That is right people, our little bundle-to-be has been hanging out (bat-style) for over 39 weeks in my belly. The big question now is, when will she make an appearance?
Lets see, what can I tell you to fill you in on the past 6 weeks...
1. We have been to the case room on 5 official FALSE ALARMS. The last visit was after many hours of contractions that got closer together and more intense. About 3 minutes apart and difficult enough that I had to utilize my breathing techniques to get through them. This would have you believe that labour had begun. Nope. Apparently this is what is known as Pre-labour and once this starts your cervix begins to dilate and thin. We were dilated to over 2 cm (10 cm is the goal for those who don't know about this stuff)! Eager and excited we were told to return home until labour contractions were too difficult to talk through or my "waters had broken". A few hours later and things had quited down and eventually - disappeared all together. Now...take that emotionally and physically exhausting drama session and multiply that by 2 or 3 times. That's right folks. Marcus doesn't even believe that I am pregnant any more.
2. Baby Room finishing touches
We have refrained from loosing our minds and plastering Emma's room with any cultural symbols such as Winnie the Poo or Minnie Mouse. As you can imagine, every paint store has a special line of paints with corresponding Disney themes. Its a bit much really. "Gett'em while their young" branding and marketing. Sheesh. So we have gone "theme free" and painted the room colours that are not sexually stereotypical (i.e. not pink) and won't make the kid embarrassed to have her friends over when she is eight. Marcus did a brilliant job doing the room. I'll attach a pic.
3. Cloth v. Disposable
This may have been something we would have spent hours deliberating over initially, but thankfully, our brave friends Jan and Paul have fought many of the baby battles before us and have found that cloth diapers are not as cumbersome as Pampers and Huggies would like you to believe. We have 28 cloth diapers and 6 cute plastic wraps which you use to secure them - so no pins!! For new parents-to-be check out the Kushies (made in Canada!) line.
4. Breast is best
Oh yes - this was never a question. Hopefully they will work of course. You spend all your life thinking they are such a great invention and dress them up in pretty bras and low cut sweaters and you never really think about their real purpose. So it is time to put these puppies to task! We have much about the benefits of breast feeding and in our prenatal classes the nurses don't even entertain the idea of a bottle fed baby. Which is funny, as back when I was born my mother told me there was very little support for breast feeding and nurses encouraged new moms to take the convenient, and supposedly more nutritious, supplement Similac. Funny huh? Babies are a huge commercial business. And apparently my dad was nursed on Carnation Milk. Can you imagine? Well, it obviously didn't do him much harm and I'm sure you can take all this a little too far, but we are going with the "breast is best" route. I attended a La Leche Society meeting which is a support group for breast feeding moms. Again, I am lucky to have Jan who has gone through all of this and she will surely be a great person to talk to during this time. La Leche seemed cool - I'm not sure about the whole breast feeding when my kid can speak whole sentences concept, that seems a bit too "right-on" for me at the moment, but who knows??
5. Physical Changes
A few people have told me I have skipped this part of the pregnancy in the blog. Well, as a recap I will say I was pretty green during the first trimester. The second semester was groovy - lots of energy (well, I did nap during my lunches sometimes) and I felt so proud of my new burgeoning belly and my new pregnancy clothes! Then the third trimester began and it was nearly textbook - aching body, sleepless nights, having to pee no fewer than three times a night, outgrowing some of my lovely pregnancy clothes, a few stretch marks despite slathering body with expensive creams (battle scars!!), ridiculously tired, etc. Not that I haven't enjoyed my last few months - any pain or discomfort is for a purpose. All in the name of a little gal named Emma. So bring it on I say.
My favorite change? My belly button! It has popped ot like a meat themometer telling you that whatever you have been cooking in there is now done to perfection. I love it - its my greatest point of pride. The other thing we have had great fun laughing over is the weight gain. I was circa 135 when this began and I steadily gained 4-5 pounds each month, which is what they "recommend". However, Christmas was in there somewhere and I have had a few weeks where I put on 5 pounds without even thinking about it. So I am now 189 pounds!!! This means that if Marcus and I were boxers, I would be in a weight class above him. Hahahaha. Oh well, I am sure things will go back to normal eventually.
So that's it for now...I'm at home now from work, having left last week. The false alarms and sleepless night just took their tole and although I had optimistically hoped I would work up until she made an appearance, it was time to give up the ghost. Marcus is home now as well and has been a great help psyching me up for labour, pampering me, and keeping the driveway clear of snow!! So we will keep you posted of any arrivals.
