Smile and Nod

As I continue to be pregnant and near the end I thought I would compile a short list of things to and not to do concerning pregnant women.

Do:

Bring her a drink, snack, magazine or something so she doesn't have to get up. She needs to rest while growing a baby.

Buy her flowers, chocolates, or whatever else might brighten her day.

Offer to rub her back, feet or any other body part of her choosing to ease sore muscles. Better yet, offer to send her to a spa to have a pro do it.

Watch any other children for a while so she can have some relaxing alone time.

Have her make a list of things she would like done. Do one or two of them once in a while. She'll feel like things are getting done without having to strain.

Buy her something fabulous to congratulate her for carrying a baby for 9+ months without going insane (much) or killing anyone (though they deserved it I'm sure).

Encourage her daily (or by the minute). Let her know she is doing the best she can and you are proud of her. Pregnancy is tough, she is like a soldier in a war. She is working harder than you know and deserves some credit.

Do Not:

Ask if she is still pregnant. Yes, she is. Unless she doesn't know you at all you will get a call or email announcing the birth. Asking every day only reminds her she is still pregnant. If she doesn't know you at all then you're just being creepy.

Ask if she is ready to be done. Yes, she is. She knows this better than anyone. Don't act like it is a burden to you, she's got a lot going on.

Ask if she is having contractions or if labor has in any way started yet. If it's your business to know she will tell you. Asking this over and over only reminds her that, no, nothing is happening.

Say wow, gosh, oh my, holy cow, or any other exclamation indicating you are amazed she is so big and has not yet exploded.

Ask if her doctor is crazy or imply he/she is in some way not capable of delivering a baby. She has picked her doctor and put her faith and trust in this person. Do NOT shake her faith now.

Point out the due date has passed. She knows. She is well aware of that date and it's passage without giving birth.

Tell her how to feel, think or act. Yes, she may be irrational, but that is her right. If she is crying, acknowledge it, don't tell her to stop.

I'm Not a Doctor and I Don't Play One on TV

Last week my child skinned his knee in the driveway. It was finally healing a little. Tonight I suggested we go outside and while walking around the block he fell. The only injury? Tearing open the wounded knee. Not a scratch on him otherwise. At first the tears were from pain and the scare of falling, then they were from losing the jelly bean he was eating.

He seems terrified of bandages and won't let anyone touch it or look at it. We had to hold him down a bit to clean the concrete out of it. He will let you put 'lotion' on it. Lotion is his word for Neosporin.

There is nothing sadder than seeing a 2 year old limp around because of a boo boo.

I'm just not ready for my boy to get hurt, let alone bleed. I know I have a lifetime of this to come, but it really tears me up to see him hurt in any way.

Yes, he got more jelly beans.

Indiana Jones

I might spoil it for you so don't read if you want to watch the movie with no opinion in your head.

I thought it was an ok movie. It had action, adventure and an ok storyline. I thought it was a horrible Indiana Jones movie. It was weird. The other three are some of my favorite movies and this one just didn't cut it at all. There were parts that were just thrown in for effect and didn't really have anything to do with the plot. Other things were so far fetched I couldn't believe they were part of the movie.

If at First You Don't Succeed, Pack Your Bags and Go Home

When I woke up today at 7 I felt yucky. Something was off. I got up and tried to pinpoint the problem. Mostly I felt a little sick. Then the contractions started. These were not the same contractions I had been having for weeks. These were more painful, in a different location and just felt like the ones I needed. We went through our morning and the contractions got stronger. I didn't want to do anything. We took Peanut to school and then called the doctor. She suggested going to hospital to get checked and we would go from there.

My mom and sister, J, were with me as well as Husband. We started to play some cards to pass the time. Somewhere just after the middle I started to not feel so hot. The urge to vomit was pretty strong and only intensified with each contraction. Suddenly other voices were annoying. The sound of the cards were annoying. Everything was grating on me. I said I needed to stop and J asked if I wanted them to leave. All I could manage was a nod. She and my mom happily went to lunch.

Then I was hot, cold, agitated, uncomfortable and in pain. I wanted it to stop. I wanted to get up and run away from the hurting. After a few minutes of this I got up to go to the bathroom. I did my thing and when I got back I could drink water and felt mostly fine. My feet were cold, but otherwise no hot/cold flashes. The color in my face returned and I felt pretty good except for the contractions still coming every 2-4 minutes.

The nurse came in a while later and said I was being sent home. I wasn't dilating and though I was having a good contraction pattern it wasn't true labor. Husband was upset and I was OK until I got in the shower tonight and the disappointment hit me hard. I've done this twice with no baby. I'm not sure how much more I can take.

This felt just like the last time. The urge to vomit, not feeling well, regular contractions, trip to hospital were all the same. Also the same were slightly dehydrated, urine culture that didn't indicate UTI but was yucky (whatever that means) and eating a turkey sandwich for lunch the day of or slightly before all this happened.

My best guess is that I'm allergic or aggravated by something used to process the turkey at the grocery store deli. I've had it twice since we moved/got pregnant and both times ended up in the hospital. My body feels sick and tries to get rid of the yuck including starting contractions to get baby out. Lots of water later and I seem to be better.

I should be holding a baby by now. I should be in the hospital deciding on a name and who he/she looks more like. I should be through with labor and working on recovery.

I know eventually we will have this baby, but it was a hard day and I'm tired.

Time Gets Longer and Longer (and Harder and Harder)

I got a call today from the doctor office. They can't do the induction on the 27th so they moved me to the 30th. On one hand it's no big deal, what's three days later? On the other hand it's three days later. I'm done now. I'm ready to walk into the hospital and get this baby out of me. My emotions are all over the place, I have no energy and I'm done.

I'm pretty tired of people telling me when to have the baby. Making a playful guess as to when you think it will arrive is OK. Telling me it's just not convenient for you on such and such a day is not OK. This baby will get here whenever it does. I'm working on what is right for me and baby. Other than Husband and maybe the doctor, no one really gets a say here.

Some friends have been out of the country on vacation and before they left they (mostly the wife, the husband is pretty cool) kept telling me not to have it while they were gone. Who cares? It's not like she is the doctor or even related to me. My own mother keeps telling me that the 27th is too late and I should do it sooner. Well, fabulous, when is a good time for you since you seem to have an in with the hospital and are going to deliver this thing? Hospitals have schedules and so do doctors. While they can't plan every birth they can plan the scheduled ones so that it doesn't interfere with another delivery or surgery.

I'm pretty scared at this point. I'm having a hard time doing anything and wonder how I will manage with a baby. I know at least I'll be able to put my shoes on, but I'm still going to be very tired and unable to function. I'm terrified for Thursday nights to roll around since Husband will be gone all day and night with his class. How will I ever manage two children all day and night? Pizza anyone?

This pregnancy has been spent worried about the future. I've even regretted being pregnant. I know that may offend some folks, but I'm sorry it's how I feel. No one has re-assured me either. Husband only says things will be fine if I point blank ask him. He hasn't spent much time telling me he's happy about it. He just says "things will be fine". Well, yes, I'm sure they will, but will we still be married? Will I kill anyone? Will I live? I'm having a hard time feeling like this was a good idea. Even some friends and family have questioned our thinking in having another one so soon.

There has been very little time excited during this pregnancy. I never got excited about the nursery. It became more of a chore than something I wanted to do. This time around I wanted the room to look either very boy or very girl. Peanuts nursery was so neutral and I wanted it more boy (once we found out of course). So we decided to just wait to do the nursery until the baby was born. I started planning a boy room and a girl room so we could get started right away after the birth. Then I got tired of it. I think we'll just use what we have from the first one. It's neutral, but could go either way. It was cheap and is still pretty cute with little animals on it. It's just not what I originally thought, but all the joy has been sucked out of it so now I don't care. We'll do like we did with Peanut and make a specific room tailored to this kid in a couple years.

I'm never going to make it 15 more days.

Keep on Counting

Still no baby. Six (6) days until due date. We are scheduled to induce on the 27th. I'll be 41 weeks. My doctor is OK with an induction, but would prefer baby to come naturally. She is worried about forcing the issue (so to speak) and causing a C-section. I'm very opposed to surgery. I know lots of people that have had them and all turned out fine, but it still freaks me out. If it came down to it I would get through it. If I can do it the hoo ha way I'm on board with that.

I feel like I've been pregnant for years. I guess knowing so early makes for a much longer wait. It will be worth it. I'm getting really curious as to if it's a boy or girl. I'm also a bit worried about how big this kid will get in 13 more days. It could be huge! The doctors keep telling me I accommodated a big baby so I can do it again. Well, sure. Peanut was 9 lb 3 oz. What if that was my limit? How much bigger can I accommodate? I don't really want to find out.

The boy has been up and down. For the most part he has been great. He wants to watch television all the time. I'm OK with some, but he would sit all day long. He says funny things too. The other day we were all in the van and Husband was blowing his nose. Peanut says "mommy, daddy getting his boogies out?" Well, yes. I know it doesn't seem funny here, but we laughed about it at the time. He does sweet things too like sing to the baby belly. Except the only words he knows are 'no more monkeys jumping on the bed'. He doesn't even know the whole song. It's cute though.

Time for a nap. Mine of course.

One Day It Will Be Over

38 weeks and 1 day today. I'm losing my mind. Easy things are getting much more difficult to do. Taking a shower wipes me out. Right now a week stay at a spa sounds fabulous, except for the whole pregnant thing. Maybe once thumper is older I can go away to a mommy spa. They have those right? Where they pamper you and rub your feet and feed you good food? I want that. Of course since I'll be nursing it will be a bit harder to get away for a while.

Peanut has some sort of issue right now. He wants very much to sit in my lap and be loved. I'm ok with that, but it's not his usual thing. Maybe he senses baby is on its way and his time with me is getting shorter. He is also getting the last of his two year molars. Ouch! We had a horrible morning today and now that I think back on it I'm not sure why. Nothing too awful happened, we just were not in sync. Oh well.

I've been painting with my sister J. She got us a huge paint job. I wasn't going to do any of it, but I've been helping every day for a week and a half. I only work a few hours, but it's starting to take a toll. Peanut has gone with me on his non school days. Those nights have been awful. I think he gets too much stimulation. I think tomorrow we'll stay home and do our own thing. J will just have to understand I can't do it. I really wanted the extra money, but I've worked enough I think I should get a nice chunk of change. I'm not even sure how much the whole job will get since things keep getting added on. Thankfully, we are on the downhill stretch. We just have the upstairs to do and any touch ups downstairs. Then she wants new lights hung, then she wants this and that done. The list is never ending. We stop with the money stops flowing though.

I don't think Thumper is ever coming out. My guess is we'll have to be induced like we were with Peanut. My doctor comes back on Friday so I guess we'll start seeing her again. Who knows what she will think. The guy I've been seeing said he would talk to her about it though. He said they won't induce until after 39 weeks. Who knows?