep and a little more disappointment that the baby’s not already in my arms. Soon enough…