Three days to induction

Waiting is no fun.

Yesterday I barely remember what all I managed to find to fill the time — some knitting, some reading, a nap, a shower, eating… and in the evening we watched All the King’s Men, which was a pretty interesting movie.

This morning I made pancakes for breakfast, then did the dishes. And here it is only 9:15 and the rest of the day still ahead.

Oh, I forgot to mention, yesterday late afternoon we got a package from dulcimer friend Rick and his wife Brandy; Brandy had crocheted a lovely soft afghan in a really nice mossy green color. Maybe I’ll get around to posting a picture later.

Still here

41 Weeks (Still-) Prenatal Visit

We just got back from our last midwives appointment and some errands.

The baby and I are still fine according to all the usual measurements and the non-stress test, which involved being hooked up to monitors that tracked the baby’s heartbeat and uterine pressure. And the baby’s battering ram activities are perfectly normal, if exceedingly uncomfortable when she’s really going at it.

Plan B is in place — we’ll go to the hospital on Monday at 7:30 am if the baby hasn’t arrived before then. Depending on how things look at that point, they’ll decide how to proceed with induction. Options include cervical ripening with local prostaglandins if necessary, or jump-starting labor with Pitocin if the cervix is already ready. The midwife assured us that they and the hospital are very conservative about such things and that it’s unlikely any negative stuff like hyperstimulation of the uterus would be allowed to continue for any length of time — apparently, it doesn’t take long for the Pitocin or prostaglandins to stop acting once they’re shut off.

After our appointment, we stopped at the grocery store to refill some water jugs, celebrated our one-week overdue-ness with lunch at a little Chinese place, and stopped by the post office to check my business box. Now that we’re back home, I think I’m going to have a little nap and Mark’s going to get some more work done.

I actually slept a little more normally last night, and I think it shows — I feel a little more energetic and a lot more emotionally stable today than I have for the last few days. Those of you who are praying for us, pray especially for us to manage the inevitable sleep deprivation to come!

And Tuesday…

I might be getting a cold. Which woke me up around 3 again; I got up at 4 and had a nice hot salt water gargle and then ate some “breakfast,” and went back to bed around 5:15.

Mark is working at home until the afternoon when he has a group meeting on campus.

If the baby doesn’t come today, we have to do a nonstress test at our appointment tomorrow.

It was fun to hang out with Loretta yesterday afternoon, and then Mark came back home and we ate dinner, watched a little TV, and went to bed.

And Monday…

Today has been slow.

Mark has been working at home but will be off to campus for a few hours soon.

I’ve eaten, read a bit, lain down a bit, and put a loaf of bread in the machine which will eventually become stuffing.

Loretta is coming over around 3; perhaps we’ll go out somewhere for tea so I can get out of the house.

Oh, and last night at Greg and Nita’s was fun — they make great pizza, and their younger son made some fabulous apple dumplings, and it was nice to be out and socializing.

Sunday so far

It’s the midafternoon lull. Mark is napping while the Redskins lose, and I’ve just been visiting my favorite blogs and such.

The goulash and dumplings were excellent last night, although I think we should make twice as much gravy next time.

It was another night of wakings for both of us — it’s especially hard to get back to sleep when both of us have woken up at the same time.

We went to church; it was a Communion week, which was nice to be there for. One of the church ladies gave us a knitted baby hat and crocheted blanket that her sister had made:

After church, we managed to get invited to Greg and Nita’s for dinner; homemade pizza! We’re bringing a salad.

Funny, I was wishing for just such a thing before we went to church. Funny, too, how some of us manage to feel bad about getting what we want sometimes. I wonder how much of my emotional baggage I’ll pass on to this kid, and how much she’ll be able to avoid, and what different baggage she might get for herself.

Well — on to a few other blogs and to try to get my email to work (various problems for several weeks now…), and later maybe watch the Steelers lose.

Friday and Saturday

Last night we watched Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo — Mark had gotten it and Airplane!, which we watched Monday night, at the library last weekend. Very interesting movie; slow-paced compared to modern movies, but not at all dragging, and, well, just very interesting.

This morning we got up early again, but a little better — about 6:45 or so, I think.

I made another variation of those berry scones for breakfast, this time with no berries, instead throwing in some pecans with cinnamon and nutmeg. Nice versatile recipe, easily adapted.

We went grocery shopping later in the morning. For whatever reason, walking around the grocery store makes this baby push down kind of hard — walking around at home or other places doesn’t seem to have the same effect, or not as consistently.

Later today I might fold those diapers I washed yesterday, maybe do a load of darks; maybe take a nap; maybe put the latest pictures in the scrapbook; maybe watch football with Mark; maybe have the baby…

And we’re planning to make Czech goulash for dinner — beef simmered in stock with paprika and pepper, served over dense, chewy bread dumplings.

Thursday and Friday

I was just about to detail what we did yesterday, but I don’t actually remember much of it, and not really in order. Here are some bits, anyway:

Mark worked at home.

We both woke up around 4:30, but I didn’t actually get out of bed until closer to 7:30.

I made crackers.

He made dinner — baked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans.

We didn’t have the baby yet, which isn’t at all surprising.

And that’s about all I remember.

Today, we both woke up around 3:30. He got up around 4, and I got up around 5. After breakfast I went back to bed until about 10:30.

Currently I’ve got a load of laundry going — the infant size diapers arrived yesterday and need to be prewashed 3-5 times before they’ll be soft and absorbent. On hot. And hot on our washer is just a trickle, so this will take a while.

And I have a student coming for a lesson at noon.

Mark is on campus, hoping to get some job applications finished and sent out, and also going to a meeting.

By the way, the diaper service diapers are newborn size, so small — kind of cute, actually. But I confess I am not yet impressed with the service — many of the diapers have holes or frayed edges. Granted, the owner’s accident — but what if this is normal, and they don’t weed out anything unless it’s got more than three holes or three inches of frayed edge?

40 Weeks Prenatal Visit

Today is our due date — no baby yet, but who knows!

We had our weekly prenatal visit this morning, and finally it was a week without weight gain. All other measurements continue to be fine, and the baby’s still in good position.

The midwife offered to “sweep the membranes” if we so desired; not having read or heard much about it, we decided to leave well enough alone and keep waiting for the baby to decide when it’s time to go into labor. I just read a few sites found through Google, and membrane sweeping seems somewhat controversial — one site warned against it for folks with Group B Strep, which includes me. Some say it can lead to irregular labor, requiring more interventions than otherwise. Some say it’s less invasive than a chemical induction, and that makes some sense, but at the same time it still seems wise to wait until it’s really necessary. Some point out that labor usually starts within two days — but that doesn’t seem like a clear cause and effect — the labor might have started then anyway.

I hope the baby gets things started soon enough that we won’t have to think about trying to give her extra motivation.

Tuesday

Today I was invited to a playgroup, even though our participant is still in the womb. It was at Laura’s house, so she and her two boys were there, and also Tamara with her three kids, and a woman I hadn’t met before, DeeDee, with her little girl. While the kids played, the adults sat around and chatted, enjoying Laura’s delicious homemade bread with butter and rhubarb jam.

Mark dropped me off and did some work on campus, then picked me up at noon and we ran some errands. Among other places we went to Target to get some things with Patricia’s gift card — mostly miscellaneous little things like a bottle of baby wash, a thermometer, a brush and comb, and that sort of thing. The Target is right next to an A. C. Moore in the mall, and in their window was a set of five nesting wicker baskets with fabric liners on sale for about $8, so we got that, too — the two tiny ones can hold hair accessories or other tiny things, and the others can hold stuffed animals, books, or other toys.

Can you believe Target’s bathrooms were closed? And it’s a long walk to the other bathrooms near the food court, plus you have to pass the food, which smells deceptively good…

Then once we got home I got to lie down for a while — it helps so much to be non-vertical a few times each day.

Before writing this post I was trying to do a little online research. I have a Peter Rabbit ceramic nightlight made by Schmid, a company that no longer exists. The bulb is in a self-contained unit glued into the figurine, and I couldn’t find any information about replacing it, so I think it’s just dead. Oh well. I think I’ve had it since some time in college, saving it all these years and never thinking to see if it worked!

Now it’s about time to make dinner.