39 Weeks & counting

How far along? 39 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: + 23lbs from pre-pregnancy.

Maternity clothes? Yes

Stretch marks? Yes

Sleep: Getting better now that I'm done with my antibiotic and my cold/sinus infection is clearing up.

Best moment this week: Not throwing up the Castor Oil that Greg made me drink

Worst moment this week: Being in false labor. Constantly.

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 Auntie Donna's yummy chicken pasta dish sounds like a winner after the baby is born. Donna, did you hear that?

Gender: Still a girl.

Labor Signs: Constant but nothing that turns into anything.

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 39 weeks & hopefully having the doctor strip my membranes this week at my appointment.

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!

News from the OB:
Good news/bad news. Okay, the bad news first. When she checked my cervix she said that she would call me 2-3 cm and 50% effaced. Boo. Last week when I was checked, the nurse practitioner called me 3-4cm. So, all of the contractions that I have been having for the past week have done bupkiss as far as dilating my cervix.

Now for the good news. When I told the doctor that I called L&D on Saturday and I was having contractions 2-4 minutes apart, I asked if they thought I should come in. They told me that since I only lived about 10 minutes from the hospital and since my water hadn't broken to not come in. Okay, only a small percentage of women have their water break at home. Plus, contractions every 2-4 minutes for several hours is significant enough that I should have been checked. When I told my doctor that they told me to stay home unless my water broke or I had lots of bloody show, she was very surprised and basically restated everything that I said. When I asked her what her general rule was about coming in with contractions and she told me (again) that if I have more than 4-5 contractions in an hour to go in to L&D. Which made me feel better about my 4 trips to L&D over the past few weeks.

Now, on to the better news! My doctor must have been feeling particularly sorry for me today because she asked if my induction was scheduled yet. I told her that I thought the receptionist in L&D this weekend mentioned that I was. So she had her nurse call and they said that I wasn't scheduled for anything. Okay, not a big deal. Then she asks if I want to do it next Wednesday. To which I reply, "I can hold out another week but if you want to do it sooner, I won't object!" So she says, "How about this Wednesday or Thursday?" Either day will work for me so she has her nurse call L&D again and ask about availability. They are booked on Wednesday, but Thursday they can fit me in at 6am! Well, the doctor doesn't like that time because she will be on call Thursday night but not until 5pm and since this is my second baby, she thinks (haha!) that I will have a shorter labor than with Brock and if at all possible, she would like to be there. So, the nurse calls again and they have an opening at 1pm and I took it! Woo-hoo! So, as of now, I am scheduled to be induced on Thursday, July 23rd starting at 1pm. Well, that's when I will check in at the reception desk anyway. Before they actually admit me, they will draw labs, etc. From there, they will check my cervix and depending on how things look, they will "probably" break my water and see how I progress on my own. If necessary, I will get Pitocin but the doctor said that chances are good that I will continue to dilate and not need the pitocin. And, truth be told, I've heard that Pitocin is a real bitch as far as contractions go, so if I can do it on my own without it, I would prefer it that way.

For now, that's all I really know and I will update the blog as things happen on Thursday! Keep us in your prayers that we all come out of this healthy and by Friday (at the latest) our precious little baby girl should be here!