Week 36 - Less than 4 weeks till D-day!
(D-day being "Due Day.")
I am now in my ninth month.
I am due October 14th, now less than 4 weeks away. I will be "full term" (meaning Jasmine won't be considered premature if she is born) next week. I'm predicting that Jasmine will be born October 16th. This is a rather auspicious date because it is the anniversary of my grandfather's passing. But major events in my life seem to take place on the 16th of the month so it seems like as good a bet as any.
My Body
I'm still not seeing any dramatic changes to indicate I could be headed into labor at any moment. Though usually you don't. I am still experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions (warm up contractions that don't hurt) frequently -but not regularly. In the last couple of days I've also started to notice sort of an achy feeling in my pelvis. I don't know if this just means I overdid the walking or if it's a sign of my body getting ready for birth. I also seem to be waking up regularly between 4am and 5am and "peeing like I've got an excavator parked on my bladder" according to one of my coworkers. :)
Work and Exercise
I am officially out of the woods at work (though I'll still take my truck out... I shouldn't have to go anywhere that would be more than 30 minutes from a major highway). I'm trying my best to wrap up all the loose ends at work so that others have to pick up my work load as little as possible but for the most part people have been *really* kind and understanding about this.
I have to say that I'm actually *really* glad that I've stayed working in the woods as long as I can. Every time I run into another woman who is as far along as I am I realize just how much more comfortable and more mobile I am. Last night I met a gal who is also due in four weeks and she seemed so ready to be done -she just looked tired and uncomfortable. I'm still feeling pretty good and my excitement for this all to be over is just so that I can finally meet my daughter ...and I must admit that I'm really starting to look forward to being able to bend over! But my point is that I strongly recommend that any woman planning to get pregnant get herself started on an exercise regimen before she gets pregnant and that she stick to it all through her pregnancy. It seems to help immensely.
Touring Providence Women and Children's Center
We had another doctor's appointment last night followed by a tour of the facility where I will be giving birth.
The lounges where friends and family can wait seem a little sterile and uninviting to me but not uncomfortable. -Though I would think that anyone waiting would want to bring their own entertainment along. They were pretty sparse on reading material and there's just the one TV. However there are also tables available for playing games on, etc. Though honestly I don't know why *anyone* would want to come to a hospital to wait for someone in labor to give birth: the average labor takes 12 hours. And it's not at all unusual for first births to go much longer -2 to 3 times longer (though usuallly after 24 hours these days they'll start looking at ways to speed things up medically).
Providence Hospital really seems to place a lot of emphasis on making the mother comfortable (the labor rooms are really spacious, have their own bathrooms, entertainment centers, and are decorated in very restful colors) and on trying to be flexible (where possible) about the birthing experience. They have really geared the setup of the labor rooms toward making it possible to have an unmedicated birth, if that's what you want. And as crazy as it sounds I think that's the route I'm headed.
Pain Medication
It's not that I have strong objections to the concept of medication. It's just that the more I read about the possible and likely side effects of taking pain medication during labor the more I realize it's not what I want if I feel that I can cope with the pain. It's entirely possible that I'll still use an epidural (though who really wants a needle in their spine?) but I'd like to hold out as long as I can because the lighter and later I use medication the more I will be aware of my contractions when it's time to start pushing. This is a good thing because it can *really* speed up this most exhausting part of labor.
So, to prepare for this ordeal I've been practicing rhythmic breathing and muscle-tension awareness exercises as well as learning to focus my attention outside my body. It's really pretty nice -very much like the meditation exercises I learned in high school. Greg and I are also rehearsing different positions that might make contractions a little more bearable if not less painful. Though this is still going to hurt like a biz-natch, as Greg would say.
Jasmine's Development
My doctor said again yesterday that it felt like Jasmine is in birth position so hopefully she'll stay that way for the next month. With four weeks to go, our baby is almost done cooking. She could drop into the birth canal at any time now. This week she's just continuing to get plumper: "the fat is dimpling on the elbows and knees as well as forming creases in the neck and wrists." Cute, fat little baby! ...Hopefully not too fat. I now weigh in at 151 pounds; I've gained about twenty pounds since I got pregnant. That's actually about 5-10 pounds below average the average weight gain at this point so I'm hoping for a smaller baby! Jasmine should be about 19 inches long now and weighs from 5.5 to 6.0 pounds.