Pregnancy Journal #12: Stick a Fork in Me

             Hey folks! So...37 weeks. I think the title of this post says it all. I know a lot of women get to the “I'm done with this nonsense” stage sooner than this point, but 37 weeks always seems to be my personal point in my pregnancies where I'm just over it. I'm sure it has everything to do with the fact that I realize at this point that baby would, in all likelihood, be perfectly healthy and not need any special care or extended hospital stay. The realization flips my antsy switch every time.

             I'm trying really hard not to get too antsy yet since I feel like that will just jinx things and cause me to stress unnecessarily. Considering this is my third, I know baby will get here when it is darn well ready, not me. And, to be honest, I'm not really feeling that terrible overall yet. Most days I feel surprisingly good, actually. I haven't slept well this whole pregnancy, so the sleep deprivation isn't really an issue yet. I will admit that I am starting to fluctuate more and more between feeling great one day and being sore and tired the next, though. It comes with the territory, right?

              My doctor's appointment went surprisingly well this week. The ultrasound showed that baby is officially head down! Yay! Took long enough. ;) I'm completely convinced it was the impromptu two mile hike we went on one Sunday that did it! I can't remember if I mentioned it in my last update, but I was pretty sure he/she had turned head down finally about a week before we confirmed it because I felt its hiccups in a much different spot. Funny, huh?

             Although I hadn't intended on getting “checked”, the doctor was already down there to do the group B strep test, so yah. I wasn't all that surprised to learn that I am already 2-3 cm dilated! Ever since baby got in the right position, I have had more and more pressure down there, especially when I stand up. I even had what felt like some real contractions for about an hour one night before bed! Although it's exciting to know that I'm already making progress, I kind of wish I hadn't known if I were dilated at all or not. Like I told my husband before I even had my appointment, women can walk around at 3cm dilated for weeks before anything exciting happens!

             I've probably mentioned this before too, but my mom, husband, and I all think this baby will be a little early. I have absolutely no reason to think this because neither of my other kids were early, but who knows. Since we all have the feeling, maybe it will actually happen and it's not just wishful thinking?

             I actually got to thinking more about that this morning. In all likelihood, baby could be “early” because I kind of forgot about the fact that I slightly fudged the date of my last period when they asked at the beginning of my pregnancy. I'm sure that probably sounds really messed up, but I have good reasons. I have long cycles AND I could tell you the exact date that * ahem * things happened. I didn't think the doctors would believe me if I told them I knew the exact date I got knocked up plus it probably wouldn't matter anyways since they calculate it by the first day of your last period.

             So, yah. I lied a little. Baby has been measuring around the date that I “made up”, though, so it's all good. Even though I had a successful VBAC last time, I'm still considered a VBAC patient, so I didn't want the doctors finding a reason to speed things up. That was my main reason for changing the date. So it was more accurate to how big the baby was and not some arbitrary date that I just happened to have my last period on. Anyways, I'm rambling. Moral of my story: I wouldn't be upset if I happened to have baby closer to February 18^th instead of February 28^th! (Plus the 18^th is my step-dad's birthday!)

             I am too scatter-brained for my own good today, so I'll leave it here. Until next time...(This is where you think happy thoughts that I go into labor soon! ;) )