Bottoms up tomorrow

…and it is not my bottom that is going up. Junior already has it’s bottom up so all we need now is for me to drink the magic midwife cocktail with verb.ena oil and trip this labour business into full steam ahead. Unfortunately this is no Sex in the City cocktail scene and I don’t think it will taste any better in a martini glass.

 

If I close my eyes real tight while I drink the cocktail I might be able to see myself looking like this...

 

 

or more sophisticated like this...

There also is the possibility I will something like this while I drink it down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am hoping that I manage to pull off the more sophisticated look of image number 2. I will let you know. Generally, as far as labour is concerned, there has been some smoke, but no cigar. It has been a stop and go process with a few positive signs that my body is getting ready.  I will start drinking first thing tomorrow (assuming labour doesn’t come tonight!). Hopefully the drink combined with the other things I have been doing does the trick.

I am 41 weeks and 3 days so I had to do the nonstress test today. There is plenty of fluid, movement and Junior’s heartbeat is great. It took a long time to finish the test because Junior was moving so much they couldn’t get a resting heart rate. The midwives still say there no huge hurry especially because the results looked so good today. This gives me a little more time and I can try the drink before having to do talk about medical induction.

I am hopeful and grateful to be in this birth program. I feel confident that I will have the best possible birth I can have and that we will be able to deal with whatever comes up. Hopefully I will not find myself surrounded by topless men and playing cards.

Moving along….

Ok babee in case you haven’t noticed we have been busy helping you prepare to leave the nest. Technically the careproviders don’t consider you late until this Friday and even then we still have a little more time. This is a good time because really there is no rush so I can pick and choose what things I do to help you along and follow what feels right.

Here is what we currently have going on.

In the past few weeks I have had three sessions of acupuncture for cervical ripening and one acupuncture induction session, drank gallons of raspberry tea, walked a million miles, had massage to encourage labour and lots of general good things to encourage oxcitocin. Today we opened the drawers in the bedroom. When F was in her mama’s tummy and labour was long and hard, her mama send her dad home from the hospital to open the drawers. It helps open things up. We opened nine because that means longevity and so you will have a long life when you come.

F and I are also making cookies and crumble , going to movies, making deals on Craig’s list and hanging with friends. On Friday if babee is still not here we have the non stress test and start drinking midwife cocktails. Most importantly I swim almost everyday so that my hips don’t fall off.

Getting back on track

Anxiety was slowly creeping up on me since the due date and was getting worse as I went along.  Medical procedures send me back down trauma lane faster than anything else.  I got through all the fertility treatment and tests with my own special drug combo, presents and great people on my team.  The further I got from the due date the more I worried about medical interventions for induction that that I would have to get through without drugs to take the edge off. My main goal with this whole labour is to not go down trauma lane and keep it really positive. Given what I have gone through, it takes some planning.

Last night F called our favorite care provider who was on call and talked to her.  We came up with a plan that will work for me if this baby needs some encouragement to leave the nest. The medical things that were stressing me out and are not part of my plan. I am exempt from them. How great is that! Our care provider says they won’t be helpful anyway if they are stressing me out that much. And even better, I can take some anti-anxiety pills if I end up needing to do medical things that are difficult. It won’t hurt me or the baby. These pills are  sublingual so they will work in 5 minutes. She also said that I am healthy and the baby is fine so there is no hurry right now and chances are very high it will come on its own.

I feel so much better. I have an exit plan for this baby that I can do. I have a great team that understands me. If I need to, I can take something for anxiety.  I couldn’t ask for more and having all of this in place, means I don’t have anxiety any more.

Hopefully Junior will show up soon. I can have another acupuncture treatment this week to help encourage this baby along. If there is still no sign on Friday, I will have an U/S and heartbeat check and then start some of those magic cocktails the midwives put together. My friend from prenatal class who just had her baby told me not to worry about labour and that F really has more to fear than me. She cracks me up.

40 weeks and 3 days

She tried

I wore her out. F decided to be a protective husband and come with me to appointments and hang out with me while I did stuff in this waiting time, but she can’t keep up.  She barely made it through today and I don’t think she would make it through tomorrow. I appreciate the effort, but she is meant to stay home on the couch with Moumee and I am meant to run around and do things. I don’t sit still and she doesn’t run, but we are happy together.

40 Weeks

Dear Junior,

Have you ever wondered if there is more to life than being upside down in a dark cramped tunnel leaning on a bag of pee?

Have you ever considered the amount of different things that can be kicked besides my right rib?

Did you know that there are warm furry animals with tails waiting to be pulled? We have been pulling them for a while now so the pets are used to being bugged.

Also, getting bigger is not going to make this exiting process any easier. I just gotta mention that, you know, size matters.

Today is a great day. The sun is peaking through the clouds and the rain has stopped. Ski season is just around the corner and we finally got some names picked for you.

My favorite careprovider says you are not really late. Anytime between 37-41 is normal. She also said you are a good sized peanut and will be a good size for me.  She is on call Saturday starting at 6:00pm and would love to catch you.  That would be a really good time to come, but anyway you get to pick the day and really anytime this week will work out fine.

Peace man. May the force be with us.

The Room

Here is Juniors room. No theme, just a bunch of fun colours.  A friend of mine with an eye for colour helped pick out some of these things that made it all come together.

Cute froggy lights

Orginal 1950's Nancy Drew boardgame

Fun latturns that will be over the crib

Shelf with toys for all ages so visiting kids will have fun

Extreme frilly bassinet that is not my style but will protect Junior from pets

Floor cushions

Dresser/change table filled with clothes and bumbum supplies

Ready! Set!…..nothing is happening :(

Things were getting warmed up and then the plug got pulled.  Minor cramping, cervical pain and that kept me up at night and then Junior settled back in again. Come on Junior! 39 weeks and 3 days is plenty of time.

Now we wait, walk, rest, do acupuncture and drink raspberry tea.  I have drunk a lot of tea and now have a bionic uterus. I warned F that Junior will be flying out when all this gets started. Someone has to be ready to catch.

Waiting 39 weeks and 2 days

I am getting more and more uncomfortable which is a good sign.   I am planning to follow the Bad example.

F’s flu shot

The first shot is done. Today, after a few reminders, she finally got the seasonal flu shot. We don’t actually know which flu she had although the assumption is that it was the piggy flu. I do know that when F’s body sees germs it joins right in and before you know it, it’s disco fever. In the last eight months she has had the full on flu twice and two colds. In a few weeks she can get the other flu shot. This is what she had to say about her first shot…

“Why do some shots sting more than others?”

“I would rather take malaria pills than the flu shot.”

“A student in my class got the flu shot and then had a fever and had to miss a day of school. I might get a fever. The nurse said so.”

“I don’t feel well already. You know that the only time I got the flu shot, I got the flu.”

“I have this kink in my neck and now it is worse from the flu shot.”

“Someone at work got the shot and her whole arm swelled up.”

“I am going to have to take Tylenol at work today.”

After everything we have been through in the past few weeks with sickness, I didn’t even know what to say to her. You just gotta love her though.