Well I did end up with a fever yesterday and honestly I am glad because I just couldn’t imagine feeling *that* bad so early on if it had been labor. It was awful! I felt like sore lead. Apparently my fever broke in the middle of the night last night because at one point I woke up sopping wet! Yeee-uck! At least for now I am doing *much* better. Another 1/2 hour and the tylenol should be all the way worn off and I’ll see then.
Had some serious cervical pains last night- OMG they HURT! No tightenings or contractions with them though. It’s a challenge to relax through them when there isn’t any warning or buildup- just a surprising WHAM! LOL. They give me hope that things are opening up though.
LBB goes crazy in there now- his movements shift my belly all around now- you can see a foot go Wheeeeee!!! across my entire front! Where is he finding the room to do all his moving!?! I’m back to feeling a bit breathless when I lay down. Nothing like not being able to breathe.
Well, the full moon didn’t work its magic on me. Tick-tock, tick-tock… time is running out.
*TMI*
Oh yeah, and apparently I freaked DH out last night when he was putting in the EPOs… I am apparently boogery down there now. Hahahaha. Come on down mucus plug! I want to see the rest of ya!

I woke up today feeling absolutely cruddy. As usual, my hips were killing me and I had to get out of bed early. To top that off, my lower back was also killing me, I was nauseous and had to make several potty pit stops of the yucko variety. AFterwards, I tried to find a comfy position on the couch with my umpteen pillows but couldn’t. Finally I pulled my exhausted self up long enough to down 2 tylenol and some water and prayed it would stay down. I tried to do some netting to distract me but I felt too awful. I was shivering horribly and could barely stay upright in my chair but the thermometer said I definitely did not have a fever. As the tylenol began to work, at least on the hip pain, I began to doze off on the couch again, having off and on episodes of cervical twinges… and here comes Brendan, awake for the day! Ugh. He was really good though and kissed me a few thousand times and then played quietly on the floor beside me for 45 minutes while I laid there, practically paralyzed.
Finally he started asking for food so I made myself get up and made us each a PB&J. It went down and I did feel a bit better. I still ended up on my bed again just drained of energy. While there, I had about 3 lower belly contractions (dunno, maybe 10 minutes apart?) and my backache ebbed and returned a few times. I decided to get up and take a hot shower- definitely helped the pain and at least for a little bit the exhaustion too. And what did I noticed halfway through?
A thin sheet of gray-green material about the size of a nickel fell out of me and went down the drain. Had to be some of my mucus plug, though a very small portion of it.
I am hopeful labor is starting up or I am at least progressing more. But damn if I expected a burst of nesting or energy to accompany the start of things. I am so freaking tired!!! I feel dreadful and I think the contractions have stopped anyway.
I have been rereading the last few weeks of my pregnancy diary with Brendan and I had noted that reclining back some would bring on the cervical twinges. That is very true still!

38w5d. Ultrasound was good. We did not get a confirmation of his little boy parts nor did we see his face at all. He was just positioned so they weren’t visible. His head is down and he is facing my spine. His back faces my right side and, kooky kid, his legs are not curled up into his chest but underneath him- as if he were kneeling. With his legs across my ribs it’s no wonder I am measuring several weeks overdue! Laurie, the Ultrasound Tech, made us all laugh when she said, “You’re pregnant all the way from here (she had the wand on my extreme lower abdomen) to here (points to my lower ribcage)!!!”
He has plenty of amniotic fluid for this late in pregnancy, practiced breathing for us, has a great looking heart and umbilical cord. Everything about him looks great. Even though I wasn’t worried about his health this is very comforting to know nonetheless.
Of course, being a son of mine, he did measure rather big. His femur, stomach circumference and head all measured around 41w5d. And his estimated weight…
9 lb 13 oz. So he can be anywhere from 7 lb 13 oz to 11 lb 13 oz right now. If I had to guess, I’d say he is currently 8 pounds flat.
After the ultrasound, we went for my regular appt. I am now almost 1 cm dilated but not effaced at all. She would have stripped my membranes if she could have reached them. My cervix is apparently pretty high up still. Not a lot of progress but I was encouraged. It’s something.
Good to her word, though I am sure she thinks I am crazy, she did not demand a c-section on the spot nor do anything drastic. In fact, she did say that not all women have to be very dilated to go into labor and that my water could always break at any time. She said she’d like to see us in a week and if nothing seems to be progressing at that time to then schedule a c-section a few days after my due date.
Me… I am pretty with that. It is getting harder to want to remain pregnant when I feel worse every day. I am huge and I feel it. So I’ll see what happens by next week and use that information to guide me. If I progress to 2 or 3 cm or efface a bunch I’ll probably want her to sweep my membranes and to stick it out awhile longer. If not, well… I am not counting on my water breaking on it’s own and I really don’t want a newborn that comes out a 2 month old. Even going with the worst the ultrasound can be off this boy is still bigger than Bren was at this point in time.
So… some labor vibes, please??? There’s not much more time I can give him to come out on his own terms. I’d really like to experience a normal birth just once.

10 days til due date!
We had an unexpected rain yesterday afternoon and just had to go out and play in it! It is just so rare here! I don’t know what was better- the water falling from the sky or the sudden drop to 73 degrees. It was heaven even if we decided this was our one chance til October to clean up the junk outside, powerwash the leaves and dirt off of the patio and side of the house, clean out the gutters and generally make presentable once more the backyard so that we can enjoy sitting out there again. It’s a nice place to hang out again. 😀 I’ll enjoy it once I am done being sore. Haha.



Belly shot in the rain- 38w3d.
A funny thing happened yesterday too. Before the storm my DH was pulling up the dead tomato plants in the garden- they just could not survive the extreme conditions we’ve been having. Bren was out with him so I served him his lunch on his little picnic table and sat down in one of the metal lawn chairs my in-laws have given us to keep him company for a moment. We have a pretty private backyard and I was wearing a thigh long tank toppy sort of dress that has gotten a wee shorter in my preggo state. I thought nothing of it though. A few minutes later I went back inside. Well, last night I was in my room and I noticed red marks on my upper back thighs in our mirrored closet doors. I though, “What the heck?!” Upon closer inspection, the area of my legs that had touched the chair directly now sported a nice red diamond pattern!!! 6 hours later! I call it my “grate butt”- haha! I’m now all decorated up for OB visits. LOL.

We finally have an outfit that seems perfect for Andrew to come home in! The collar and sleeves are edged with silver thread.

I’ve always thought white was the right color for a new baby- the pureness of it is what I like, I guess. Brendan came home in a white outfit similar to this but his was long sleeved and had pale blue bear embroidery. Tradition lives on- my MIL found this one as well as Bren’s. Thanks Mimi!

He was so tiny in it!!! 😀

I’m gonna have a baby this month!
37w5d. Nooooothing is going on down there and I mean nothing. This baby is floating so high up that not a speck of pressure is being put on my cervix. Therefore, I’m not the slightest bit effaced or dilated. I am having a hard time focusing on the fact that I’m going to have a joyful new baby in less than 4 weeks when I can practically feel my VBAC slipping further away each week. I just don’t see labor starting on its own in the next 23 days when my body is refusing to prep for a birth. I want it desperately but just can’t see how it’s going to happen short of my water breaking. I did confirm that he is head down, however.
Despite major feet swelling in the past 2 days everything else seems fine. My blood pressure is excellent- 118/70. I gained 2 more pounds which I am positive are baby + water retention and maybe 1 DQ blizzard. I am measuring 43 cm. Good God, no wonder I am umcomfortable!
I am scheduled for the dreaded ultrasound next Tuesday (8th) at 12:30. Please, please, please, baby, swim on down and give my cervix a chance, okay?? Without some kind of change by next Tuesday, I really believe I am going to get the pressure to do another c-section. It’s kind of a given that you are going to measure big and that tends to freak people out.