Surprisingly Perfect

The Big Checklist

I looked around the corner of my bedroom where the nursery was all set up. Poppy was on the other side of the room, going through the closet. The master bedroom had two closets, one for myself and one where I could keep the boys' clothes. It was a total lifesaver.

I went over and checked the cribs again, wriggling the bars to make sure they were still good. Just like yesterday, they were still stable. With two weeks left to go before my C-section, I was getting pretty obsessive and way too impatient. I rubbed the side of my belly. The kicks were coming like crazy.

I waddled over to my nightstand and picked up my notebook. I made a massive checklist for everything the boys needed. Today was the day that Poppy and I were going to check everything off, along with packing my hospital bag.

"Hey, you ready?" I asked.

She dashed over to me. "Yeah! Let's do it!"

"Okay. I'll check off all the big things first that are really obvious. So that's the cribs, changing table, and all the clothes," I said, walking over to the closet. "I made a decision on their coming home outfits."

"I mean, it was kind of obvious from what they say."

I picked up the only set of matching onesies I had. They were dark blue with white text that said We're Here!

"Stop being such a smartass and put these in the bag since I can't bend down," I said.

Poppy took the onesies from me and placed them in the open duffel bag on the floor. I picked out a few larger onesies in case they came out bigger than I thought, and a few of the preemie-sized ones just in case. Doctor Andrews told me that sometimes twins come out smaller than other newborns.

"Great. Now that that's done, let's go over all the diapers," I said.

"Do you want to count all the boxes Mom stuffed under her bed and in the hall closet?" Poppy asked.

"Yeah. Might as well."

We got a total of the boxes in the boys' closet, and I sat around while watching Poppy find all the hidden diapers. Mom got a hold of some coupons and bought a diaper stockpile.

There were three boxes under Poppy's bed, three boxes under Mom's bed, six boxes in their bedroom closet, four boxes in the hall closet, and three boxes in the garage.

"Hopefully this will get me through a few weeks or a month," I said.

"Well, just do the math. The lady at that parenting class said a baby uses eight per day, so double it and divide it by whatever is on the box. So with these guys here in the garage, you're looking at a week each."

I almost dropped my pen. "That's it? Maybe we should buy more. I'll make a note of it."

"Sure. Let's just shove more diapers in a place where there's no room."

"There's a few extra spaces here in the garage. Besides, we'll be going through them so fast that they'll be gone before you know it," I said. "Let's go check out the pantry."

Poppy closed the garage door and we walked into the kitchen. The counter was lined with bottles that still needed to be cleaned and put away.

I opened one of the cabinets and checked the formula off the list. I took a breastfeeding class a while back, but in case it didn't go well when the twins got here, I made sure to have formula as a backup.

I closed the cabinet and went to the medicine cabinet that was next to the fridge. We cleared a whole shelf just for the boys. I looked through everything and checked off what I had.

"Hey, we need a thermometer," I said.

"Got it," Poppy said, making a note on her phone.

I forced myself back upstairs and kept counting everything in the nursery section of my room. I made sure that the swivel bassinets were ready to go. They were each on a different side of the bed. I figured I could just roll back and forth to each baby.

Poppy eventually got distracted and was in the closet looking through all the clothes again, taking them out and then re-folding them. She was obsessed with the tiny outfits.  

"I seriously can't wait until I have a baby!" Poppy said, holding up a super cute onesie with a constellation pattern on it.

"Poppy, you're not even fifteen yet! You definitely can wait. A long, long time."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know that. I just wish the boys could've come at a later time, so that I could get pregnant too. It would be so fun if they had cousins who were the same age that they could hang out with." 

"Hey, maybe by the time you find a nice guy, get married, and have a baby, I'll be on my second set of kids," I said.

"With Jace?"

"I...I don't know. But whatever happens it'll be a long time from now. Years and years away," I said.

"I know," she whined. "But that's like forever from now! I don't want to wait that long."

"Trust me, you do," I said. "Just come over here and help me finish getting the hospital bag ready."

"Coming!"

I picked out a few outfits for myself, along with all the spare toiletries I needed to fill my hospital bag. Poppy struggled with the zipper. That bag was absolutely stuffed. I gave my checklist one more look.

"Okay. Just a few more things to buy and we'll be all set," I said, taking a deep breath.

All this time and waiting, now there were only two more weeks. I was feeling every emotion possible: excitement, nervousness, and super ancy. The boys would actually be here.

"I'm so excited!" Poppy said, jumping up and down.

"Me too," I said. "Hey, I wanted to say thanks for being such a big help. I really appreciate you going shopping all those times, and designing the nursery and helping me out at the parenting classes, since Mom is so busy at work trying to get that big promotion."

"I mean, I've only got one sister. And we've never had a baby in the house or anything because Mom never remarried. Remember how much we'd beg her to go out on dates?"

I laughed. "Yeah. I still think she'll find the right guy someday."

I doubt it. I've given up on that dream. Besides, I don't need to bug her for a little sibling anymore because I've got my two super-cute nephews coming soon!" she said, holding a onesie to her chest. "Are you ready?"

I cradled my massive baby bump. "I'm pretty nervous, but more than ready."