40 Weeks!

Alright, well, I was hoping that my last post would be my last one before the baby came and that I would already have a baby by now, but I don't, so oh well!  Some days I feel more patient than other days.  Today, I am feeling relatively patient.  That said, if she decided to come today I would be OVERJOYED.  

I haven't really had any signs of labor so far...like at all.  Even ones that are supposed to happen a week or two before you give birth?  Nope.  So, I wouldn't really be surprised if I went another two weeks and then got induced.  But, as everyone likes to tell me, you never know!  I have another appointment on Wednesday, so we'll see whether I've dilated or effaced any more (last time I was at 1cm and 25% effaced and the baby hadn't engaged).  But, I don't feel like the baby has dropped any, I haven't lost my mucus plug (as far as I know), and the only contractions I have are irregular, non-painful braxton hicks contractions.  In fact, most of the time I don't even notice when I'm having them.  I have noticed that I tend to get them whenever I roll over in bed or when I stand up, from a sitting position.

Last week I had a little bit of a scare.  When I went in for my appointment they found that my blood pressure was a lot higher than normal (though still not technically "high" since I usually have really low blood pressure), I had protein in my urine and I was super swollen.  Those are all indicators of pre-eclampsia.  So, while they weren't really sure, based on that, whether I was developing pre-eclampsia or not, they were worried enough to have me go in for an AFI and NST and start talking about possible induction based on the results of those tests.  After that appointment I really tried to follow all my doctor's instructions to a "t."  I watched my sodium intake, drank lots of water, kept my feet up, etc.  Then, I went in for the tests on Friday.  Basically, for the AFI they do an ultrasound and check to see whether your amniotic fluid levels are still normal (if they're not, it indicates your placenta is struggling).  They were normal.  For the NST they lay you on a bed, hook you to a couple monitors and check the babies heart rate fluctuations, your heart rate and how your baby responds to contractions.  Once again, everything was fine.  Also, my blood pressure was back to normal and the swelling had lessened considerably.  I'm going in for another AFI and NST on Tuesday, but as long as everything stays ok I don't think they'll induce me.  I'm not going to lie - part of me would have been happy to be induced, just to have it all over with and have my baby.  But, at the same time, I really want to have the birth naturally and I really want to go into labor on my own, so despite my impatience getting in the way, I think it's definitely better this way!

Here are my most recent pregnancy photos:

37 Weeks - My expression makes it look like Tom had just done something sneaky right before taking it.

39 Weeks.  I just look tiiired and puffy.

So, what have I been doing with my time while I wait and wait and wait?  Well, I pick produce at our garden nearly every day (which I will also, hopefully, make a post about), I spend tons of time cooking to try to use up the massive amounts of tomato and zucchini our garden provides us with (anyone in the area want some???), I do general housekeeping things (like grocery shopping and cleaning) and I'm doing a little volunteer work from home.  Basically, the International Rescue Committee teamed up with the University of Nairobi to research education of refugees in Kenyan refugee camps.  They did a bunch of interviews and they need people to transcribe (not to be confused with translate) the interviews.  I volunteered to help with that.  Also, since I was getting bored of doing the same things every single day, I made a list of some other things I could do with my time while I wait.  I did that on Sunday and I'm glad I need because it was the small dose of engagement with life that I needed to help me be a little more patient (for now).  One of the other things I did recently you can see below:

Tom is a HUGE Detroit Lions fan (poor soul).  At Christmastime I made the grey one for him, so this weekend I also made one for the babe.  He was pretty much beside himself with excitement, which was fun. I like Tom.  

Well, I prooooobably won't do another blog post about the baby, since she should be here within two weeks, no matter what.  So, look for a post on the baby next!  Well, after I do a post on the garden, maybe...