38 Weeks . . .

Okay, I had desperately hoped to be writing this from the hospital, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen in time for this post, so here goes:
(Please note the wife beater top (that barely covers my belly) that is stretched super thin and those shorts? Yup. They're Greg's boxers. I have totally let myself go when I'm at home.)
How far along? 38 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: + 21lbs from pre-pregnancy.
Maternity clothes? Yes
Stretch marks? Yes
Sleep: Non-existent. To the point where I'm surprised if I sleep more than 2 hours at a time. I suppose that this is my body getting ready for the sleepless nights with a newborn.
Best moment this week: Today is my birthday! Oh yeah, and yesterday at work there were 3 of us talking and another nurse walks up and says, "Man! Somebody smells good over here!" To which I respond, "Well it's not me. I didn't shower this morning & I couldn't find my body spray." But I DID have deodorant on. So, then she proceeds to smell each of us. Once she gets to me she literally shoves her nose against my cheek and says, "It's you! What are you wearing?" To which I responded, "Rita, I just told you I haven't showered since yesterday and I am wearing non-scented deodorant. Which only leaves my pheromones. I think you have a crush on me!" Which I think made her terribly uncomfortable but it made me laugh. Plus, I had to get back at her for shoving her nose against my face.
Worst moment this week: Being in false labor. I woke up at 3am on Saturday morning having contractions. I waited until about 4:30 to wake up Greg because I wanted to see if they would turn into anything. They were regularly 6 minutes apart and definitely not going away. So we decided that he would keep sleeping and I would wake him up at 5:30 if they continued. At 5:30 they were still coming at regular 6 minute intervals so we called Pat (Greg's mom) to tell her to come on over so she could stay with Brock. We got to the hospital a little after 6am, were sent to L&D and they hooked me up to a monitor. Once on the monitor, my nurse looked at me kinda funny and said, "How far apart did you say those contractions were?" When I told her 6 minutes, she said, "Actually they are more like 3-5!" My heart soared! I couldn't believe that I was actually in labor and Greg was home and didn't have to fly like a bat out of hell to get home! So when the doctors came in to check me I was still 2cm and 50% effaced. However, my contractions were coming on stronger and more frequently. They got to be as close as 2 minutes for a while. So, in true L&D tradition, we were told to walk. Holy crap. We walked 5-6 miles around that hospital trying to get my contractions to get stronger and closer together. In the mean time, our realtor had called us and wanted to show the house. So, my mom lovingly came to the hospital to pick up our house keys and made a mad dash back to our house to do a quick clean-up. Anyway, long story short, my contractions had completely stopped by noon and I was so mad I was in tears. This is now the third time I've been to L&D and left with no baby. And the stupid doctors were absolutely no help because she suggested that I have an amniocentesis done to determine if the baby's lungs are ready. Hmmmm, I think I'm gonna pass on the giant needle being stuck into my belly with my huge baby very nearby. I declined it at 12 weeks and I'm gonna do the same now. I know that I need to just be patient, but I'm seriously lacking in that department right about now.
Movement: Lots & lots & lots. Lots of feet to the ribs, shoulders to the pelvis & head-butts to the cervix. Her new favorite play toy is my belly button. I think she thinks this is the escape hatch. And TONS of contractions.
Food cravings: Between the heat, heartburn, & being so big that my stomach is displaced to the point where I get full after 3 bites, food doesn't even sound good to me. But Mom did make me a Jeff Davis pie that I ate and it tasted pretty good!
Gender: Still a girl.
Labor Signs: See the novel I wrote above.
Belly Button in or out? Barely allowed to be called a belly button anymore. Looks more like a weird fleshy patch. But at this point I don't think it's going to pop.
What I miss: Sleeping through the night. The dream that the house will be sold before baby G is born. The thought that this baby might actually come before her due date. ::Sigh::
What I am looking forward to: Selling the house, holding our little baby girl, watching Brock play with his "sissy"
Milestones: Making it to 38 weeks. I guess that counts as a milestone, right?
Technical baby news: At week 37, your pregnancy is considered full term, meaning baby is likely to thrive after birth. Baby spends these last weeks in preparation for the outside world… meaning careful refinement of the blink, suck, inhale and exhale. Meconium, which you’ll probably find in the first diaper, is accumulating in the intestines. If (okay, as) you worry about giving birth, consider what it’s like for the little one. During the journey out of your womb, baby will produce more stress hormones than any other time in life.18.9-20.9 inches, 6.2-9.2 lbs. Baby G is now the size of a watermelon. Oh. My. God. That is gonna hurt!










Doctor updates:
Chiropractor- When your chiropractor tells you that they will do acupressure at 38 weeks to help "induce" labor; don't believe them. Mine told me that last week and today he very lightly touched both of my pinkie toes with some sort of device. I swear, I barely felt him touch my feet. Oh well, I didn't really expect anything like that to put me in labor, but I was hoping that he would find a magic spot on my foot and I would have a giant gush of water. I think I watch too much TV.
OB- Since my OB is out of town this week, I saw the nurse practitioner at her office. Here's what we did:
-peed in a cup (everything looks good there, no protein, glucose, etc.)
-checked bp (133/72) and weight (see above)
-checked my cervix. I'm 3-4cm and still 50% effaced. She also said that my cervix is very anterior (which is good) and she could feel Baby G's head (which she did not like and let me know with a swift quick to the ribs and a punch to the bladder) and could even feel her suture lines in her skull. While she was in there, she kept rotating her hand around and finally I'm like, "WHAT the hell is going on down there?" She said that she was checking the baby's head to "make sure it was all there". Um, what? As disturbing as this sounds, it actually made me laugh out loud. Which I realize is not the typical reaction to this type of response, but I knew that was not what she meant and it just sounded really funny to me for some reason. Anyway, she explained that she was checking to make sure that Baby G's head was going to fit through my pelvis. She thinks that she will. Well, that's a relief to know at 38 weeks pregnant.
-Okay, now for the truly dramatic side of me. When the nurse practitioner walked into the room, she asked how I was feeling. That poor woman. I immediately started to cry and I seriously unloaded on her. Not in a mean way, just in a "I'm nine months pregnant, I'm sick, my son is sick, my husband is out of town, I had contractions for 9 solid hours that lead to me being sent home without a baby this weekend. How would you be feeling?" Then I felt bad which made me cry even more. So, we started simple. She asked how long I had been sick and I told her that I have been fighting this "thing" off and on for the better part of 6 weeks. She gave me a prescription for a Z-pack. (See, this is why you should be nice to your nurse, people. Two minutes into the visit, I have yelled at her and she gave me drugs. Nurses are just nicer than doctors. Except for me. But just certain times.) Okay, a Z-pack is good. She said that she would hate for me to go into labor and have a head full of snot while trying to push out a baby (nice, fast & loose with the drugs, and funny. I think I have a crush on her!)

Then we started talking about everything else. I told her about Saturday and that whole debacle and how frustrating it is to have contractions for 9 solid hours and for them to lead to nothing. Which she (very gently) reminded me that they did lead to something. I went from 2cm to 3cm. Yup. In 9 hours. At that rate, I should have this baby by sometime this fall. Anyway, she was wonderful and reassuring and told me that it is normal to be emotional, especially when Greg is out of town and I am sick & I have a sick toddler, etc. She also told me that it is normal for a second-time mom that delivered before the due date with the first baby to be extremely on edge about going past that point in the second pregnancy. Apparently this happens quite often and it is incredibly frustrating because you KNOW what contractions feel like and once you pass your delivery date with pregnancy #1, you feel "overdue" once you get to that point with #2. So, since Brock was born at 37 weeks, 4 days, I am feeling nearly a week overdue at this point. And you know what, she is absolutely right.

This entire pregnancy I have been comparing the two (pregnancies, not children). Every time I go to the bathroom, I check for my mucous plug because it was obvious when I lost it with Brock and (as far as I know) I haven't lost it yet. Also, my water broke at home with Brock. I have been to L&D three different times so far because I thought I was in labor and I'm still pregnant. I know that I just need to chill the hell out because every baby and every pregnancy is different but since Brock is my only experience so far, that's all I have to compare this one to. I will take this as a hard-learned lesson in patience and the difference in my children. Even though they come from the same parents and the same household, they will not be cookie-cutter images of each other and truthfully, I prefer it this way. I just wish that I wasn't a Type-A personality and could just chill out about the fact that no matter what I do, this baby is coming when she is good and ready. So, for now, I will enjoy the last little bit of time I have with Brock being my only outside baby before Adrianna gets here and I have to shift the majority of my focus on her.

Seriously, if you read that entire thing, I will have goodies at the hospital when you come to see me. And, I know that you are all coming to see me!