Biophysical Profile

Well, at 40w4d, our little monkey is doing just fine and seems quite happy to stay put a while longer. As the ultrasound tech said, "The bad news is that we have no excuse to induce today." Since I still hope to avoid induction, I'm truly okay with that. She estimated his weight at 6.5 pounds.

I guess if I make it to my OB appointment on Tuesday we'll set an induction date then, and we'll do another BPP on Wednesday.

Mom's coming in the morning. Must clean and grocery shop!

The Family Situation

My mom lives about two hours away. For various reasons, she decided she's going to come on May 16, whether the baby's here or not. So, she's coming on Saturday to stay with us for possibly as long as a week in our one-bedroom apartment. (She's driving here alone for the first time in the eight years I've lived here, by the way — she's very afraid of the highway near the big city. I guess she just needed the right incentive! I'm not holding my breath on it becoming a regular occurrence, though.)

It would have been convenient if the baby had decided to show up before she comes. See, Keith and I agree that we don't want the family hanging around the hospital while I'm in L&D. We're not planning to call anyone until late in the process or possibly even after the delivery. And the hospital encourages an hour of skin-to-skin time immediately after the birth. I want that time to belong to the three of us. If there are people anxiously waiting outside to meet the baby, I'm going to feel like I have to let them in, and then I'll probably feel like I have to pass him around.

My mom doesn't know anyone else here, and it would be weird and mean to make her wait at our place the whole time. I guess she's going to end up at the hospital with us. I love my mom and we get along fine, but I have no desire to have her present for any part of L&D. And if she's there, how can we keep my in-laws away?

This is all going to be so awkward when it shouldn't be. Or maybe, as usual, I'm making things more complicated than they need to be. I just wish I knew how it was all going to go down. It would be awesome if I went into labour tomorrow. Interesting side note, though — if he's born tomorrow he'll share both our wedding anniversary and his grandfather's birthday.

Nothing to Report

At 40w1d, my cervix is still closed and firm. There could be no stripping of membranes. I'm kind of glad, because the thought of that sort of freaks me out. Maybe it's just the terminology — "stripping the membranes" sounds very unpleasant, although from what I've read it's no big deal. If I'm still pregnant I'll be going for a biophysical profile on Friday to make sure the baby is still safe and happy in there.

Come out, little one! Your mommy and daddy want to meet you!

My "First Mother's Day"

My dear sweet hubby decided to "hedge his bets" (his words) and treat this as my first Mother's Day. He gave me an adorable card and the necklace you see here. There's a tiny diamond on the smaller heart that represents our baby. "I hope the gift will always remind you of all the joy and excitement surrounding the birth of our son," he wrote it the card. Awww...

Later we went out for delicious ice cream at the Mar.ble Slab. It was my second time there and his first. It's amazing! Keith says we'll definitely be going back there this summer. Yay!

It was a beautiful day. The only thing that could have made it better is the arrival of our baby, but he seems quite comfy in there. I haven't been feeling anything that would indicate progress. I'll update tomorrow after my OB appointment.

First Internal Check

At 39w2d, my cervix is closed and firm. This does not surprise me at all. My OB says after the due date they'll start sending me to the hospital for ultrasounds to make sure the baby's still doing all right in there. Sounds like they'll start talking induction one week to ten days after the due date.

Come on, baby, I sooo don't want to be induced!

I'm feeling very nervous about this whole labour and delivery thing right at this moment.

Help Me Decide!

Please vote in the poll to the right!
ETA: I should add that the first one costs nearly twice as much as the second, and so I need to like it a LOT more to justify spending the extra money.

Choice A (Mi.gi Alpha.bet):


Choice B (Sumer.sault Geo):

Let the Labour Watch Begin

Friday was my last day in the office. The next four days will be my earned vacation days, and then my maternity leave officially begins on May 8. I have ONE YEAR off — amazing! It feels so weird to exchange my working identity with my still unknown mommy identity. In the meantime, there's nothing to do but wait for labour. Well, that and clean and organize and make things as perfect as possible for my baby boy's arrival.

Not much else has happened since my last post. Last Friday I had a 24-hour sickness that I'm calling food poisoning. Someone kindly pointed out to me that vomiting and diarrhea can also be signs of early labour, so I had a minor panic over that on my way to see my OB for my regularly scheduled appointment. But she assured me that if I'm not having contractions I'm probably not in labour. Okay, that makes sense. I'm having a fair number of the belly-tightening episodes that I call Braxton Hicks contractions, but certainly no real contractions.

Finally, can I just say that my husband is awesome? He did four loads of laundry this morning before I even got out of bed. Yesterday he cleaned the bathroom, which is the one chore that is always mine. I hope to prevail upon him today to clean all the floors. He always does more than his fair share of the housework — and cooks dinner more often than not — but he has been outstanding in the last couple of weeks as my pregnancy has become increasingly cumbersome.

Yesterday we went out for a nice dinner to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. It's not until May 15, but we celebrated early for obvious reasons. Dinner was awesome — fantastic steak followed by "chocolate heaven" for dessert. When we got home, Keith handed me a card and a gift. We don't usually do anniversary gifts, and last year I didn't even get a card ("I didn't think we were doing cards"), so you can imagine my surprise. And he did good! It was a beautiful white gold chain with a heart-shaped diamond-crusted pendant. So pretty.

Here are some pictures:



And finally, a belly shot that I love (38w5d):