Overdue and Waiting

It's 5:30 am and I can't sleep. This has been happening a lot lately- I go to bed, fall soundly asleep, get up to pee 2-4 times throughout the night, and then by 4-5 am my body decides I'm done sleeping. I get up, eat breakfast, play on the computer (or do my new hobby- crocheting!) and then crawl back into bed as Eric is leaving for work just before 8. Then I end up sleeping another couple hours. I have a feeling this is going to be Evie's awake time- early morning when it's still and quiet until the sun comes up and the birds start chirping.
So, no baby yet. Yesterday was actually a cool doctor's appt. They did a non-stress test to make sure Evie's doing well and she passed with flying colors. I liked laying there listening to her heartbeat go up and down to match her movements, and I actually had a couple contractions while hooked up to the moniter. I haven't progressed much from last week, but my doctor was able to sweep my membranes (um... OW) and she said that got me to 2 cm. Everything's still looking fine for me to wait it out, but I feel a lot better because we talked about what will happen if I don't go on my own, and it feels good to have a plan. I want so badly to just go into labor naturally, but I needed for there to be an end in sight. Now that I have that it's a little easier to wait. At the very latest, I'll be induced next week Wednesday. Monday I'll go for a sonogram to check fluid levels and then see the doctor to see where I'm at. Hopefully I won't need those appointments- I'm really hoping I go this weekend!!
The birds are awake. :)

40 Weeks: Fully Cooked

Today is my due date. It came and went without much fanfare or excitement. Honestly, I haven't really had substantial contractions at all yet and nothing much seems to be going on. Evie's still in there, kicking and punching and pushing around to let me know that she's alright- and apparently pretty content to stay right where she is. :) Although, from what I can tell she's running out of room, so she's got to come out soon!
I'm handling it well today- we'll see what tomorrow brings. It seems over the last week my feelings about still being pregnant change daily, and sometimes more often than that. But for today, I'm okay. Allison came over today and helped me catch up on laundry (the most difficult of housework for me right now because it involves two flights of stairs), and we made Cool Whip pies to pretend it's warm out- even though it snowed today. Maybe Evie's waiting for warmer weather to come out, I wouldn't blame her then. :)
We went to my parents for dinner tonight, and they gave us a wonderful present- a new digital camera!! We'd been looking into getting one so that we can have tons of great photos of our baby girl- ours was getting old and it doesn't take great video, which Eric is really excited to take of Evie. Now we have a fancy new camera with HD video and all that fun stuff. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Well, I go to the doctor Wednesday- if I'm not in labor by then- so you'll hear from me later. Otherwise, do a girl a favor and try not to ask me "haven't you had that baby yet?" It gets old after the 37th person. ;)

Another progress update

I feel a little wierd talking about the state of my cervix here.... but really, it's just a bunch of girls/women who read this blog as far as I can tell. And I'm not shy about this stuff. And I know my family always wants to hear the latest on when Evie's arriving. Oh- but sometimes my brother-in-law Matt reads this! So Matt, feel free to skip this post if you wish. ;)

So anyway, went to the doc today, saw one of the two midwives. All is well with us (blood pressure, protein levels, etc.). She did an internal, and I'm 70% effaced- which is pretty awesome since I wasn't at all last week. Maybe bouncing on the exercise ball helped Evie drop? In other news, I'm still just 1 cm dilated- boo. Kim the midwife told me this is because my cervix is tilted back further than normal, so although Evie is really low and pushing down, her head's not centered over my cervix so the pressure is not helping to dilate me.

Apparently, this is not a big deal. Kim said it just means I probably won't dilate until I'm actually in labor, or least get some serious contractions going. She said my cervix will align on its own and it won't be a problem. So.... we just wait. And wait. And wait.

I'm ready when you are baby girl!


Oh and some fun facts about Evelyn: the midwife estimates that she's 7.5-8 lbs. (based solely on exams, I haven't had a sonogram), and she says she's very long because her head is quite low, but her butt is still pretty high up on me. This is why I was worried she hadn't dropped, because I could still feel her bum up so high. Nope- girlfriend's just got a long torso! We were bound to make tall children anyway, I'm just hoping she doesn't really go much over 8 lbs. for selfish reasons... easy labor please! ;)

39 Weeks: It's Almost Over

39 weeks- I really can't believe it!! My due date is a week from today and this little girl will be coming out any day now. It's crazy, sometimes it feels like this whole thing has been a dream... I can't believe I'm going to have a baby! :) At this point, I'm just really really excited. I'm not really nervous, and I've come to terms with all of the different ways labor and delivery can go- I'm just ready for it to happen. Obviously my ideal situation would be go into labor naturally asap, have a relatively short labor that I can stay at home for most of, go to the hospital and push this baby out with no meds! But we'll see what happens.
I had my first honest-to-goodness real contractions last night- I've had a lot of pain/cramping recently, and Braxton-Hicks along the way, but this was definitely the real thing. They only lasted about an hour and a half, and I had maybe 6 of them, but it was pretty exciting that I could really identify what they were. And, I hope it means we've made some progress because I still feel like Evie is pretty high. I go to the doctor Wednesday, we'll see where we're at then and I'm trying not to be too impatient.
I just have to brag about my sweet, wonderful husband for a moment. He gave me my "push present" early because he said he wanted me to have it before the baby came- it's an iPhone!! :) I've never had any kind of smart phone before, so this is pretty fun and exciting for me, it was really sweet of him to get it- and to sacrifice him getting a new phone for now so that I could have it. It's pretty nifty, and I'll be able to use it for music during labor, and photos of the baby after, and fun baby apps, and all kinds of stuff. ;) Also, he's been such a help around the house helping me keep things in order just in case tonight's the night. I'm so blessed to have him, he's going to be a fantastic daddy! Any day now!

A progress update

The update is... not much progress. ;) At my appointment yesterday I was 1 cm dilated and no noticeable effacement. BUT, it's okay. After talking to my doctor (whom I love) she made me feel a lot better about waiting it out. She told me I'm the perfect candidate to just let nature take its course because my blood pressure and proteins are great and there's no sign of stress on the baby. So, for now I'm at peace with hanging on until Evie's ready to make her appearance. Ask me again if she's not here by my due date though, I might change my tune!
Okay, back to bouncing around on my exercise ball while watching TV- okay okay, so I want to let nature take its course, but I might try to help nature along just a little. ;)

38 Weeks: Hormone Crazy

Yes, my belly has gotten so big I have to hold it up at all times now. ;) Just kidding, but it does feel ridiculously heavy. And oh man has this week been a crazy one. Mostly because I'm the crazy one. The hormones are kicking my butt and I get all teary-eyed at just about EVERYTHING these days. Plus, I've been feeling a little stressed and anxious, so that's not helping. It is so cruel that you can't drink when you're pregnant- I swear a marguerita would help me calm down a little! ;)
Anyway, all is well, but nothing to report. They didn't do an internal at my appointment last week, so we won't be checking progress until Wednesday for this week. If it's anything exciting I'll let you know, but I'm doubtful that she's really "dropped" since I still feel her up in my diaphragm quite a bit... we'll see. I'm hoping and praying that she comes within the next three weeks, I REALLY don't want to be induced!! I've started trying a couple old wives tales and "natural labor inducers" but I know most of them don't really do anything. Funny, one of them is to eat pineapple- and I've been craving pineapple like crazy for a couple weeks now!! Got that one covered anyway. :) I'll keep you posted if anything happens!

37 Weeks: Full Term Baby!

That's right- baby Evie is officially considered "full-term" at 37 weeks. That doesn't necessarily mean she's ready to come out, it just means that if she were born now, she wouldn't be classfied premature. However, if she'd like to make her appearance this week- I am MORE than ready!!! :) I'm trying really hard to remember that she'll probably be late rather than early, but now that we're this close, it's hard not to go to sleep every night wondering if this is it.
Physically, I'm worn out. My feet swell up really easily now- after just being on my feet for 20-30 minutes they look all puffy, and yesterday I was on my feet most of the day and they looked awful at the end of the day. So I'm just trying to keep them up as much as I can. My hips feel like they're dislocated, it's really a strange feeling, like my legs are going to fall off my body! But, I know that I've had it pretty good overall, so I'm trying not to complain too much. ;) I have another doctor's appt. tomorrow, so we'll see if there's any progress from last week.
We're pretty much set with all of the big things, I am waiting to take final photos of the nursery until we get the rocking chair and a mirror(s) above the dresser. But, I think we're pretty ready. Now, all we need is the baby!
P.S. And I would just like to point out that this is being posted actually ON a Monday, which I haven't accomplished in ages. Gold star for me. ;)