The Latest
Went to the doc yesterday. He says I am now almost 90% effaced (up from 20% last week). Blood pressure is a nice 100/70; I lost 1.5 pounds (again, attributed to water retention, or loss thereof). He wants me to start taking it easy. He said by 7:30 or so every night to stop cleaning, working, whatever, and just relax. I guess he thinks any night could be D-Day so I should try to get a good night's sleep. Also, he told me not to do anything crazy or too strenuous this weekend because he is not on call and I would get one of the other docs. He is on schedule all next week and over Memorial Day Weekend, which is when I am due. So we keep on keeping on.
To tempt fate, Nate and I have invited a couple of friends over for an early dinner on Sunday. I think we are going to try fondue.
I keep thinking I should write about something else, but the truth is, my mind can't really get over the fact that I'm about to birth a human. Also, both my mind and body have slooooooowed down. Everything's a little fuzzy around the edges. I'm having a hard time focusing, things take longer than they should, and I walk like a 90-year-old lady with bad hips.
Thursday
Tuesday
Interesting ...
I am now Yvonne unplugged. (Note: do not click on the link if you do not want to read about pregnancy squishiness.)
I am now Yvonne unplugged. (Note: do not click on the link if you do not want to read about pregnancy squishiness.)
Friday
Progress
At my doc appointment yesterday, he said still no dilation but 20% effacement, which means things are starting to happen but no telling how long she will take. We're about two weeks away from her due date, so I think we'll probably proceed along schedule. Before I thought she'd be a week or so early, now I'm not so sure. Also, I gained another 3.5 pounds since last week and I know I wasn't eating too badly. Doc seems to think it's water retention and was unconcerned, so I won't worry about it. And my blood pressure was 100/60 so that's all good.
This weekend we're getting the guest room ready for my Mom. She's coming to help for a week or two after the bebe. We're also going to the Swiss Avenue Home Tour for Mother's Day and that should be fun. I can't wait to check out some of the gardens.
We've also been doing some planting outside. We accomplished most of our spring, in-the-ground goals except for two. We didn't get the seeds for the native grass, that's going to have to wait until next year, and we didn't get a palm tree because we discovered most of the commercially available palms grow way too big for the space we've got. We're debating a pomegranate right now but Nate is also interested in getting a rain barrel, so we'll have to wait and see. I guess we have to leave some projects for next spring.
Now I've shifted to getting plants for the back patio. Nothing large or major, just adding some color back there. The hilarious thing is that Nate keeps wanting to take my plants from the back and move them up to the front, which is not helping me accomplish my goal. Good stuff.
At my doc appointment yesterday, he said still no dilation but 20% effacement, which means things are starting to happen but no telling how long she will take. We're about two weeks away from her due date, so I think we'll probably proceed along schedule. Before I thought she'd be a week or so early, now I'm not so sure. Also, I gained another 3.5 pounds since last week and I know I wasn't eating too badly. Doc seems to think it's water retention and was unconcerned, so I won't worry about it. And my blood pressure was 100/60 so that's all good.
This weekend we're getting the guest room ready for my Mom. She's coming to help for a week or two after the bebe. We're also going to the Swiss Avenue Home Tour for Mother's Day and that should be fun. I can't wait to check out some of the gardens.
We've also been doing some planting outside. We accomplished most of our spring, in-the-ground goals except for two. We didn't get the seeds for the native grass, that's going to have to wait until next year, and we didn't get a palm tree because we discovered most of the commercially available palms grow way too big for the space we've got. We're debating a pomegranate right now but Nate is also interested in getting a rain barrel, so we'll have to wait and see. I guess we have to leave some projects for next spring.
Now I've shifted to getting plants for the back patio. Nothing large or major, just adding some color back there. The hilarious thing is that Nate keeps wanting to take my plants from the back and move them up to the front, which is not helping me accomplish my goal. Good stuff.
It's the Final Countdown
Now, you have to imagine that title being sung to the old Europe song. That's what's in my head these days. This weekend, I am 37 weeks and the bebe is considered full term. Although I've been told many first pregnancies go to 42 weeks, I really don't think I'm going to make it that long. My prediction is sometime in the next week or two. Of course, I could be wrong. I was wrong about the gender! So if I'm still waddling around in five weeks consider me both mistaken and miserable.
I turned in my last freelance assignment today. Woohoo! So now I am going to focus on just hanging out, having fun, and getting the house ready. Since I've been focusing on freelance work, there's quite a bit to do at home, though Nate has been trying to keep things up. It's just hard between the house and the yard; you really do need two people to keep everything together.
My feet have started swelling. I can't wear socks anymore because then my feet get really fat; like 2-3 times their normal size. They look like cartoon feet! The other night Nate saw them and started laughing because he said they didn't look like they belonged to me at all. But I'm sleeping with my feet elevated and trying to keep my feet up as much as possible the rest of the time.
At my last doctor's appointment (we're going weekly now), I discovered the baby has dropped. She's in position, head down, but no dilation. I've had a couple of friends have no dilation at a doctor's appointment and go into labor within days, however, so I don't think that's a super reliable indicator. I've gained 36 pounds so far, but had gained four pounds since my last visit! The nurse said not to feel bad because with the heat I am probably retaining fluid.
Only a few more weeks until I meet the Stull household VIP. Pretty cool. I'm very tempted to go get a pedicure this weekend. For some reason, I keep thinking that during labor I'll be looking down at my feet a lot and somehow I've become convinced the pain will be more tolerable if my toenails look purty. At least the color will distract me from their cartoonish size, anyway.
Not long now!