Will Today Be The Day?

Well if I don't have the baby today then I won't win the Baby Rodgers Challenge Second Edition. :p I guessed July 1st at 1 pm, a girl weighing 6 lbs 15 oz. Actually her weight should be pretty close to that based on her ultrasound last week - Logan was 7 lbs. 9 oz. three days before I had him at 7 lbs, 13 oz so that means he gained two ounces per day. Baby Girl weighed 6 lbs, 3 oz. seven days ago so if she gains at the same rate then that'd put her roughly at 7 lbs, 1 oz. today. If I don't have her by the time Joe heads back for Iowa on Monday, July 4th then the pressure is on. . .I have to have her by Thursday, July 7th (37 weeks-and-4-days) if I don't want her to be bigger than Logan was (going by the same scale that'd put her at 7 lbs, 13 oz).

I really thought I was going to go into labor last Sunday or Monday night (the 26th or 27th). As I posted here, I lost my mucous plug on Saturday, June 25. Well rephrase that -- I BEGAN losing it that day. With Logan, it had been one small event and then 24 hrs later he was here. But, once again, all pregnancies are different -- I continued losing more of that disgusting stuff the rest of Saturday as well as on Sunday, Monday, AND Tuesday! I was like, how much of it is there?! Labor HAS to be this week!

However, I had no other signs that I was going to go into labor, in fact for the past two weeks I have felt better than I have for most of my pregnancy! No back pain or any other discomforts. Even the cervix pain has been non-existent this week. No leaking of amniotic fluid. And, lots of energy except Tuesday (more on that in a minute).

Despite that, my mood has been going down this week. Logan was difficult this week and I was bummed that I didn't go into labor after all. Unlike with Logan who I wanted desperately to have as soon as I was full term because I was so uncomfortable and miserable, this time has been for a completely different reason. I'm definitely carrying Baby Girl much easier than with Logan. Her position of sitting lower is preferred when you're short. With Logan, I had such a problem in my rib area for the longest time. It was hard to breathe, and I was numb in that area for months afterward. Now the only time I'm uncomfortable is if I sit upright (like in a car or at the computer) for too long because things are smashed together and then I do get some back pain. But otherwise, overall, this pregnancy really hasn't been that bad. I was reading my old blog about how one week I had to call Joe to have him load groceries in my car when I was in the parking lot of the store -- I totally forgot about that. . .geesh that's pitiful! This pregnancy I've had no problem doing everything from my pre-pregnancy life.

I'm also not desperate for the unknown upcoming stress -- i.e. it seems easier for our current situation to have her come as late as possible.

Instead, my urgency is all because of the fear of shoulder dystocia again. I was reading a message board on Babycenter for women who'd had it and the consensus was extremely optimistic. Something like 99% of them had gone on to have a bigger baby next with NO problem whatsoever. Some of these babies were 10 lbs! So it's true, I could go to 39 weeks and have a 9 pound baby that slips out faster and easier than Logan did at 7 lbs. But I won't know til it's over and I know I will be NERVOUS until then. . .and I don't want to have a nervous labor! I want it to be calm and relaxing like last time because my first labor experience was ideal to me. (I've been listening to my same Earth Mama Angel Baby relaxation CD that I listened to and loved with Logan.) I don't think I would have dilated as fast and without much pain had I had any sort of anxiety. I won't have any nervousness this time, either, if I go into labor knowing that she's smaller (i.e. if it happens by July 7th). But if I have to be induced AND know that she's possibly 9 lbs, then even with all that I know from hypnobirthing how can I be 100% relaxed in that situation?

So. . .I am hoping for TODAY now that Joe's home! (Maybe God and Baby Girl just wanted to wait until my labor would be easier for me with Joe already here, haha.)

After my post last Friday, June 24 (My Final Ultrasound), we went for the long walk that I mentioned, and I've been taking the primose oil capsules. But no results yet. Thursday (yesterday) I had my massage to see if the acupressure would help (it was my last massage as a resident but I told her that I plan to make appts. with her every time that I visit)! This evening we are going out to a restaurant called Grisanti's for the eggplant that I blogged last time is a possible inducer, and I'm also going to eat pineapple this weekend as that is another one, as well as drinking red raspberry leaf tea. If these things don't work then the final two options are Castor Oil and Nipple Stimulation, but both of those are not as positively recommended since castor oil causes major diahrrea and nipple stimulation can cause long, painful contractions. So, we'll first repeat what we did last Friday that caused me to spot (and maybe make my mucous plug come out the next day?) and see if a week going by has made me more ready. I'm also going to ask my doctor whether she can strip my membranes, even though I know she can't officially induce for two more weeks.

As for our daily life, last Saturday, June 25 we just vegged at home and picked up our final Omaha food that we wanted to make sure to eat before we moved - Little King sandwiches. They are the best deli (after my old fav AJ's Deli closed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) so it's a bummer that they are only in Nebraska.

Sunday, June 26 we went to the zoo for our final time as residents, as it was perfect weather outside. We all had a great family outing together. We have made it to all of the places that we wanted to be sure to go one last time. If I don't go into labor this weekend then we will go to the Amazing Pizza Machine for Joe's birthday on Sunday, although there IS one in Des Moines. Tomorrow (Saturday) some friends are having a goodbye party for us so that will be fun. Then Monday is Independence Day!

Last Sunday was hard for the first time for me to say goodbye when Joe left at 4:30 pm. I got spoiled with him home Wednesday eve thru Sunday because I actually saw him more than when he lived here! This week he wasn't able to work from home on Thursday because he's working on a project that he feels more comfortable doing with the other people around (but will always get to work from home on Fridays).

Monday, June 27 Logan went to preschool and then that evening we went to Brooke's house for a jewelry party. It was fun and Logan enjoyed playing with Kaelyn's toys and on her swingset with a little girl who was born just one month after him.

Tuesday, June 28 was not a good day. I'm not sure I have ever seen Logan act so bad in his life. As most of you know, he's an easy kid and he and I usually get along SO well. So I wonder if he's starting to react to the changes going on in our life because he just screamed at me ALL DAY. I pride myself on being able to count on one hand how many times I've yelled at him in his life, but I just lost it and screamed back at him every time, too. UGH!!!!! So then I felt awful and was crying and then he was crying. . .like I said, it was not a good day. I'm glad that I only made plans to be a single mom for 3 weeks (as I wrote about in 8 Months Pregnant, Logan is going back to Iowa with Joe on Monday and spending the rest of the week at Joe's mom's house until Joe comes back Thurs eve).

This was the first week that Logan showed a reaction to Joe not living here every day for three weeks, as about ten times on Tuesday Logan said, "I want Daddy". . .but of course once he's with Joe next week then he's going to then want me, so that's another reason for Baby Girl to come by July 7th - because then Joe can take two weeks off to be here, and then we'll all move to my dad's place and be together every day again! He broke both Joe and my hearts when I picked him up on Wednesday from school and he said, "I played with Cale today, Cale's daddy doesn't live in Omaha, either. Cale just lives with his mommy so we both miss our daddies." Ouch! (I assume Cale's parents are divorced. I learned they talked about families this week at school.) I reminded him that Daddy would be home the next night!

My dad finally came home this week after spending since April at my grandmother's. Now that she has passed away, he and my uncle Jim will work on putting her house for sale, but they are going to take a break first since they are not holding their breath for it to sell any time soon (the town has less than 500 residents). So, this weekend he is going to Michigan to see my stepmom (they have a house on Lake Michigan) so that's where he'll be most of the time that we are living at his house in Iowa. Even though I'm not looking forward to living in limbo for two months, he lives on a beautiful lake there, too, so I'm hoping that will be peaceful.

Anyway, another thing that made Tuesday bad was that Logan woke up at 5:45 am! He'd done that on Monday, too, so I had decided to officially give up on him going to bed at 8:30. But Monday night he actually went to bed at 10:30 - and it didn't make any difference (nor Tuesday night when he went to bed at his old bedtime of 9:30). He's only been taking 2 hr naps (rather than his old 3-4 hr) so I don't know why he's getting up so early, but even though Monday night I tried to go to bed at the same time as him, I couldn't fall asleep for a few more hours! :( So Logan's bad behavior that day was combined with my no-energy (i.e. no patience or tolerance). (On Thursday morning he slept til 9 am but woke me up, crying, five times in the night - WTH?) At least he still doesn't get out of bed without me coming in there first. There were only five times (all Jan-Feb) since he moved to his big boy bed last September, otherwise he still calls for me. We went to the grocery store on Tuesday but otherwise that was it.

Wednesday, June 29 I went over to my neighbor Jenn's for our final scrapbooking & lunch. She hadn't hosted it since April so we really hadn't seen or talked since then so I was glad to be able to have a goodbye with her, too. (She is Mormon so she wasn't able to come to Logan's birthday party in April that was on a Sunday.) I told her I bet my next neighbors wouldn't bring over cookies like she did when I moved in here 4 yrs ago :-)

Then, as I wrote was the plan in 8 Months Pregnant, my mom and stepdad came over after I picked Logan up from preschool. They took Logan to the zoo on Thursday, June 30 (it was too hot for me to go, thus why I made last Sun my last time; I went shopping for Joe's birthday gift instead) and then they headed back to Iowa before Joe arrived (rather than stay until Fri as originally planned).

Oh, by the way, Joe's nephew and wife who are due with a baby the end of November (the last people who I currently know to be expecting) found out they are having a girl -- so I was right about everybody this year except for one couple!

Today (Friday, July 1st) is Logan's last day at La Petite. I'm glad that he was able to have three-and-a-half months of school, even though it'll probably be October before he's going again since we won't be living in our new house until mid-September, and Joe won't be working in that area until December/January. At first I was worried that taking three entire months off might get him out of the routine, but then I realized that's how it'll be once he's in REAL school, so I PRAY he'll adjust to his new daycare as quickly & easily as La Petite.

Despite having a bad Wednesday morning, too, and a couple of moments on Thursday, he's still showing such maturity. The past few months he's been so into "seeing" potential dangers. Like, he'll move shoes out of my way because he thinks I might trip and fall on it (or the dogs). He also has a Mickey Mouse of mine from when I was a kid that is not as good of shape as one he got for his 3rd birthday, but he doesn't want my old Mickey to feel left out. So he always makes sure that if he has his stuffed animals, that injured Mickey is included. He had taken a different animal to preschool for naptime and I thought after all of the rest he might leave my old Mickey here, but nope, he wanted injured Mickey to see his preschool, too. This makes me happy that he doesn't like just "perfect" things and he's already looking out for the underdog :-)

At night we've been reading and singing and listening to a book of mine from my childhood which is super fun (Disney's Children's Favorite Song Tapes).

Today is also my doctor's appt. (two days before I start 37 weeks), so I'll soon find out if there's been any progress since last week (Final Ultrasound). . .!