a day off from the due date...

and no sign of baby coming out into the world.

my midwife visit on monday evening was less than eventful. i haven't dilated any further and i'm only 30% effaced. yes, that's 30% more than i was before, but still, not much. you'd think that all the contractions, raspberry leaf tea, and yes, even sex, would have led to something by now! not to mention the head being so far down in my pelvis -- we're totally going to have a coneheaded child.

i had my midwife strip my membranes, but it didn't do much of anything for me except give me some more false contractions. i was prepared for that, so it didn't bother me. i was just hoping it would help move things along.

so my due date is tomorrow, and there's nothing happening! i'm sad... and uncomfortable. and sick of the waiting game. my next midwife visit is monday, and if there's nothing happening by then, we will schedule the baby's non-stress test and "discuss my options." ugh. i'm really hoping that i don't have to be induced. but we'll see.

dave and i are laying low tonight. ordering in thai, watching a movie, drinking some cava. nothing much. i have a migraine, so that's not going to help with the discomfort at all. but we'll also be praying that something major happens... i'm ordering a green curry dish to try to push things along!

anyway, even though i'm in a grumbly mood, i wanted to wish everyone a happy new year. in the end, i know this year will bring much more than we've ever experienced before -- and change our lives forever.

to keep me laughing

just got this from my friend jothan, and couldn't help but post it up here. it's hysterical!!! thanks for the laugh jothan. i needed it. =D

just click on the image to see it larger (and readable).

don't want to post...

so, i'm in a bad mood most of the time these days, because baby block just refuses to come out. contractions? sure! cramping? absolutely. backache? no problem. but actual labor? NO.

i'm very uncomfortable most days, and i can't seem to get myself together. i'm trying almost every natural induction method available, short of castor oil and running up and down stairs. today i'm going to ask my midwife to strip my membranes, and hopefully that will move things along.

on the good side, we had christmas at our place this year. both christmas eve and christmas day. and it was great! christmas eve was sort of a trial run, since my mom and brother did most of the cooking for that day. but i was up a lot cleaning and serving and washing... maybe i should have sat down more, but i didn't want to. christmas day was my day to cook, but it was also a much smaller group to cook for. and both dave and i were really happy about the way it went. we figure that next year, holding christmas eve here "for real" will be a lot easier than we thought. yay!

39 weeks -- baby block is a BIG FREAKIN' BABY!

according to babycenter, this kid is a watermelon. i could have told you that! yes, this child is a stubborn watermelon-sized baby who wears me out, doesn't let me sleep (sign of what's to come?) and refuses to leave his/her cozy little space. oy.

from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing: Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath. See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing: At each of your now-weekly visits, your caregiver will do an abdominal exam to check your baby's growth and position. She might also do an internal exam to see whether your cervix has started ripening: softening, effacing (thinning out), and dilating (opening). But even armed with this information, there's still no way for your caregiver to predict exactly when your baby is coming. If you go past your due date, your caregiver will schedule you for fetal testing (usually a sonogram) after 40 weeks to ensure that it's safe to continue the pregnancy. If you don't go into labor on your own, most practitioners will induce labor when you're between one and two weeks overdue — or sooner if there's an indication that the risk of waiting is greater than the risks of delivering your baby without further delay. While you're waiting, it's important to continue to pay attention to your baby's movements and let your caregiver know right away if they seem to decrease. Your baby should remain active right up to delivery, and a noticeable slowdown in activity could be a sign of a problem. Also call if you think your water may have broken. Membranes rupture before the beginning of labor in about 8 percent of term pregnancies. Sometimes there's a big gush of fluid, but sometimes there's only a small gush or a slow leak. (Don't try to make the diagnosis yourself. Call even if you only suspect you have a leak.) If you rupture your membranes and don't start contractions on your own, you'll be induced.

update... nothing...

well, after my checkup yesterday, i've discovered that nothing has progressed. we had all good signs last week, but this week there has sadly been no change. which is shocking to me, since i've had a fair amount of false labor in the past 7 days. but alas, it has apparently done nothing. so, the baby is still very low (good), and my cervix is still very soft (good), but i haven't dilated any further (sigh...).

so we're still in baby limbo! which is quite normal at 9.5 months, and i know i'm no more uncomfortable than any other woman at this stage. but i will say that i'm sick of it! the only thing that is keeping me on an even keel is that there's a good shot that the baby won't be born until AFTER christmas, which at this point is a good thing. i would hate it if our poor child had to share his/her birthday with the biggest holiday of the year.

so i'm spending all my time sitting and "relaxing", as well as getting ready for the holidays. at least we have christmas and hannukah to look forward to.

38 weeks -- baby block is a leek

how about baby block is sitting on my pelvis and won't come out?


from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:
Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:
For many women, the next couple of weeks are a waiting game. Use this time to prepare your baby's nursery or to take care of necessary tasks you may not get around to for a while after your baby's born. Take naps, catch up on your reading, and spend uninterrupted time with your partner while you can. Some swelling in your feet and ankles is normal during these last weeks, but call your practitioner without delay if you notice excessive or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles, more than slight swelling of your hands, any swelling in your face or puffiness around your eyes, or have a sudden weight gain. Also let her know immediately if have severe or persistent headaches; visual changes (such as double or blurred vision, seeing spots or flashing lights, light sensitivity, or a temporary loss of vision), intense upper abdominal pain or tenderness, or nausea and vomiting. These are symptoms of a serious condition called preeclampsia.

yep, still here. =(

hey there in baby-block world!!

well, i'm 37.5 weeks and counting. i'm uncomfortable as all get out (yes, i just wanted an excuse to use that phrase). the baby is sitting really low in my pelvis since the head is engaged, and i get cramping, contractions, and braxton-hicks contractions to varying degrees on a daily basis. so basically, i'm ready to get this baby out of here!

while we wait, there's still a myriad of duties to complete. i am finally doing my shower thank you notes, some of which will go out today. we got the christmas tree this weekend with grandma maria and grandpa hank, so now we have to decorate it. and we have food shopping for the holidays to finish up. overall, not the longest list, but still stuff.

i'm going to be doing ye old labor trick, going for a long walk, in just a bit. i wanted to get photos to the upholsterer to get an estimate on recovering one of our chairs (the one above), so i need to get over there. it's within walking distance of the house, but it's a nice long walk. so i'm getting myself out there so that i can try to get this baby moving! wish me luck!

we think this kid wants to come out...

no, i'm not saying i'm having our child right now. but there are several signs of going early. which is ok, now that i'm 37 weeks, done with work, and have my bag packed!

i'm dealing with some discomfort, so i'm working on finally doing my shower thank you's before this kid gets here.

that's my update for now! fingers crossed that we get to pick up our tree tomorrow!

37 weeks -- baby block is swiss chard?

um, they're really running out of options. this one is for the length only...

from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:
Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:
Braxton Hicks contractions may be coming more frequently now and may last longer and be more uncomfortable. You might also notice an increase in vaginal discharge. If you see some "bloody show" (mucus tinged with a tiny amount of blood) in the toilet or in your undies, labor is probably a few days away — or less. (If you have heavier spotting or bleeding, call your caregiver immediately.) Also be sure to ask your caregiver about the results of your Group B strep culture. That way, if the result isn't yet on your chart when you get to the hospital or birth center, you'll be able to give the staff there a timely heads-up if you need antibiotics.

It may be harder than ever to get comfortable enough to sleep well at night. If you can, take it easy through the day — this may be your last chance to do so for quite a while. Keep monitoring your baby's movements, too, and let your caregiver know immediately if you notice a decrease. Though her quarters are getting cozy, she should still be as active as before.

While you're sleeping, you're likely to have some intense dreams. Anxiety both about labor and about becoming a parent can fuel a lot of strange flights of unconscious fancy.

36 weeks -- baby block is a crenshaw melon!

yes, yes, we've hit 36 weeks! so, officially i'm 9 months along, less than a month away from my due date, and officially 4 weeks out. this is really quite strange, though after monday's scare, we are a bit more prepared on what to expect.


from babycenter.com:

How your baby's growing:
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:
Now that your baby is taking up so much room, you may have trouble eating a normal-size meal. Smaller, more frequent meals are often easier to handle at this point. On the other hand, you may have less heartburn and have an easier time breathing when your baby starts to "drop" down into your pelvis. This process — called lightening — often happens a few weeks before labor if this is your first baby. (If you've given birth before, it probably won't happen before labor starts.) If your baby drops, you may also feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen, which may make walking increasingly uncomfortable, and you'll probably find that you have to pee even more frequently. If your baby is very low, you may feel lots of vaginal pressure and discomfort as well. Some women say it feels as though they're carrying a bowling ball between their legs!

You might also notice that your Braxton Hicks contractions are more frequent now. Be sure to review the signs of labor with your practitioner and find out when she wants to hear from you. As a general rule, if you're full-term, your pregnancy is uncomplicated, and your water hasn't broken, she'll probably have you wait to come in until you've been having contractions that last for about a minute each, coming every five minutes for an hour. Of course, you'll want to call right away if you notice a decrease in your baby's activity or think you're leaking amniotic fluid, or if you have any vaginal bleeding, fever, a severe or persistent headache, constant abdominal pain, or vision changes.

our not-so-fun monday

dave and i had a lovely thanksgiving weekend. it was a bit hectic, but in a good way. and i rested up as much as i could.

unfortunately, monday it all went awry.

i woke up several times during the night sunday into monday. this is pretty much par for the course these days -- baby block likes to kick mommy awake, or sit on my bladder until i have to pee again. but i got up at 5:30 in the morning the last time, and that was a bad wake-up. i wound up throwing up and waking up poor dave, who heard me and came in to check on me and take care of me. anyway, i went to lie on the couch for the rest of the morning and try to relax. but of course i was uncomfortable and ill, and couldn't get much water into my system.

dave got up, checked on me, and got ready for work. before he left, at about 8:30, i started to get stomach pains. they really felt like bad gas pains, and i thought they were related to whatever was going on with my stomach at the moment. dave offered to stay home with me but i told him i'd be fine and to go to work. and i laid back down to try to sleep. but these pains persisted, and didn't let me sleep. eventually, i realized that i was actually in a lot of pain, and something else might be going on.

i called aunt inna to clarify if what i was feeling could be contractions. when she said that it sounded like contractions, i called the midwives. while waiting for them to call back, i threw up again, and then called dave to come home. when i spoke to midwife kristen, she told me that it sounded like i had the nasty stomach flu that was going around and that the dehydration was causing contractions. kristen advised me to get gatorade or something else with electrolytes into my system to stop the contractions from coming. so i asked dave to pick up gatorade on his way home. when he got back, i downed a bottle, and then we began to time the contractions which were still coming. they were pretty steady -- about 10-13 minutes apart. when they got to be 7 minutes apart, i began to get nervous. so we called back the midwives, and midwife kristen told me to head to the hospital. she wanted me to be put on IV to get enough fluids in me to stop the contractions.

of course, at this point we were pretty freaked out. frankly, we weren't ready for this baby to show up! especially not me. i am still scheduled for work until the end of next week, and i hadn't lined up anyone to take over my projects if i were to go early. i also hadn't purchased everything needed for the hospital yet, so we'd be essentially going with nothing. that's minor in the end, but still mattered yesterday, since we were so unprepared.

so i showered, changed, and we went to the hospital, hoping that they could work their magic and stop these contractions. after waiting for a while to get admitted into triage, we finally got in there. the nurses got me all ready and took blood and stuff, and then midwife anne came in to take care of us. i was hooked up to the fetal monitor, which confirmed my contractions but also confirmed that the baby was doing just fine (whew). they ran their tests and hooked me up to the IV (ouch). i had 2 bags on IV before the contractions stopped and they could send me home. but the good news is that they did indeed stop. i'm also not dialated as of yet, and the culture they ran to check on if the baby might go pre-term came back negative. so i guess the rest of my body is saying that it's not ready. for which i am very grateful.

we also found out that the baby's head is in fact very low, which explains why i always feel like he/she is trying to break out of there! maybe it will help in a few weeks when i'm actually ready to go. ha!

we went home after all this, and i was still feeling pretty beaten up by the virus and the days events. i forced down some more gatorade and a bagel, and laid on the couch with dave as long as i could handle it. my back was spasming from the day's problems. so we went to bed early, and dave rubbed my back until we could both sleep. i'm still kind of out of it today, and suffering from a migraine as a result, but i'm much better than i was.

a few great things came out of the otherwise stressful day:

1. we're both better prepared for the real thing now. dave did an AMAZING job at making me feel better, keeping me calm, and even laughing through the pain and confusion. and i now know what contractions feel like, so i'll be much more aware when it is really time to go.

2. i get contractions! this sounds silly, but it's not. my mom had a hormonal imbalance that kept her from going into labor, including when she was induced. she has no idea what a contraction feels like, and me and my brother were both c-sections. i was a bit concerned that i'd have the same problem, but now we know that i do in fact get contractions. that's a huge thing for me.

3. i now have backup -- a couple of good friends who are also designers said that they could take my projects if necessary. which makes me feel so much better.

4. we now know what has to get done for our real trip to the hospital, and we will make sure we get all that done by the end of the week. grandma maria and i are going to target on friday here in bk, to do one-stop-shopping for my hospital stay, and dave and i are getting all the things returned to buybuy baby that need to go back on saturday. after that, we'll be in much better shape.

so i'm home, and baby-free, which is good. i'm resting and working at the same time, and trying to make myself feel better.