"And we're still waiting ...
Waiting on the world to change."No baby news is good baby news... right??
We are really in a different kind of holding pattern now at 35 weeks and 3 days gestation with approximately 5 weeks or so left. I know that people have said there is a point in your pregnancy where it all becomes real and we really hit that point about three days ago.
Monday: Doctor's appointment went well... Dr. Freeman says we are "Normal" and coasting into the final weeks of pregnancy (notice I said weeks). So far my blood pressure has been normal. Heart rate: normal. Blood test: normal. Glucose test: normal. Urine test(s): normal. Ultrasounds: normal. I am so darn "normal" that I just can't stand it! This week marks the first of the every week appointment routine and I was lucky to have my mom with me while she was visiting. She got to hear the baby's heartbeat (also normal). Dr. Freeman assured me things were going well and set me up for the next appointment to have a GBS test (Group B Streptococcus) and my first pelvic exam. Doesn't that sound fun? So mom and I left the appointment and did about 4 hours of shopping. Throughout the rest of the night I had some super strong pains in my pelvis and hips which I attributed to walking around for almost five hours straight. Hmmm...
Tuesday: About 6 am I am laying in bed wide awake for no apparent reason. This was especially disheartening considering I was up until after midnight the night before putting the baby nursery together with Bobby and my mom. Shouldn't I be sleeping? I made my routine 6:30 am visit to the bathroom and low and behold... I passed my mucous plug. Of course at first all I saw was pink blood and gunk. I freaked... Bobby freaked... Then, when I managed to get myself under control, I looked in the baby books and found the description for the mucus plug. Whew. Sigh of relief. Then a sense of panic washed over me because, hello, we're still 5 weeks early! I sent Bobby off to school and called the on-call doctor at the hospital leaving a very lengthy message about what was going on. In the meantime I made some toast and drank some water and packed up the hospital bag just in case. After talking to my mom I decided it was time to lay down and rest again while waiting for the doctor to call. I had only been "resting" (read mentally checking off my pre-baby to-do list) for about 30 minutes when I had this sudden urge to throw up. I made it to the bathroom before expelling my breakfast and then broke down in tears. What the heck is going on? Called and left another message for the on-call doctor and my doctor. Soon after I got a call from a friendly nurse who in consultation with the on-call doctor decided I needed to 1) lay back down 2) drink a ton of Gatorade and water 3) let them know if the bleeding persisted or if I kept vomiting. They told me that baby could realistically show up anytime in the next few days or the next couple of weeks. Awesome... Let's hope baby goes the full two weeks!
I had no repeat symptoms the rest of the day (so, no it was not the stomach flu) and managed to get 2 more hours of sleep while my mom cleaned my house and did my laundry.
I love my mom.
That night I had my first full meal and played cards. I finished putting away laundry and went to bed around 11.
Wednesday: Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I actually got freaked out by baby's lack of movement all morning but sure enough around lunch time baby socked me in the gut a few times signalling to me it was time to eat. I sent mom home exhausted and waited in my clean house for our annual rental inspection (we passed with flying colors thanks to mom and hubby). Bobby and I had a nice dinner and watched a couple of movies.
Thursday: More Nothing. This normalcy sucks. I slept most of the day away and baby happily kick kick kicked away!
So here we sit waiting for our world to change. We know it's going to happen soon (you know sometime between a few days and two weeks).
Checklist for the next few days/weeks:
- Install car seats
- Repack hospital bag (I am sure I forgot something)
- More laundry
- Find a pediatrician
- Get someone up to the house to install DSL internet
- Prep all work related commitments of the possibility I will be out of commission
- Take another nap
So in a nut shell: life is still blissfully normal... for now!
