False Labor Again?

Last night I woke up with terrible cramps at about 2 am. It felt like the top of my uterus was trying to climb out of my mouth and the bottom of my uterus felt like I needed to poop or terrible menstral cramps. Labor, maybe?

DH hurt his back on Monday at work and decided to take a muscle relaxer last night. Though he's had back problems before, thus the access to drugs, he rarely takes medication or drinks. This is yet another piece of evidence that we are polar opposites. I need 2 bloody marys just to get on a plane with many drinks on the flight. Because DH isn't used to the drugs, he passed out within minutes of his head hit the pillow and couldn't be woken up by a nuclear war taking place in our bedroom.

I decided to work on lesson planning because there is more than enough to do. Contractions were 6 minutes apart.

After hours of planning and a bath, my contractions lost their consistency, so I have been napping on and off all morning.

I have a Dr.'s appointment so Im hoping we'll have some dilation happening. Will follow up if I can... just updating and running for now.

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False Labor

On Saturday night I started having what I think was contractions.  My doctor explained that it would feel like pain shooting from the top of my uterus and working its was down.  That's not what it felt like.

I felt a very intense tightening at the top of my uterus, followed by tightening in the rest of my uterus and a teeny bit of back pain.  It felt like the the Braxton Hicks contractions that I have been having for the past 2 months, only way more intense and at regular intervals. 

At about 11 pm, these contractions were happening every 7 minutes.  DH was starting to get anxious and wanted to know if we should start heading to the hospital.  Knowing that they'd turn us away with contractions this far apart, I suggested we go try to get some sleep and wake up early to get the pets ready for being on their own.  We had a list of things we still wanted to do, and from everything I'd read, we should have plenty of time.

DH kept excitedly squealing "Tomorrow we are going to have a baby!" and we cuddled and talked about what she might be like.  Soon after he drifted off to sleep.

It took several hours before I could fall asleep.  The contractions stayed about 7 minutes apart, but were getting a little more painful.  I was too uncomfortable and excited to sleep.

I woke up early, and noticed that the contractions had slowed significantly.  They were now about 20 minutes apart.  I figured this was caused by innactivity, and decided that we should start getting ready anyway, and perhaps the activity would start the contractions again.

I was scheduled to do brunch with my sister, but DH and I know full well that if anyone in my family gets wind of labor, they'll all be over in no time flat.  We've decided we want to go through the delivery together, ALONE, so I made up a story about feeling nauseous and declined the brunch invite.  My sis hates all things vomit and she didn't question it.

DH is responsible for doing payroll at work, and payroll needed to be done this Monday.  To make sure that no one went unpaid, DH went in for a few hours and got as much work done as he could.  I stayed and cleaned up around the house and did a little more lesson planning.

Sometime during the late morning and early afternoon the contractions stopped. 

And they haven't started back up.

And people are still calling, and facebooking and texting excitedly to see if the baby is coming.

And I am starting to feel like I am letting people down.

I feel like I'm going absolutely nutty.  Everytime I feel a weird kick I get excited and then quickly realize that nothing is happening.  I know she'll come when she is ready, but I wish I knew when.

I have been knitting and crochetting like crazy to try to keep my mind occupied.  I've made a scarf and and pair of crochetted Mary Jane's.  Here's my first attempt:

The one on the left was try #1 and my second attempt is on the right.  I'm going to make a 3rd to replace #1, you know, now that I have some extra time on my hands.  Note the ladybug buttons, they are my favorite. 

I'm super mopy since DH had to work today.  Apparently, everyone else has MLK day off so that they can call me and ask where the baby is. 

This sucks.  I'm ready for the baby to fall out.

40 weeks

Today is my due date.

Still no baby.

However, I have gotten 3 phone calls, several text messages and 2 facebook comments asking me if there is any sign of the baby.

People suck.

I have been having quite a bit of cramping and my pelvic and sciatic pain is back in full force. But nothing else.

DH and decided to try to get our minds off of the baby by going out to a late breakfast and movie date. And we got ice cream after.

Now I'm doing as many mindless things as I can to keep my brain from going crazy. I have knitted almost an entire scarf and I think I'll havecenough yarn to make a baby hat and booties to match when I'm done. I'll update with finished products if I ever follow through.

Hoping the baby comes soon. I'm going crazy!

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A Cruel Joke

Everyone around me has been urging me to enjoy my last few night of uninterrupted sleep before the baby arrives. 

That sounds like a great plan.

But

I

CANT

SLEEP

!!!!!!

It is now 1:13 am and I have spent the last two hours listening to DH snore.

This happened a when I was on winter break.  I spent several nights tossing and turning throughout the night and doing everything I could to avoid a nap during the day so that I might get on track. 

Last night, at some point Bug decided to make a noticible descent south.  My belly is visibly lower than it was before and now I am pretty sure that her head is stabbing me in the bladder. 

Having to pee every 20 minutes is not helping me fall asleep.

To make matters worse, I know that my sub will call me at 7:30 in the morning, like she did today. 

No bueno. 

So, in my last few childless nights, I am completely and totally unable to sleep. 

Its not funny.

39 Weeks

I'm a little slow getting up my 39 week post.  Things have been hectic around here. 

I am officially on maternity leave. Hooray!!!!

One would think this would mean that I am sitting with my feet propped up and enjoying the end of my pregnancy.

Not so much.

This morning, my sub called me 6 times. 6 times.  3 before 8 am. 

I want to stab her.

Because I work for a school that does independent study, we don't see students every day and things are a little tricky.  My principal suggested a sub based on the fact that she has taught for our school in the past and understands our strange little proceedures.  Unfortunately, many of the proceedures have changed and she really has no idea what is going on. 

And she is older, retired and not so familiar with that new fangled thingy on my desk called a computer. 

Stupid me, I left electronic files. 

It seemed like a good idea at the time.  I have remote access to my desktop so I can go in an change assignment and adapt lessons to meet her needs, because, oh yeah, she also isn't a science person. 

DH is ready to have my phone disconnected.

On to the baby update. 

There is no baby. =(

I had an appointment last Thursday and found out that I was a half centimeter dilated and almost completely effaced.  My doctor is hoping that something will start happening soon, but suggested that I make an appointment for early next week to start discussing induction.

Fuck!

I am pretty flexible with my birth plan, and will do what I need to do, but induction is the LAST thing I want done.  I was hoping to have a low intervention birth so that I could walk around and hide in the shower and do that kind of a thing.  But once they start with pitocin, I am bed ridden for most of the process.  This takes away a lot of the things that I was hoping for.

And.... I am not a big fan of the multiple day labor that so many people I have talked to who have been induced seemed to have. 

Let the crazy interventions begin.

Spicy Food.
Walking.
Cod liver oil.
Sex.

I think I'm going to start trying it all, knowing damn well it probably wont work.

Wish me luck and start thinking baby!

38 Weeks: Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

This is the first New Years Day in a long time that I woke up and was ready to go at 8 am.  Funny how sober living will do that to a girl. 

I even met up with a friend to go to the farmers market and breakfast.  Before noon. 

Unfortunately, the farmers market wasn't open today. 

Oh well, breakfast was FANTASTIC!

Today I am 38 weeks pregnant and CANNOT WAIT to get this baby out of me.  I'm just tired of being fat and unable to do so many things.  Belive it or not, I am incredibly jealous of the people who are starting the year off with a run or a long bike ride.  I would absolutely kill to be able to hop on my bike today or take Daisy Dog for a run. 

I might almost be craving a run more than I am craving champagne. 

I said almost.

Unfortunately, a Wednesday's checkup, the midwife told me that an early birth looks highly unlikely.  I'm 50% effaced, but Bug hasn't dropped and there is no dialation happening.  Grrr.  She said to expect Bug right around my due date (the 15th) and possibly a little after.

The midwife also told me that Bug is approximately seven and a half pounds.  That's not a fetus, that's a baby.  A baby that is still cooking and getting bigger by the day. 

DH is thrilled.  Since we missed the deadline for the tax write off, his new goal is for us to have a 10 pound baby. 

I kind of hate him right now.

Bug also kicked and punched at the midwife while she was examining me.  This is the second appointment in a row where this has happened. 

Also this week, DH made the terrible mistake of replacing my broken down, hardly working crackberry with a new droid something or other.  That means that I now have a camera on my phone that will actually upload pictures.  So here is a picture of my tummy, from my point of view. 

I assure you this t-shirt used to be much less stretched.

This is definitely going to be a crazy year.

37 Weeks~ Merry Christmas

I'm writing this post early, because I'm hitting the 37 week mark on Christmas day.  Its actually Christmas eve right now and I'm frantically getting ready to head down to my parent's house with DH and Daisy dog.  This will, no doubt, be a harrowing experience because 1) My parents have Boo, a pit-chow mix who is EXTREMELY dog agressive.  They also have a pug-chihuahua mix that Boo has eaten twice and spit out.  The little dog now must wear full armor if the two of them are to be around food.   2) Daisy has a melt down whenever she is more than a foot away from me if we are in a strange place.  She will likely need to be crated to avoid the likes of Boo, and she will not be happy about this.  Commence the whining of a lab and howling of a husky. 

Daisy is showing signs of neglect this week.  She was already re-decorating our yard by pulling up weed control fabric that we have under our rocks, broken an orange tree, and helped the Dashunds that live in back of us dig their way into our yard.  Her latest distructive behavior is to actually start eating away at the fence.  Poor puppy is missing the days when mommy could take her for a nice long run.  Now, daddy is still fully capable, but keeps bitching and moaning about how he has too much to do.  I've been off for a whole week now (so thankful for winter break) so I'm hoping she'll be a little more content.

I am feeling the effects of the third trimester big time.  I AM SO FREAKING TIRED!  After making tamales with my family on Saturday, I was completely and totally wiped out.  I spent most of Sunday and Monday sleeping.  My to do list is almost as long as it was when I started the week, and I still haven't finished the thank you cards for my baby shower which was on the fourth.  I know, I'm terrible.

Here's a few fun and exciting things that happened this week:

• Strep B culture came back negative!  Woohooh!  This is most fantastic because I'm hoping to get away with only an IV plug during delivery.  I'll fill you in more on the birth plan later (if I make it that far), but the tentative plan is to go au natural.  The rest of the plan is mainly to wait an see how it goes.
• I got a SUPER hot fireman to put in Bug's carseat.  We found out in our newborn prep class that 90% of carseat are installed incorrectly, and that most firestations have someone who is trained to put them in and they do it for free.  SWEET!  I'm all for safety and pretty firemen.  It is, however, very strange to have a baby seat in my car.
• Bug is FULL TERM!  We made it!  Though its still 3 weeks until our official due date, she can now come any time. 

36 Weeks

36 weeks is another milestone that I have been counting down toward.   The risks involved with a delivery at 36+ weeks are much lower than even a week before and Bug only has to hang on for another week to be considered full term.  Only four more weeks until she's due and I'm starting to get nervous, excited, panicky, you name it.

I realized about a week ago that I hadn't been scheduled for an appointment between 31 and almost 38 weeks.  Since I've been seeing my doctor like clockwork every 4 weeks, I thought something was amiss.  Realizing that a strep B culture is supposed to take place between 35 and 37 weeks, I decided to call my doctor's office.  After almost an hour on the phone, I convinced the confused receptionist that a January 3rd appointment would not be between my 35th and 37th week of pregnancy, she scheduled me for an appointment on Friday, a day shy of the 36 week mark.

Despite my husbands requests to "make sure I asked for pictures", the appointment was mostly routine except that:

• Doc says Bug is head down.  She figured this out when she feeling my cervix for dilation.  Note to the ladies..... don't mention to your husband that the doctor can feel the baby's head through your va-jay-jay.  This may not bode well for your chances of getting lucky that evening.
• Doc checked my cervix for the first time since my 8 week appointment.  Its not an entirely fun experience, but she warned me that it would be TERRIBLE, and it wasn't as bad as she made it out to be.
• The strep test was the least fun.  Mostly because I didn't read the fine print that Doc needs to swab your vagina and around your anus.  Not so comfy.

Other highlights of this week:

• Friday was my last day of work for two weeks.  Though I will be spending the next two weeks re-writing my lesson plans (thanks to the fact  that my sub freaked out when I mentioned that she might have to do a few labs with the kids), I'm on winter break
• DH had the house cleaned from top to bottom and all of the dishes done when I got home from my appointment on Friday.  Consequently, we will likely stay married for another week.
• I spent all day yesterday making tamales with my crazy family  and lived to tell the tale. 
• Feeling more and more Braxton Hicks and hiccups are at least a twice a day event.  I do not enjoy hiccups when I have them, and enjoy them even less than she does.

I started thinking about when might actually come.  I'm hoping for January 11th, so then her birthday will be 1/11/11.  DH is hoping for December 31st for the tax break. 

35 Weeks ~ Crunch time

I have been feeling very relaxed for the last few weeks up my pregnancy.  Last weekend was my baby shower, which did so much to help me feel like we are prepared for this baby.  I went to Target and got the last few essentials that I felt like just in case she fell out early. (BTW, you may notice that I have and will continue to refer to giving birth as "when the baby falls out".  I'm hoping it will be a self fulfilling prophecy.)

However, yesterday I logged into the Bump and saw that I only have 35 days left.  5 weeks sounds like a lot more than 35 days in my crazy pregnant mind.  I also realized that Bug will be full term in only 2 more weeks.  It still doesn't feel real and I really can't imagine that we will have a baby so soon. 

I am now, as I have been throughout my pregnancy, counting the days until the next milestone that will give her the best chance of doing well at birth.  At this point, days make a huge difference in how well she'll survive outside of the whom.  So although I'm looking forward to meeting Bug, I'd like her to do more cooking.

I'm so close to the end of my pregnancy that, due to the timing, I really only have to work for another week.  I wanted to be a teacher, in part, because it gives me plenty of breaks for mommy time and that thought is paying off big time now.  I have one more week until we are off for two weeks (hooray for winter break).  When we return its only two weeks until my due date, and 10 weeks until we are off for Spring Break (another two weeks off, love this schedule).  I'm planning on going back after the break, but preparing for not going back. 

That means, crunch time.  This is the stack of paperwork I need to get through before going to work tomorrow.

On top of that, I have 10 weeks of lesson plans to write by Thursday when I meet with my sub. 

It doesn't help that I've been feeling pretty crappy this weekend.  I feel dehydrated, a little dizzy and nauseous and physically exhausted.  I haven't been taking great care of myself and have been eating out ALOT  because well, see for yourself....

Pardon the crappy camera phone pics, but I'm two lazy to take/download pictures with my actual camera right now. 

Swollen doesn't even begin to describe my ankles and feet.  I thought swelling would be an annoyance, but its actually pretty painful.  The skin is stretched so tight that it feels like its going to rip. 

I also have baby brain, bad.  I don't want to think about anything except getting ready for the baby, which is why I'm blogging and not working right now. 

Did I mention I have a yoga and newborn care class that I'm supposed to be going to this week, too?  I just need to get through this week, and life will be a whole lot easier.