The Waiting Game

We went Monday for our last sonogram so they could estimate her weight... 6 lb 14 oz. Angela, the technician, said that could be off by a pound either way but that she thought Day was probably at least 6 lbs and her guess would be no more than 8 at birth. I can do that. I was afraid she would say, "WOW! She's already 8 pounds!" Otherwise, everything looks good. Her stomach was full (of course), her heartbeat was strong, and we got to watch her "breathing"... that was a new experience. I told Angela where Day's butt was and where her feet were, and I was right. She sticks her little butt up all the time, so I'm familiar with where that is! I also get kicked in the same place consistently... my ribs on my right side. She's head down and facing backward, which is just how she needs to be for delivery. Good girl! She's a rule follower! We looked at her girl parts again just to be sure and she is still a girl. Whew.

We went back on Wednesday to meet with Dr. Otey. He said her size is great... big enough not to worry about and not too big to cause any delivery concerns. My due date is still accurate. I'm still not dilated any, but he explained that some people progress gradually over a period of weeks and some progress pretty quickly all at once. I guess he could tell that I had expected to have dilated some. I am 70% effaced though, and last time I was 50% so we are calling that progress. We go back next Wednesday morning for another check. I'll be 38 weeks, 3 days at that point.

I'm starting to get a little anxious. Or maybe I’m confusing anxious with excited. It's just the not knowing that is hard. It's like I've made all these preparations for a fabulous vacation, but nobody will tell me when the flight leaves. I'm on standby. And I'm trying not to make myself crazy, but honestly this is so far the hardest part of my pregnancy. I’m having to chant PATIENCE to myself every day now. I made an appointment to have a pedicure next Thursday and a haircut next Friday just to have something definite on my calendar. That should help me through another week. I'll have to figure out something else after that. And well, if I go into labor before that, I'll just have to deal with un-pedicured toes and yuck hair. I'll have a BABY!! There will be much more important things to think about. “Regardless of when, the end result will be a baby,” says Dr. Otey. I love him.

Just a couple of things that have made me smile this week...

Ken and I follow the babycenter.com updates every Sunday. This is where we get the produce comparison thing. I think the first food product was a lentil. Blueberry was a big deal, and of course the first melon was exciting. We always have fun with this, especially because Ken gets fired up about the accuracy of each fruit or vegetable. If one week's food happens to be smaller in his mind than the last week's food, he fusses at the stupid people who must have come up with this... obviously they know nothing about vegetables! This week, the baby is the size of swiss chard. The reason this is so funny to me is that Ken planted some swiss chard in the backyard months ago and was so proud. I had never heard of it, and couldn't figure out what was supposed to be so impressive about it. Although I had to admit, the name was interesting.

Here's a picture:

The next thing that made me laugh happened yesterday. After seeing the doctor, we installed the second car seat base in Ken’s truck. Really, a simple process once I watched the “Certified Car Seat Technician” at the fire station install mine. We practiced taking the car seat out of the stroller, latching it into the base, unlatching it, etc. Ken only spilled the baby once. Then when it looked like we might know what we were doing, I told him now all he needs is a mirror for the head rest so he can watch her from his rear view mirror. He sent me this picture and message later that afternoon:

“Oh, no! It’s a bear in my car!”

He had gone to Palmer Home Thrift Store and picked it up. He is going to be such a great daddy.

And for those of you who know I have been freaking out “a little” about having Day in the room with me the whole time, Ken and I met with the nurse supervisor at Baptist (Columbus) who assured us that she would be able to stay with us the entire time unless the nurse was called away for an emergency. I am officially letting go of that issue and trusting that it will work out like it’s supposed to. I’m pretty sure that was all just part of my anxiety and needing to control everything… after all, that is my tendency. I wasn’t going to be able to rest until I felt like I had done what was in my power to do. And now that we’ve met with Vanessa (remember that name, Cindy, if you have to use it on delivery day) it’s time to let it go. Now, I’m focusing on ALL GOOD THOUGHTS!

17 more days till the due date… YEEHAW!!