Out of the Past : 40 weeks

As I reflect on the birth week of my middle child, and think back to the days leading up to bringing her into the world, I've been pretty nostalgic.  Today was my due date with Addie.  Four years ago.  I went back to my babysite that I kept as a journal back then, and it was fun to re-read.  Without further ado, here it is. 

40 Weeks Date: 06/27/2007 Today is officially my due date. Here it is at 12:37am and I'm having contractions, strong enough to keep me awake, but not regular enough to get too excited yet. But I figure I will write a little bit and then track the time of the contractions at the same time, then try and go get some sleep by 1 or 1:30. (12:33, 12:37) We have promised Lily a trip to the Library tomorrow (today) for story hour and to check out some books for the first time. She is really excited about it. I'm going to keep her home with me and I keep thinking that if I go into labor tonight, she will be really disappointed (12:40). By the way the times in the parenthesis are the contraction start times, and it is easier to just put it in (plus a great way of saving documentation rather than saving scraps of paper or excel schedules later!). Today Lily asked me about a minivan in the parking lot as we were leaving school, I told her it was Candace's (a little girl in her class). She wanted to know if it was new or old. I told her I thought that it was pretty new, they got it when Candace's mom had Candace's baby (12:43). She said that Candace's baby was already out, but Lily's baby was not out yet. I think Candace's brother is around 7 mths or so. Anyway, she said, "I want Addie to come out, but Addie keeps staying in, she doesn't come out." I thought that was so cute. So my thinking is that Lily will be okay with not going to the library if she gets to see her new sister. Of course, let's not get ahead of ourselves yet. This is just wishful thinking. Today I nested like crazy, all the laundry is done and put away, dishes done, kitchen clean. I went to home depot, office depot, payless, walgreens, safeway, & out to lunch at Sweet Tomato with my mom. I downloaded photos and charged batteries, made a pot roast, walked my fanny off, took Lily to the park, and got everything I wanted crossed off my list. My mom did some weeding in the back yard since it is (12:47) driving me crazy and my husband won't let me hire someone, nor does he have the time or energy to do it. It looks much better. My face looks like a cartoon snowman head today, very round and rosy cheeks. It was hot and I'm feeling quite swollen. I also feel extra weight in my chin and jowls, quite attractive I must say! Since I have some new ones, I will upload a few more pictures, so check out the new album, make sure and leave us a comment, and I will definitely update this with more tomorrow morning when I wake up, assuming I don't go to the hospital tonight. Like I said, I'm not too hopeful for that. We'll see what happens at the dr appt on Friday, but at this point I'm leaning toward not being induced on Monday. It is only 5 days late, and I will decide on Sunday or Friday, but I know I can wait it out a few more days. Again, not putting the pressure on myself, but I think that it will happen naturally if I give my body a chance. Today after all that walking, I can barely walk because the pressure is so heavy on my pubic bone. It has been great having my mom here, I'm getting more done, and she has been such a help with Lily. I can't imagine how hard this week would have been without her, even though I know she would like to get to meet her 2nd granddaughter, she is also so helpful and supportive and really only cares about making me comfortable, and doing anything and everything she can to help with what I need (obviously, since she was out pulling weeds in 80 degrees today!) It also has been nice to just have someone around, rather than being alone all day. I do get very snappy at her, but if (12:55) she could survive my teenage years she can definitely survive my 40 week pregnant bitchiness. It is hard to explain, but it is like the slightest irritation turns to complete rage in about 3 seconds. She was whistling (and she can't whistle) to Lily today trying to get her attention while I was on the phone and Lily was running circles around my legs trying to get my attention. I barely noticed Lily because I am so used to it, but the sound of my mom attempting to whistle at my daughter (not my dog) OUTRAGED me and I went through the roof at her. Jeanine was at the other end of the phone call and said, "WOW, you ARE pregnant!"...Of course my mom and I laughed about it an hour later as I described how annoyance changed to anger so quickly. But I told her I still don't want her to whistle at Lily again, or anyone for that matter, she is a really shitty whistler. :) Addie is kicking around so hard it is hard to tell the start of a contraction pain vs the pain and pressure she is putting on my belly. I wonder how big she is now. My guess is 7.5 lbs. That is a pound bigger than Lily, ouch, I don't want to think about that. My labor hasn't even started yet, and so many factors are different, I keep wondering what birth will be like this time. I pray that it is as easy and as ideal as it was with Lily (minus one small hiccup with a cathader several hours after she was born), but with a bigger baby and possibly faster birth, possible induction, (1:01)so many other things, it is hard to imagine that it will be. It is now 1:03, my last two contractions were about 6 minutes apart, and they were 4 minutes when I started writing. So I'm going to go lay down and see what happens. I'll post it if we are headed to the hospital. And yes Carol of course we will call you, no matter the time. No news from us means no news... ************************************* 7:30pm, getting ready to go on a walk with my friend and doula Robin to talk about natural induction stuff. We went to the library today and had a great time. Pretty exhausting day as Lily didn't nap great, but there is nothing else to share. I might have a glass of wine tonight, Robin said now that I am officially past due it's okay to have one, and it might kick start things. Cheers to hoping it does. ************************************** 11:37pm Went on a long walk & Had the glass of wine. Didn't feel tipsy like I was hoping... :) But I did have a great walk and talk with Robin. Since she is a doula we talked a lot about inducing and birthing and bodies, etc. I think that I'm leaning toward changing the induction date on Tuesday the 3rd or Thursday the 5th (I assume they won't want to do the 4th). Monday will be too stressful, and it is the only day that we don't have a grandparent staying with us. And 5am is so early, I would rather see if another day we could get a reasonable time. My mom is coming down with a cold today. Not good. Of course she feels terrible, and nothing she can do about it. I gave her some Activate immune system booster, hand sanitizer, and have been spraying down everything she's touched. I hope the Activate helps. Because if she has a cold she won't be able to come to the hospital (IF I deliver before she leaves) and I really don't want her near Lily or I...it's the last thing we need right now. She can't help it though, so hopefully we will just make sure we don't get it. My brother came today to help with Lily and hang out for a few days, it has been great having all the extra playmates for Lily. He has to leave Friday morning for a physical for his new firefighting job. My due date is over in 21 minutes. And I'm still pregnant. That feels weird. I really never imagined that would happen, but it time for me to go get some sleep. I'm going to bed. Talk to you tomorrow. Good night.

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						So for the record.  I did get induced on that Monday, even though I thought I wouldn't. And once I held my 6lb 2oz baby in my arms, I never regretted it for one second!