Week 39 and Waiting...

I’m in the home stretch!  I thought the 2 week wait was bad, but no, I think the Week 39 wait is pretty bad, too!  Now that I am considered full-term, it is even harder to wait for this kid to come out – both physically and emotionally.  I'm as prepared as anyone can be for this adventure.  Let's get on with it already!

Cankles = Not Normal

On the physical front, I have been dilated a tiny bit for the last 3 weeks.  At first, I was at a 1cm.  As of yesterday, I am close to 2cm dilated.  I can feel the additional pressure “down thar” as I think baby is starting to move in the right direction.  I have mega-cankles, but thankfully, the swelling is staying in the lower extremities and my blood pressure has been within normal limits.  I feel huge and my belly is as hard as a rock.  If I didn’t know there was a fragile baby inside this belly, I could take anyone in a belly-bumping contest!

 

My due date is Monday, 11/25/13.  With Thanksgiving later in the week, OB on-call schedules, and given my “history” of having tried so hard to get to this point, my doctor wants to induce me on this date.  I’m not a huge fan of being induced – frankly, I’d just rather not.  But at the same time, I don’t want to go so far past my due date that my baby is at risk for additional complications.  The word “still-birth” scares the living daylights out of me.  Almost as much as premature labor did earlier in my pregnancy.  Plus, it would be nice to have MY doctor deliver this baby over someone that knows little to nothing about us.

Otherwise, it is hard to imagine how different my life will be by this time next week.  On one hand, I feel like I have been pregnant forever and that I will be pregnant forever.  On the other hand, it feels like this new reality is happening all of a sudden and I haven’t had 9 months to prepare!

On a different note, I am an aunt again today!  My brother and his wife had their 2^nd little girl today via scheduled C-section.  I would be happy for them no matter what, but I am even more ecstatic because we get to give their children a cousin very soon.

Our new niece!