Daily 7/13

[aprilsfools]

41 weeks 4 days My MW is due to arrive at 8:30 this morning for my weekly. DH and I have decided that we want to be a tiny bit more aggressive in our encouragement of labor and I am looking forward to talking to her about it. I am thinking that I am ready to start some nipple stimulation, but not at the castor oil point. I am also going to let her strip my membrane. Otherwise, I am expecting everything will be fine with me and the baby. I feel about the same and she is still pretty active.

Yesterday DH and I were pretty proactive...well, at least for us:

We DTD twice- TWICE!! For those of you who remember my post about this topic a week ago, I do not enjoy it very much right now, but this time we added some olive oil and instructed DH to hurry it up (think high school speed LOL) and it really wasn't too bad. We are now going to try and do it twice everyday until the baby comes. We will see how that goes.

We walked and walked till my butt couldn't take it anymore.

I ate a whole pineapple in less than 24 hours- it made my urine smell sweet.

For the past two nights we have done the spicy food thing- first Indian on Friday and then hot Buffalo wings last night. : Both foods I normally love, but I am not sure the acid reflux is worth it.

I bounced and bounced and bounced on my ball.

I know this is all pretty tame, but I have been trying very hard not to push this baby to come before she is ready. I am not usually such a patient person and I really wanted to turn over a new leaf before the LO arrives because I know that children require a lot of patience.

I don't know what we are going to do today. I am feeling very lazy right now.

[prairieo]

april, there's a restaurant in LA that swears by a salad on the menu to put any woman into labor. It's secret ingredient: balsamic vinegar. i know, sounds crazy, and I've never heard it before until recently, but my bf has been telling people about it, and every single one went into labor soon after. I personally love balsamic vinegar, so it wouldn't be a problem for me.

I see we are both up rather early. I just can't seem to sleep at this hour lately. I'm up moving furniture around, cleaning, and eating watermelon. It's nuts. I don't want to be all tired out when it's time for labor, but then I know I'm going to have a weird schedule after the baby comes, not that my schedule isn't already pretty weird.

Anyways I have officially made it to 36 weeks, which was supposed to be a big deal yesterday, but it passed by with little or no fanfare. I'm kindof bummed, and not sure exactly why. On the other hand, i feel more confident about going all the way to 37 weeks, which would be farther along than my other three labors, and probably feel great to me.

I'm finding that I go between this very close and intimate relationship with the baby to feeling very distant, even forgetting that I'm pregnant, or that there is a baby on the other side of this deal. I think I'm a little depressed, scared, etc. Can I really be a mom to another child? Do I have the energy/love/patience/strength to do this? And, once the baby is out, this magical unknown telepathic wonderland that only the two of us share will be gone, the mystery will be revealed, and there will be this little personality, which I'm sure will be divine, but there's something so magical about having them on the inside.

This has GOT to be my last baby....I can't imagine doing it again...although that's what I said last time. I think I'm having a hard time with that one too.

Anyways, the birth tub is on my porch, my supplies are in order, and all I have to do is wait, or move through the rest of my emotional crap, or get some more work/homework/cleaning/cooking done, or spend some more time with my kids. I don't know! I really don't know what to expect right now!

I'm so stunned I made it this far, I'm having a hard time conceptualizing being pregnant for more than 2 weeks, let alone 4-6!

At any rate, there's my report. Hope everyone has a great day

[aprilsfools]

I think I have heard about that salad- they call it it the labor salad. Maybe I will have to make that for dinner. I know I need something less spicy/bad for me tonight after the past two nights.

Originally Posted by prairieo

I'm finding that I go between this very close and intimate relationship with the baby to feeling very distant, even forgetting that I'm pregnant, or that there is a baby on the other side of this deal.

I feel this too, but have not been able to articulate it. It is weird because you would think that at this point, thoughts of the baby would be all consuming, but there are still points in the day, that I forget for a moment what is going on here.

[Spark]

April, I hope your babe comes very very soon!

Anyone care for a balsamic vinegar shot this morning?

Originally Posted by prairieo

Can I really be a mom to another child? Do I have the energy/love/patience/strength to do this?

GREAT work making this far!!! And, YES, you can be a mom to another child. Your heart will grow & expand once again to encompass this child. And, yes, you'll have enough energy, love, patience and strength. you certainly will!

I never really sleep past 4am these days no matter what time I go to bed. Last night I stayed up later in hopes of sleeping in later... but no go. I do seem to like that 4am time when the house is totally quiet.

I'm having an AMAZINGLY fun day today - at 10 I go to brunch with some girlfriends & then in the evening I go see Sex & The City with a girlfriend. My DH is off of work today & he's watching the kids while I traipse about free as a woodlark.

[HidaShara]

39w and 5d, now...

I'm feeling much less crazy but much more physically run down. My brain and body are trading off the pain. Lower back is *killing* me. I wish I could say this is labour-related, but who'd know? I'm a first-timer. Feels just like a sore back to me. :/

The Good:

- My MiL finally brought our change table over yesterday, so today's project is to sort and fold all of baby's things!

- I've been knitting up a storm all week and have finished one major project and made headway on another (I'm Shara on Ravelry!)

- We managed grocery shopping yesterday, so the house is at least temporarily stocked with good foods incl. a very yummy bean salad I made yesterday.

The Bad:

- DH had a little emo-panic attack last night and confessed he still doesn't want to be a father but is "resigned" to it. Gosh, thanks man. I'll feel much better in labour knowing you feel the babe and I have ruined your life. A+. He's just being honest and looking to me for support, and I know he's just scared but... I mean, seriously. Now is just not the time!

- MiL (who is immuno-suppressed due to the side effects of other medication she takes) has an infection of some kind. She will, of course, still insist on seeing and holding the baby when it's born. I hope the infection clears up before the baby is here, because I don't look forward to telling her she can't touch my child so long as she's sick...

...and time drags on...

[delicious]

Originally Posted by Spark

I never really sleep past 4am these days no matter what time I go to bed. Last night I stayed up later in hopes of sleeping in later... but no go. I do seem to like that 4am time when the house is totally quiet.

oh, i do the same thing. WHY? every morning. and when i get up i am totally famished. so here i sit with my pbj.

well, today is my due date. : dp and the kids are going to make like it's my birthday. so this should be a good day. and my mom is coming in to stay for a while, at least until after the baby is born. still having the wimpy contractions that just annoy me, but that's ok. because i will have this baby soon! within the next two or three weeks, right ?

[Spark]

Originally Posted by delicious

oh, i do the same thing. WHY? every morning. and when i get up i am totally famished. so here i sit with my pbj.

We should have a 4am club or something... where we eat PBJ & drink lots of water. I'm wondering what organ starts cleansing at 4am. I remember seeing a Chinese medicine chart with a clock of all the organs. It would be interesting. I wonder if it's our stomachs.

Originally Posted by delicious

well, today is my due date. : dp and the kids are going to make like it's my birthday.

HAPPY DUE DATE!!!!
Way to gestate that baby!!!! Yay!!! What a strong capable body & wise mama you are! Yay! Due Date Day!!!

Originally Posted by HidaShara

- DH had a little emo-panic attack last night and confessed he still doesn't want to be a father but is "resigned" to it. Gosh, thanks man. I'll feel much better in labour knowing you feel the babe and I have ruined your life. A+. He's just being honest and looking to me for support, and I know he's just scared but... I mean, seriously. Now is just not the time!

Okay, YOU are not the person for him to be sorting this through with!!! Tell him to go talk to another father - his dad, uncle, brother, cousin, some other dad friend, a therapist. ANYONE and do it NOW... but not with you!!!!

[finnegansmom]

39w6d today. Nothing going on. I'm ignoring all BH contrax and anything else at this point. My pelvis is a pile of what feels like broken bones and nerves. Moving HURTS. Getting out of bed or moving position takes all the strength I have. I did manage to unload 80# of dirt into my garden yesterday and do some weeding, which is sadly neglected.
Baby has been very quiet the last 12 or so hours, so I'm drinking apple juice to wake him/her up. Of course, thumping on the rear end nuzzled under my ribs as well. My babes tend to be rather aggressive in the womb so any lack of movement sends me into a panic.
I'm craving a large fruit salad, must send DH to store to buy some fruit....

[RubyOrganique]

Originally Posted by Spark

Okay, YOU are not the person for him to be sorting this through with!!! Tell him to go talk to another father - his dad, uncle, brother, cousin, some other dad friend, a therapist. ANYONE and do it NOW... but not with you!!!!

AGREED! HidaShara, I'm so sorry you are hearing about this at this time. I'm all for being supportive of DH, but I think you have enough to deal with right now.

Same old thing here. I did have a few regular ctx last night, but slept the entire night without even having to get up for the bathroom! No other signs of labor. I'm thinking I'm going to start encouraging it. Thanks for the ideas, Aprilsfools.

prairieo even this late along, I have some similar feelings. There are times when I feel really good and forget that I'm pregnant. I'm a first mom so I can't relate to the coming of additional children, but I think it's normal to have conflicting feelings when there is so much change coming toward you and happening in your body. I was just thinking this morning how at any moment, I will have to say goodbye to my regular life, the one I've enjoyed for the last 10 years. That's a lot to process in addition to pending birth! Anticipating the unknown has never been a strong skill of mine. Hang in there, know that you can do it and do it well and be good to yourself.

Enjoy the nice weather today!

[xixstar]

Mmm, balsamic vinegar - love that stuff. Have an awesome recipe for brussels sprouts that uses it but sadly it looks like my sprouts didn't make it in my garden this year - oh well, next year!

Spark - sounds like you do have a fun day planned, hope you enjoy every minute of it!!

Delicious - Happy Due Date! Today is mine too, woohoo!

We're going to go look at a car that we might buy this afternoon. If we like it, I'm gonna need this babe to stay put for a few days. We won't be able to take it home today, will need to deal with insurance, registration, and tags first before we can get it home. Oh, but how nice it would be to have a 4-door car (!!!!) with air conditioning (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) -- how it is that we own 3 cars, all 2-door, and none with a/c is beyond me. I'm hoping we like the car and end up getting it, even if it means I need labor to hold off so I can get all the legwork done in the mean time. Of course, then I'll be stressing about labor happening and getting in the way of getting the car, but oh well.

[Materfamilias]

38w2d here.
Starting to feel pelvic discomfort, and a bit of sciatica. Maybe this means the baby is moving down...? I can't tell. I'm sort of short-waisted so I don't know where she can really go.
Had a bit of a scare at the gym yesterday. Got very lightheaded. That's never happened before. : So, time to cut back a bit more, I guess.
Happy due date to those of you who've reached it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :
Do you think the psychological distance from the baby is our protective mechanism because we've finally got to the point where we cannot put it off anymore? Having a newborn seemed so ... fairy tale, somehow, to me until a few weeks ago. Now I am having more difficulty with the idea, because it's about to become very real.

[mhaddon]

http://www.maternitysalad.com/thesaladtestimonials.html Link to the dressing

Well I had cramps all night and I always wake up at 4 It takes me forever to go back to sleep. I can not roll over at night w/o waking the house up, it is painful and I have to move her out of her comfy place first.

I have PUPPS and am so ready to go into labor, but know I'm going to end up w/ a c/s at this point. DH is trying to be suportive, but no matter what he'll never understand. He asked me last night if he needed to cuddle me or anything and I told him at this point cuddling is painful.

[huskermommy]

Happy Due Date to all those mamas!! :

I think today is the day for me. It's funny how you "forget" what the super strong ctx feel like until they hit. They're about 10 min apart so I think I'm going to get up and move around to see if I can get them closer together!

[JennaW]

Here I am, another day to be blessed with this babe growing inside me. Now, I think she has just about used up all her damn blessings Time to be blessed to be on the outside!

Trying to keep up the positive attitude. Having that good appt yesterday was such a relief. I talked to our new, FABULOUS doula yesterday afternoon and she was saying "You have that confidence back in your voice"

I really do want the baby to come soon though, I know she will come when she is ready but I think she should be ready by now, little booger.

Poor DH, I got pissed at him last night. We were planning to DTD and then when it came down to it, *ahem* I didn't receive my dose of prostoglandins. I got so pissed, DH was like "Uh, I don't think its going to happen" I pulled off and yelled "JESUS!" (Sorry God) and then proceeded to act like a royal bitch until I feel asleep. I just kind of feel like, I need you to do this one thing to help along the process here and its not like I'm asking you to do something that is a total PITA.

Hopefully we will try again today. I just get so frustrated when I "invest" my time into DTD and then I don't get a "return" on that investment.

[catnap70]

Good morning ladies! Definite progress here. I was awake with fairly strong contractions at 3 a.m. after a dinner of spicy tacos, guac and chips. Yum! : They have slowed a little since I have been sitting here, but I think it will today or tomorrow. Hurray! I think we will take a little walk and see how things go. I am definitely ready!

[aprilibarra]

okay, i'm finally posting on a daily. hello, ladies! everyday i read it, and i'm right along with everyone on the prelabor, which really suprises me bc last 2 i never hadthe "is this it?" moment until i was definitely in labor. but this has been going on since wk 20, and this whole preg. has been so different.
i'm always up too, usually around 3. my 2 yr old ds has been moved into his own bed this week and potty trained all at the same time, so between him, the dog, contrctions, reflux, urinating, i'm lucky if i can sleep for a 3 hr stretch.

last night , around 3, i had this dream that this lady was telling me to lay down on a bunch of coins and as she was about to dump our heavy jar of coins on my bed..."no, that's very dirty" and i went to grab the jar...and felt myself strain my uterus right in front of my pubic bone, where i strained it pushing my last son out (felt like i tore it really, afterpains were as bad as labor for days) . i felt the baby's head push down and then slide back up...it was really strange, and this was after i woke up. when the babies head slid up, and i started to breathe again, i went to pee and everything burned badly and my cervix was really sore. i laid down again aand 30 mins later i had a contrx that was similar but not quite as harsh...i didn't feel the baby slide, but i thought, if i have anymore of these i am in labor....well, no more, but i wonder, can we feel our cervix move with a contrax?
this preg is so different...if i were to name this child according to our experience in our faith...it would be "Submission".

[DawnaRose]

Morning Ladies! :

40+5

Nothing new or exciting to report here, heading out of the house for a few hours to shop for a new washer and stove, mine have both officially died and need replaced, we held on as long as we could but its time to break out the credit card and spend money we don't have :

Hopefully there will be something acceptable at the scratch and dent place before we spend full retail at the appliance store, ugh.

Sending lots of ELV to the mamas who are in labor, and thinking good thoughts for those who are still waiting!

[aprilibarra]

hidashara, i'm sorry your dh shared that with you right now, but i guess i'm glad that he's honest. it may be one of those things that you will look back on fondly (in the years to come) and he'll have grown into his dadhood, and you can say to him "remember when you had to resign yourself to being a father?"
i think its got to be hard for guys to just take on such a supportive role in pregnancy that sometimes we don't allow them their misgivings. Our bodies let us know that we don't have a choice, but for them its got to be entirely different. The other day dh and i were talking about how difficult it is to go back to work when he would like to be home with the kids. i know i would be tore up to go to work, had to with my 1st and i felt like my heart was being ripped out.

OT, Can you believe how many of us are still here?

[Mom2Lex&Cay]

We placed our family bets last night on weight/date. DD1 thinks today is the day, but I don't think there's a chance. My guess is Thurs.

So far our families are being quite good about not calling and driving us insane. *knock on wood* My sis did call yesterday, but just kind of chatted. No questioning this babe's arrival.

I went for a nice quiet trip to the grocery store without kids yesterday. Now most people don't enjoy this task, but I love food, love to cook, and love picking out my foods. We have a really nice, brand new store with tons of organic/healthy foods and I just took my time and strolled the aisles. Even bought myself a bottle of bubbly to celebrate this LO's arrival.

The funny part is when people ask when you're due and then proceed to freak out that you're not at home in bed just days from your EDD. I don't have the plague, I'm just very pregnant!

DH was pretty funny too. He's a very laid back guy and he did only call me once. He called to see "how I was doing, not to rush me, but just to check." I could certainly tell he was relieved that I was back and he knew all was well. Guess he's starting to get a little case of nerves. I'm sure I can expect more calls from work this week until she arrives.

[Tenk]

I just wanted to say hello to you all.

I see some are going to eat a lovely salad, sounds good to me mamas!!!

I'm sorry that others are in the early wakers club. Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. But just think, soon, you'll be waking to a babe and not just sleep deprivation from being round. YAY!!!

So DH and I stayed in bed until 9:45 this morning. The kids have a clock and don't come in our room until 8:30, but today they were not interested in us at all. We laid there and talked about upcoming events, and he said "you know, this is the last time for a while we'll be able to lay here (I always rub his arms, and abdomen, and silly stuff like that) and just cuddle and talk with out someone new here talking with us. He normally does NOT have weekends off because he's a Fireman in the Air Force and works 24 on 24 off....so no weekends or holidays off normally. Anyway, it made me kind of teary and kind of excited, and he even rubbed my belly and talked to Bodie a bit.

Oh and last evening we went to a 'get together' about an hour from home. Well the fam there are the ones that had the VERY unexpected UC in their hall way floor. Anyway, mama and baby have recovered nicely, and the baby is BEAUTIFUL I felt so scared and almost like I don't know how to do this anymore. She was 9.5lbs as of Friday, and she was so SMALL. I just can't imagine that Bodie is like 3lbs SMALLER than her. Anyway, DH and I got to hold and smell, and snuggle with the beautiful little girl and that made things seem so sureal. We're about to do this again, and we get to bring the baby home this time (please God!!) I just feel so happy, and patient (whoaa, that's a change) and I can't wait to be a mama again.

BTW, my kids are Lauren 9 (DD), Hailey 7 (DD), and Kaleb 4 (DS), and last night they were just wonderful children. They were very well manored, didn't care when the little boy that lives there took toys away from them, held and fed the little girl (she's Kinzie) and ate well, and well damn, they were just great.

Now were going to go to the grocery store, DH is finishing the lawn, I cleaned up from breakfast, and the kiddies are going to shower. Bodie is waiting until Thursday night to show up too