T – 1 week until baby “Shim” is full-term!
If this were happening any other time of the year, the last few weeks would probably just drag by. Luckily for me, the combination of holiday activities, Luke’s birthday, and all things baby-related are just making the time fly!
Tuesday my tailbone was killing me so bad at work that I left halfway through the day to work from my couch, which was a lifesaver. It’s not an option for me every day, but luckily I just had one big project that was easy enough to tackle on my laptop.
Wednesday was Luke’s 32nd birthday! He got home late on Tuesday night and opened his big gift… I had a photo from our honeymoon (below) blown up and printed onto canvas:
I figured we could always look at it and remember the amazing adventure that jumpstarted our married life!
On Wednesday during the day we had our company holiday party. We got to sleep in, then roll into the office around 11am for some food and drinks before bussing to the mall. Coyne gave us each money to spend on ourselves – I finally got the awesome massager from Brookstone that I have been eying for a while!! I also power shopped and checked a bunch of Christmas presents off my list… I didn’t want to have to go to the mall again! Luckily, I had plenty of co-workers who were happy to help me carry my bags! After the mall, we came back to the office for some games and more food and drinks. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I got home!
We went over to Luke’s parents’ for a Beef Wellington dinner (yumm!!!), then his younger sisters came over for a bit to hang out and have dessert. I was half hanging out and half cleaning, since our midwives were coming for their first home visit the next day and I didn’t want them to think we were slobs… Luke opened he last of his presents- a pile of goodies from Omaha Steaks 🙂
After all the fun and excitement of Wednesday, my body rebelled… I was back and forth to the bathroom all night, I think because my tummy did not like something I ate. Luckily the baby was unaffected- it was dancing in my belly even while I was on the toilet at one point haha. I stayed home on Thursday and worked in the morning, and my tummy was okay again by midday. My throat was (and still is) hurting and I had barely slept the night before, so I stayed home the rest of the day.
The midwives came at about 12:30- Judy, our regular midwife, and Kasey, her back-up. Both women will be at the birth as long as none of their other girls go into labor at the same time! The baby is still head down and heart rate at 140 (the baby will not give us any hints about its sex!!) and I measured in at 35cm, meaning the baby is still tracking a little small. They said it’s a very good sign that I’ve been having so many BH contractions! I definitely have more when I am active and standing- not so much when I am sitting or relaxing. I feel like that information may come in handy at some point. Even though the baby is small, Judy is still pretty sure it will come early or on time.
The midwives said our house is pretty much ideal for home birth which is good, and our bathtub is big enough if I want to labor there. I might start off there and move to the birthing tub later on – it’s just easier to keep an actual bathtub warm, and the water can be drained and re-filled much more easily. I just have to make sure it’s clean and ready to go, since most of the time it’s unused and filled with cat hair!
Time will continue to fly as it has, I’m sure… Tonight we are going out with friends for Luke’s birthday, tomorrow we have our second childbirth class (we gave up the tickets for the Grinch because it would have been a little too tight for us to get there in time with minimal stress), then next week I have my sign-off appointment with the Group B strep test, then next Friday I’ll be full-term! Activities continue after that, of course, but for every invitation we give more of a tentative “yes” – all depending on how I am feeling at that point.
I know that women give birth all the time, all over the world, but it’s really exciting when it’s YOU, and YOUR baby!
striving for pure 