No Further Enlightenment

I had my "40 week" midwife appointment today. No weight change in the last week so I'm holding steady at 30 lbs gained. Blood pressure is good. Belly measures right on target for 40 weeks.

The good news is that it appears that Sprout is no longer posterior!!!! YAY! The heartbeat was strong and LOUD which indicates an anterior position (versus far-away and difficult to find, which is what we heard in the past). Woohoo! I still have to keep leaning forward as much as I can to keep him/her from going back to posterior (and it can certainly change during labor, too) but this is a good start!

We talked about what comes next. My next appointment is June 1st and if I haven't had Sprout by then, we will begin discussing NST and checking amnio fluid levels. In the meantime, she wanted me to keep up with the natural attempts at induction to do whatever I can to help move things along.

There was one small problem. We discussed the GBS thing again and I repeated that I do not want antibiotics and that the pediatrician on-call for them said they would then want me to stay for observation for 24 hours, which I will do. According to this midwife, the observation period is 48 hours - I DO NOT want to be stuck there for the first 2 days of my child's life. Especially for something that is unlikely to be a problem, and if it is, we would know within the first 24 hours. I agreed to 24 hours because a typical birth center stay is 12 hours... what's 12 more, you know? But 48 hours... don't want to do it. It's more money out of our pockets, it's increasing the likelihood of coming home with an illness (because hospitals are the best places to get sick, and we would be transferred to the hospital from the birth center for the stay), and it's putting our new lives on hold. If I leave before their recommended period of observation is up, I have to sign an AMA form (I think that's the name of it?) saying I'm leaving against their medical recommendations... and in some cases, that means insurance will refuse to pay if there is a problem down the road.

Not too happy about this being sprung on me...

One More Day

I don't know why I'm getting so hung up on an arbitrary number, but there's only 1 day left now until my due date.

...and to add a lovely twist, hubby is now sick. My only support person (as we could not afford a doula and I don't feel comfortable with anyone else in the room) and he's ill. At this point, I don't want him anywhere near the baby... which means if I go into labor before he recovers, things are going to get really interesting. I'm not normally a germaphobe but come on - I can't have him blowing his nose constantly in the birthing center while I'm trying to bring a new life into the world.

SIGH.

Stripper Maggie has been practicing her moves. She's getting quicker and more adept at removing her clothes. I've taken to putting her diapers on backwards during the day and we actually put duct tape on her night diaper tonight. Does that make me a bad parent? Hopefully she can keep her clothes on through my midwife appointment later today.

Dawn of a Better Day

Goodness, I hope so! The combination of preggo hormonal mood swings, Maggie's refusal to sleep (and therefore crankiness), and her testing of every boundary possible has not been good for us. It appears she has awakened in a better mood today and I hope it lasts... Not only did she wear me out yesterday, but she got to hubby, too, in the few short hours they spent together. Thankfully, he did rescue me for some time so I could calm down (and I put to good use the Cold Stone Creamery gift card we got from MIL for our anniversary after she went to sleep finally... gotta love Cold Stone to go!).

I awoke at about 3:30AM with bad back pain this morning and some crampiness. It very likely was contractions, but they were nothing severe. I laid down in child's pose on top of my pillow (to support the belly) and was able to fall back asleep. Hubby asked this morning if he should stay home, but it doesn't look like Sprout is eager to show him/herself today. (Because I'd know by now if anything were going to happen today, right?)

That brings up an interesting point. Since I did not go into natural labor with Maggie, I'm not even sure what to expect. I know there are the signs I'm supposed to be looking for: bloody show/loss of mucus plug, contractions that are 5 min apart for at least 2 hours, sometimes loose stools can be an indicator... But do these have to happen? Like will I definitely lose the mucus plug first? Will my body definitely decide it wants to clean itself out before labor? Obviously I will have contractions eventually... but it just seems like there would be some sort of warning. Not like in the movies where the lead actress' water breaks and they're on a mad dash to the hospital to have the baby before it pops out in the car. Heck, water doesn't even have to break to have a baby, so I know that isn't a sign I can depend upon either. I feel like such a newbie at this!

Alright, Get Me The Duct Tape!

We have a stripper on our hands!

Yesterday while I was catching up at the computer, I heard a crash from the living room. Upon inspection, I discovered Miss Maggie in all her naked glory standing in front of the TV. I guess she had enough of her clothes and diaper.

Last night when hubby checked on her to find out why she was still awake 1.5 hrs after putting her to bed, he again discovered her naked (though at least still in a diaper).

Well, this morning I found her buck naked...and sleeping in a puddle of pee. Ugh! This kid needs her clothes duct taped on!!! What a mess to try to clean up this morning, especially since she kept trying to play on her bed as I was stripping and airing it. Sigh.

...I smell a ripe diaper... thank goodness she still has a diaper on for this!

Waiting

Well, we have no closet ceiling in our bathroom anymore... and the problem still isn't fixed. The handyman is now waiting for the landlord to get the part for him, then he will call us to set up a time to fix it. I guess the drain to the bathtub above us is broken. So there's no ceiling, water is still leaking, I have to wait for him to fix it and then he'll have to replace the closet sheetrock as well as some of the sheetrock over our tub (which that is only a few years old... we redid the ceiling before we sold the house), and in the meantime I have all the closet stuff displaced throughout the house (including a good deal of it in our already cramped 9'x10' bedroom). SIGH. Guess Sprout needs to hold out a bit longer... When he asked me when would be a good time to come fix it, I had to tell him that I have no idea... I could go into labor at any time. He looked like he didn't believe me. Guess he was of the opinion that I'm excessively fat instead of pregnant.

I think Sprout rotated last night. I was trying my best to lie as close to on my stomach as possible (as recommended to help with posterior babies) and s/he was moving like mad most of the night! I'm not in as much pain today either. Regardless, Sprout can't come yet so s/he better be planning on at least a few more days' stay in the womb!

I CANNOT Go Into Labor...

I need some NO LABOR vibes for the next 48 hours. The landlord's handyman is FINALLY coming tomorrow to rip apart the closet. I'm less than thrilled about this as it is (just what I need...sheetrock dust everywhere with Maggie and I having asthma and me being pregnant) but I'm really sick of the water coming through the closet. Hopefully they can get it all fixed in time since it will be really tough without the toilet tomorrow, as well as the shower for early labor pain management if I go into labor. I better not! I don't even want to think about the mess that will be my bathroom after this, not to mention the fact that I have to displace everything in this closet (5 deep shelves) while this is being done. The timing couldn't be worse.

The Prediction I Never Posted

We predict your baby will be born 3-7 days before your due date. Your baby will most likely be born in the morning. Justmommies predicts that your baby will weigh approximately 8.7 pounds and that your labor will be about 12 hours long.

This came from http://www.justmommies.com/quizzes/labor_prediction_quiz.php on May 2, 2007 but I never posted it here.

Interesting... I'm in the middle of the predicted time period that Sprout should come, and Sprout was estimated at 8.5 lbs on Friday. Sprout's head has definitely moved since Friday, too, since I'm now waddling (I was not before), having pelvic pain, and am generally uncomfortable.

Brian wants Sprout to come on a weekday so he can have the excitement of leaving work early. ::roll eyes:: But I've already told him that probably wouldn't happen because I would want to be so sure that I really was in labor that I'd probably wait until he arrived home anyway. That's what my mom did with my sister (her 2nd child). My father was (and still is) a route driver and was not easily reached during the work day so she just sat in the kitchen all day with nearly 4 year old me running around, waiting for dad to come home from work.

In any case, a few stronger contractions last night but they went away when I went to sleep. I've been spending a lot of time with my knees lower than my hips, and my belly as low as possible. It's not that comfortable, especially riding with your back end propped up in the car so you can be as upright as possible. I spent 2.5 hours in the car that way yesterday and I felt like poop by the time I got home. But if it means a less painful labor and delivery and an easier entry into this world for Sprout, then it's worth it.