39 Weeks: The Time Has Come!

Well, it's official: Doc says baby has dropped so labor is imminent. Could be a few days, could be a few hours but the time has finally come. Holy cow! Can you even believe it? I'm excited and nervous but really, more excited than anything else. That was my prevailing feeling at my doctor's appointment today. It's maybe the first time I've felt it this whole pregnancy - pure happiness and excitement. Mostly, this experience has been a mishmash of emotions and a lot of them have centered around apprehension and intimidation. But today, I'm just excited and I'm just going to "be" fully in that feeling. I'm overwhelmed and overcome but in a such good way!

This last week has been super productive and we've accomplished a ton of things. There was a lot of last minute baby shopping to do including getting a car set (can you say brinksmanship??!!), projects to complete (work and baby-related) and we're down to just the last few little things now that we'd like to get done but that won't be overly critical if we don't. It's a good place to be and a relief to finally feel like I've got things under reasonable control. We even have a pediatrician lined up which turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be. Don't know why I put that off so long but now it's done!

Anyway, I feel about as prepared as we can be now. I wish I had a couple more weeks to re-read the parenting books I read earlier on but it's okay. I have them for reference and surely they will keep me company during midnight feedings when I'm trying to figure out why they made so much sense to me during pregnancy and so little sense to me when baby finally showed up. Ha ha!

Of course, this last week of getting everything under the sun done and ready wouldn't have been complete without a little excitement. Saturday night my car, which was parked in front of our condo building, was hit and almost totaled in a dramatic motorcycle crash. I watched the aftermath from our window (I think the cyclist was okay but the paramedics did take him away strapped to a board) and when the damage to my car was assessed it took some creativity and used parts on the part of the body shop mechanic not to have it be a total loss so that's been a bit of a touch-and-go process. Meanwhile, we have a four door rental car and Johann's out there right now putting the car seat in it so we'll be ready to rock when labor starts. Still, you've got to laugh at how these last-minute dramas crop up. Of all the crazy timing! I'm just grateful I wasn't anywhere near the car when it all happened. Thank heavens for small miracles.

So, I think this may be it for the pregnancy blog. People have asked if I'll continue blogging after baby is born and I said I would if there's interest in hearing about life with baby so you all will have to tell me if there is. You know I would still be offering my frank opinions so no candy-coating on the realities of parenting. You decide if you can hack it. :P Still, it might be intriguing to have a record of baby's life and all the things that come along with it. So, we'll see what I decide to do. I still have to figure out how to breastfeed and survive on two hours' sleep first!

Name, gender and, of course, birthdate will be forthcoming so stay tuned to your cell phones, email and Facebook. And wish me luck in the delivery room. I can use all the good "push" thoughts you can send me!

Love,
J.

Week 38: Done with Work and Still Knocked Up

As luck would have it, I’ve made it all the way to Week 38 with baby still safely in-utero. I say that since a lot of the women in my family, of course, deliver a bit early. Man, I have needed this time, though. Work took me an extra day to wrap up (Monday instead of Friday) and I’ve still got two projects to complete by the end of this week before I can officially say that work, of all varieties, is finished. However, the big obstacle – work at the office – is done. My replacement, Shauna, is awesome and if she takes all the training and advice I gave her and combines it with her talent, intelligence and interest, she’ll do that job better than I ever could have. And that's what I wanted all along - to leave the company better than I found it. I think I've accomplished that goal.

By Friday I was beyond tired, though, I have to say. I was almost dreading the Bringing Baby Home workshop Johann and I signed up for over the weekend – eight hours on Saturday and then eight more on Sunday. I was so beat. But, this being the last and most intensive of our pre-parent training, I found the will and went and I’m glad I did. Unlike the other classes we’ve taken that have been more in the practical realm of training and preparedness, this class was about nurturing our marriage and this new child we’re bringing into our lives. I’ve always thought that Johann and I had a wonderful relationship – and especially, a friendship that is the most treasured of my whole life – but even we had things we needed to work on. So, this workshop was both a reinforcement and an eye-opener and definitely one of the most valuable 16 hour blocks of time we’ve ever spent together. We have a lot to offer our baby but the one thing I wanted to give him or her more than anything else was parents with a harmonious relationship. Now I feel that we have the tools to really do that and do it well. I’m so grateful we went.

My doctor’s appointment this week was the usual upbeat and fun experience that Dr. Kurachi makes it. I really do think she’s the perfect doctor for us. Isn’t it funny how losing my other two doctors got me to just the right one? Anyway, as usual, we laughed our way through this appointment and reveled in hearing baby’s slightly increased heart rate (160) due to the spicy lunch I had before the appointment. So funny to think that a little Tapatio got my little chalupa’s heart going so much! Baby’s head is lower in my pelvis than ever but my cervix still isn’t budging so no dilation yet. Dr. Kurachi isn’t worried, though. As long as the head is dropping, that’s the most important thing. She’ll check me again next week and see where I’m at. Perhaps, by that point, I will have “dropped” (where the baby gets super-low in the pelvis and labor is imminent) and things will really be ready for D-Day. It’s exciting to think that it could be anytime now!

Meanwhile, we have our official tour of the childbirth center this Thursday and our hospital bag is 2/3 of the way packed so we’re on our way to being 100% prepared to at least go to the hospital. Heaven help me, I still need to find a pediatrician. I’m starting to think this chore is the new bane of my existence and I HAVE to have one when we show up at the hospital. So, as soon as work projects wrap up this week, I’ve got to get someone on board to take care of baby. Otherwise those nurses who check us in at the hosptial when I’m in labor are going to give me “the look” of "you're busted!" and I don’t want that look!!

Overall, it’s nice to be on my couch right now with my feet up on a pillow. It’s nice to only have a bit more to do to be ready for baby. We’re getting our car seat this weekend and I’m especially tickled to get to take all the clothes we received at the shower and wash and put them away in baby’s dresser. I’m almost even a little misty-eyed about it, actually. I know I have a huge baby belly which should really say "reality" to me but it’s still amazing and mind-boggling to me that a little person is going to come out of there in a few days and I’m going to love it so much I won’t even know what to do with myself.

As I always say, it’s wild. I never seem to get over that feeling.

J.

Week 36 and 37: The Shower and the Launch Position

Our big OB appointment went well. I kept expecting that the doctor would have some objections to the things we had in our birth plan but I think between her open-mindedness and our reasonable expectations, there really wasn’t anything in the plan to edit when all was said and done. Of course, just because we would like things to go a certain way doesn’t mean they will. There are so many variables on D-Day that can change that a birth plan, no matter how well-thought, is really just a set of guidelines for the best case scenario. Should anything interesting happen, we basically just said we want to be part of any and all medical decisions and want all the information to make the choice that’s right for us. The rest, as they say, is details. When the big day comes, we'll really just have to see what happens but at least we've left almost all options open and that's the best way I think we could go.

Overall, baby is doing great and so am I. I only put on 2 lbs this last two weeks which is a relief since at this point everyone said I’d be packing on the pounds and at the weight I’m at, that’s just not a desirable thing. Baby could live off my current store of body fat for three months, I’m sure – no need to put on a bunch more! Anyway, baby’s heart rate was in its normal range (150), my blood pressure was down in the 106/67 range (my normal range) and baby’s head has officially assumed the “Launch Position”. Well, that’s what I’m calling it anyway. My cervix was 25% effaced (so, 75% of the cervix still needs to thin before baby can come out) so progress is being made. No cervical dilation yet so doc says baby’s still on track for my due date. Considering all that I still need to accomplish before birth, though, that’s reassuring, though. I need all the time I can get!

Our baby shower on the 2nd was super fun. The co-ed affair was great – wish there were more showers where dads could attend and feel so comfortable. It was delightful to see all the family and friends who were able to come and overall, I just felt so happy to be there celebrating this little person who will be coming into a community of people who are eager and ready to love him/her. It was really neat.

We were overwhelmed a bit at the generosity of gift-giving – it was about three Christmases in one, I’d say – so I’ve got a ton of thank you cards to write now. It’s helped us be a lot more prepared for the baby and that has really been wonderful. All we need is a car seat and a swing now and baby is set. Oh, and I guess we need to figure out how to take care of baby although with all those books and classes we’ve taken you’d think we’d know by now. Ha ha! I’ll tell you, that’s just one gift nobody could wrap up and give us (even if we did receive a humorous if not informative book called Baby: The Owner’s Manual). It’s the one thing we’ll have to learn all on our own. But that’s all part of the fun, right?

This week is all about training my replacement at work now and getting out of there on Friday. I’ve worked a dizzying number of hours already in anticipation of leaving work (so much to wrap up, so little time to do it!) and I know this week will feel like the longest week ever since I’m already tired going into it. The payoff, though, will be worth it. And of course, it will be strange to leave a job and go home to wait for my life to change. Complicated as my work situation always was, I knew how to handle it day in and day out. This new life with baby is coming with a huge learning curve and takes me right out of my comfort zone. I wonder if I’ll look back at work nostalgically and think THAT was the easy part of life. Should be interesting. :)

J.