One Week to Go!

Or at least there is only one week until my due date (less even. I'm due on Sunday). My hope is that I will not go into labor this week, but I will sometime next week. This is because starting yesterday, I am officially on maternity leave, and it would be really great to have that time to relax, clean some, get some errands done, and basically have a break before I have a baby that takes over my life! But once Sunday comes around, I want that baby out! If at all possible. I would really like to go into labor naturally and not have to be induced, but my doctor won't let it go past 41 weeks, so I should be induced by March 10 at the latest (I say the 10th and not the 9th because I'm not so sure he will induce me on Sunday. I figure he'll probably rather wait till Monday, but he hasn't said anything either way, so I'm not sure). My mother-in-law is coming on Thursday, March 6, and it would be nice to have the baby either by then or on that day so she can have as much time with him as possible. 

So at my appointment yesterday, the doctor this time checked my cervix (again, not comfortable at all!!). I'm still only 1 cm dilated, which is somewhat disappointing. But he seemed surprised or something by how the baby's head is right there. I got the impression he could feel the baby's head when he was checking. (I think the midwife could as well, but she wasn't this awed by it.) He said that was very good, but it probably made me feel like I had a bowling ball in between my legs, and reduced my bladder capacity to 50 cc (I don't know how small that is, but I'm guessing small). I have definitely noticed that my trips to the bathroom have increased. (And it was horrible while I was at work because the bathroom is so far away from my desk.)

The baby still likes to move around quite a bit. I keep feeling his feet move across my belly and push up against my ribs. I've still been lucky that his movements haven't waken me from sleeping. Maybe he's sleeping when I am (which would be a good sign for when he comes out). Even though he's dropped, I still feel like his body is pushing up against my rib area, making it uncomfortable sometimes to sit and nearly impossible to sit forward (with my elbows on my knees). And of course any sort of bending over is uncomfortable. My sister recommended getting a claw thing she has that you can use to pick things up with. I should have done that but didn't. I can't wait till I can bend over again!

There are so many things that I still need to do. I need to clean up the baby's room, get a crib (though we have a bassinet, so it's not essential that we need one right away), pack my bag for the hospital, wash some of the baby's clothes and blankets, and buy some items I still haven't gotten. Today I'm planning on making some flannel blankets. I'm excited. I got fabric and thread for them yesterday and should be way easy to make. Yay! I love not being at work. It's so nice to have a break! I have been so tired lately, though, and I know I should conserve my energy for the delivery, so I will try not to do too much. That's what my husband is for, right?

Baby Update

So yesterday I had another prenatal checkup (seems like I'm always having one. I'm up to once a week now). Everything looked fine in terms of blood pressure and the baby's heartbeat. Because I'm now 38 weeks along, I had the lovely pleasure of having my cervix checked by the midwife. It wasn't a very comfortable experience, but I found out that I'm 1 cm dilated, which she said was good because a lot of first-time moms don't dilate (I'm not sure if she meant this early or what). She said the baby has dropped and his head is right there next to the cervix. This is good; the baby is getting ready to be born! Even though I've dilated a little, I haven't felt any contractions (or at least not that I've recognized. I've had a lot of pressure on my pelvis and some pain, but since I've heard contractions are more of a cramping sensation, i don't think these were contractions). Anyway, I guess the point is, everything is going well and the baby is healthy from all indications. I should have my baby in the next couple of weeks. I'm so excited.