12:35 a.m. - 09 June 2004
Countdown to baby
It's 12:30 a.m. and I can't sleep. Granted, that might have something to do with the two hour nap I took when I got home from work this afternoon, not to mention the can of Diet Vanilla Coke I drank around 10:30 p.m. But I suspect that my little parasite has some say-so in the matter as well.
I'm 37 weeks now, so he can officially come at any time and be considered full-term. I went to the doctor last Friday and he said I'd still be pregnant for at least a week, but I'm also 1cm dilated and he's definitely dropped. That's the most uncomfortable thing right now, actually; he's so low that walking around is just miserable. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, so we'll see if I've made any further progress. I'm ready; pregnancy stopped being fun a couple of weeks ago and I just want to have him here.
Actually, I think we've done pretty well in getting ready overall. The nursery has been set up for ages, and the folks at work had a shower for me last week, so we've now got most of the little last-minute things. The only things I can think of that we're still missing are a monitor (which Mom may still have from Elizabeth) and a breast pump; I'm holding off on buying that until I'm sure that nursing is established and going well. Not that I think I'll have any problems, but generally you can't return breast pumps and I'd rather hold on to that $280 if there turns out to be some physical problem that prevents us from nursing.
Actually, there's one other thing we're still missing: I don't have enough diapers yet. I'm planning to use cloth, and right now I've got 10. I just ordered another 6 though, so that should help. I plan to use disposables for probably the first week or so, at least until I'm pretty sure that he's passed all the meconium. Damn, that reminds me that I still need a diaper pail. Argh.
I need to call the person that we've talked to about day care, too; I just want to remind her that we're still planning to use her and that he should be arriving anytime now, even though it will still be another three months until we need full-time care. According to my calculations, there shouldn't be any problem with me staying out that long, although Lee doesn't think I will. He's more worried about taking time off when Vadin comes -- he probably won't be able to take more than a day or two, depending on what day of the week it is. Mom keeps talking about family vacation in September, when my sister's almost-fiance (they're tentatively planning an April wedding, but I don't know if they're officially engaged) should be back from Kuwait. He's in the Air Force, and has been stationed over there before; his current orders are for a 90-day assignment but there's no telling if he'll be extended or not. He's a very nice guy -- much nicer than most of the other guys she's dated in the last couple of years, and I include the father of her child in that assessment -- and I'm relieved that of all the places he could be stationed, it's Kuwait.
Okay, whoever said Braxton-Hicks contractions don't hurt is a big fat liar. They've been uncomfortable for weeks now -- and I know they're doing some good, or I wouldn't be dilated at all -- but it's getting old. This doesn't bode well for the relatively intervention-free labor and delivery I'd like, but we'll see. I haven't ruled drugs out completely, but I'd really rather not have all of the other stuff that comes with an epidural. But if it gets to the point that I'm miserably uncomfortable and it looks like there will be hours yet to go, bring on the narcotics.
Okay, it's now almost 1 a.m. and I have got to get some sleep. Or try, at least, since it's not like I've been sleeping well for the last month or so. The next baby will be due in March, because I have no intentions of being 9 months pregnant in the summer again. Unless we move to somewhere like Minnesota, which is highly unlikely for any number of reasons.
