Well if you were to look at my blog today you would see that it says that I have only 3 days to go... I hope that it's only 3 days (or less)! This anticipation is very nerve-wracking! I'm not sure how much more of it I can handle! I've been trying to be pretty active the past while to help these contractions come more often (I've been having contractions off and on for the past week but nothing super consistent) but it doesn't seem to be helping. The question is...if he doesn't come by the 23rd do I continue to try to be active to get into labor or do I lay low for a few days so I can get Christmas out of the way?
Am I done with work yet? Who knows. I took a personal day today and my principal just approved one for tomorrow as well. I can do a half day on Wednesday right? The main reason why I don't want to go in this week is that the longer it takes to start my maternity leave the more things that I think I need to do to prepare for my long-term substitute or other things come up that require more time than what I want right now! On Friday I was at the school until 6:00 trying to finish up all sorts of things. I wish that my school had gotten out on Friday for the break like other schools in the area!
Luckily things have looked like they are progressing as far as my body goes. As of last Tuesday I was dilated to almost 2 1/2 cm and 70% effaced. I go in today and I hope that I have progressed even more. We got to have an ultrasound and see our lil' baby last week! It was fun to be able to see him one more time before we REALLY see him. We did learn a couple things though...he's not so lil' after all (he measured at being around 9 lbs. and 1 oz. - those ultrasounds can be off but we're pretty sure that he won't be a 6 pounder), he took after both of his parents and has a very large head (they measured his head circumference as being in the 96th percentile...ouch), but everything else looks very healthy (we were able to see the 4 chambers of his heart and other organs working just perfectly). Unfortunately the doctor has been very shocked about how narrow my pelvic bones are and with the size of this kid we have had some good chats about this delivery. He has just warned me that a c-section is a very large possibility. I still want to try to have him normally but it's good to know ahead of time that it might come to a c-section so I won't be upset. The thing we care about the most though is that he comes out safely and that my body does okay during the whole process as well. We just need to get him out before he continues to get bigger!
No, we don't have a name yet. We still roll a few around our head but haven't made a decision about it yet. Brad likes to call us "name snobs". No, I'm not worried about other people "stealing" it before he comes. We just don't want people's opinions, we want to wait and see him, and it gives somewhat more of a surprise to people when we have him. Hopefully we can decide on one before we leave the hospital!
I do have to say that this whole business of being ready for him to come any day has been pretty neat around the Christmas season. Let's just say that I had to hold back a lot of tears at church on Sunday when two of the speakers not only talked about the miraculous birth of the savior but their own experiences with the miracle of birth. I think it will be so neat to have him in the hospital and our home this season. I can't wait!
