40 weeks

So here it is!  The big day!  The day we have been counting down for!  40 weeks - 12 weeks shy of a year, and the official start of the 10th month (oh yes, when they say pregnancy is 9 months, what they mean is 10 - 4 weeks in a month, 40 weeks = 10 months).  It's only those ladies that go into labour before they reach the 40 that get a 9 month pregnancy.  I have been writing blog posts, and taking belly pictures, and documenting symptoms, twitches, movements, and experiences all along waiting for this day... and then....


NOTHING.

Kind of anti-climactic I suppose...  Not that I was expecting her to arrive on her due date - not at all, I'm not so naive that I believe that something as natural as child birth would know it had a schedule, let alone follow it!  But I am left feeling a little let down... I mean, what do we count down to now?  Where is our end date?  Will it be another week?  Or two?  Perhaps just a day?  An hour maybe?  ... I kind of liked it better when I had something to count towards...

Without my countdown, I'm feeling a little - out of control I suppose.  No control makes a Virgo... something something...  (go crazy - for those of you who missed the Simpsons reference).  I'm just feeling like all this anticipation and excitement sort of fizzled out, and although I know she won't stay in there forever, and I really am just max a week or two away from meeting her, I'm starting to feel like the day will never come!  I have literally spent the last 3+ weeks just waiting for her!  I've killed time on the internet, I've read books, I've watched TV and gone for walks.  Every conversation revolves around her, every phone call, text, and email asks about her, every room in my house has something baby related in it, and it keeps her on my mind first and for most constantly.  I've looked up countless signs and symptoms searching for some clue that she's on her way, and Nadda. 

See that's the biggest frustration... it's not even so much as the fact that I have to wait a little longer, it's more the fact that I don't seem to be progressing towards actually going into labour at all!  I think I could stand to wait a little longer if I was actually experiencing contractions, or if any of the other symptoms were prevalent in my daily life - however, that's simply not the case.  I've just continued on being pregnant, and I've failed to progress to the next stage and start early labour!  How can a baby possibly be born if my body won't kick start into the next level?

Anyway, I'm whining.  I'm aware of it.  I'm just ready - you know?  I did the pregnancy thing, and I feel I did it quite well, I put in my 40 weeks, and I prepped my finances, my home, my body, my life - now I just want to hold my baby girl in my arms!  Ben, of course, is feeling the same frustrations, however in a slightly different light.  He's just as excited, but he's got an outside perspective, so rather than just know that no labour is happening, he's left wondering if every gasp or grunt uttered by his very pregnant wife is the real deal, and each time his spouse hauls herself out of bed in the wee hours of the night, his heart jumps a beat hoping that "this is it!" only to be let down time and time again "no hunny, I just can't sleep" "I just had to pee - go back to sleep"  "I need to take some tums, I have heartburn".

Come on Dear Lump... we want to meet you!!

In my last blog post, I mentioned two other girls who were due the same week as I was - I of course had the 6th, Tessa had the 7th, and Lynn had the 8th.  Well Tessa gave birth to her precious little girl on Nov 3rd - and Lynn welcomed her beautiful baby girl to the world on Nov 6th.  And I.. well, I'm writing a blog post.  

Anyway, I'm going to stop complaining, I could have it worse - much worse, I'm just feeling sorry for myself.  But it's my blog, and I'm entitled a ranty blog post here and there.  It's not all sunshine and rainbows on this end!

There isn't much to report on this week, Halloween came and went, and we ended up with about 20 kids, which is a 400% increase from last year!  Wooo!  ... I really hope some younger families move into our neighborhood soon!  The retiree's always have nice lawns, but they aren't much for the little community celebrations Ben and I would love our little girl to experience through the year!  I was lamenting our older community to Ben's dad the other day, and he cut me off to say there is nothing wrong with retiree's - I agree, there isn't!  However since we happened to be having this conversation while having dinner with his oldest dearest friend, whom grew up right across the street from him when he was a child, I felt that it was appropriate to point out, that sometimes it's nice to have your best friend live down the street when you are little.  I would love that for Lump, to have a childhood friend just a few houses down, that she could grow up with - I didn't really have that in my neighborhood.  All my friends were on the other sides of major roads, and at least 20 minutes away by walking - not exactly down the street.  It made for boring summers, and I always wished we had more kids in our neighbourhood when I was growing up. 

One of the only times I can recall leaving the house this week was when we went to Erik and Athena's on Saturday to record a Podcast with Erik about our upcoming parenthood experience.  Erik has a nifty new microphone, and decided to start recording podcasts about his life, and his friends -  interviewing people in his social circles and just having fun conversations together.  With Ben and I expecting our little one, Erik asked if we would guest star and talk about the new chapter in our life.  We ended up talking for an hour, and as usual with Erik, we had a lot of fun!  I'm excited to hear how it all turned out! 

On Monday the sun came out, and dried up all the snow giving us a gorgeous day of blue skies and dry roads.  I decided to go in to work with Ben so that I could meet up with Melissa for a long over due lunch date (her work is much closer to Ben's office rather than my house)!  We had previously made plans weeks before but the day before our date was when my car broke down, and then the following week was my snow related panic attack behind the wheel, so I was excited when I discovered everything would melt on Monday and we could finally meet up!  It was needed - I've been feeling much like a hermit lately, and it was nice to get outside and see a friend! 

On Tuesday I had my 40 week due date appointment, and unfortunately was met with a little more disappointment with the state of my pregnancy as I am still sitting at a 1 on the scale of 1 to baby (10).  No change, no progress - and unfortunately, no induction for at least another week.  My OB (who is excellent I might add) doesn't like to induce before 41 weeks as she has found that induction when your body is not at least starting early labour can lead to an emergency C-Section - which I would like to avoid.  Of course I would like to meet my little one this week, however I would rather not put her or myself at risk of an emergency anything, so I will wait longer if that's what it takes. 

I do have an induction appointment for next week if Lump doesn't decide to make her appearance before then, but until then, I'm trying all the Old wives tales I can get my hands on to try to start this labour off now!  Wish me luck!!  Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, Castor Oil, Pineapple, Spicy Food... the list goes on, and I'm working my way down it!  It's time Lump!  As Ben says "she doesn't get an eviction notice, that can take days - she gets an evacuation notice - she needs to leave the premise immediately!"

Recap  (last one... maybe?)

How far along? 40 Weeks

Total weight gain: 33 Pounds  - holding steady this week
Inches gained in the waist: 12 1/2” (48” waist now!) same as last week

Maternity clothes?  Yes and no, I mostly live in my men’s sweat pants, and Ben’s shirts.  I have 2 maternity shirts that still fit, and one pair of pants – everything else has been put away. 

Stretch marks? No more, thankfully, but I still have the one’s that showed up around week 36

Sleep: Crappy at best.  The last couple days I’ve managed to get 6 hour stints, which is an improvement from the 4 hour stretchs from last week – but I miss my solid night sleep.

Best moment this week: Leaving the house to see Erik and Melissa!

Miss Anything?   This list just keeps getting longer – but the main thing is moving with ease, I feel like such a beached whale when I can’t seem to get myself off the couch for a bathroom break without a whole lot of kicking, flailing, and rocking back and forth!  The other night I straight up had to ask Ben to help haul me up since I couldn’t do it on my own! 

Movement:  Oh lots and lots!  She has been showing off her adorable little rump lately by pushing it out so my normally round belly ends up severely lopsided with a baseball sized bump protruding from the right side! 

Food cravings:  Nothing. 

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Nope

Gender: GIRL!     

Labor Signs: Nothing really – the odd BH contraction – but no patterns.   

Symptoms:   What don’t I have?!?

Belly Button in or out? Less “In” and more “flat”  my belly button is neither an innie nor an outie… it’s just a mark on a very round tummy with a slight depression around it.
Wedding rings on or off? Off – I decided to pack away the replacement ring too.  Just in case

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Mostly happy, but getting a little anxious now. 

Looking forward to:   Holding her in my arms!!