Two Days To Estimated Due Date

As I fell asleep Saturday night, I realized that, even after telling everyone that it's going to be awhile before Lily is born, I was starting to get gidgity myself.  With the realization that I just don't want to go back to work on Monday, I think that created a preliminary due date in my head.  But, I'm going to go to work this week, because it could be another couple of weeks before she arrives.  Let's not waste our paid time off watching BBC America reruns and sleeping on the couch.  While I feel great and have energy enough to work, I just don't want to deal with some of the elements of work that are really not my job.

I woke up Sunday morning to the smell of bacon.  It's a pregnant dream.  When I came downstairs, my mom was prepping a lasagna, blueberry muffins, and a bacon-cheese quiche for the oven.  We took a walk and then went to the super Whole Foods in Fair Lakes.  We were looking for a better desert selection.  We ended up with a muffin for my mom and a piece of cake for me.

In the afternoon, I went on a play date with Cortney and her friends Mary and Jen.  Mary and Cortney were playing Rummy-O outside while enjoying the day.  I went home, had lasagna for dinner with my mom, and then we watched Once Upon a Time and Revenge before heading up to bed.  It was a very relaxing day. 

I pulled out the breast pump that Salem passed down to me in an effort to try it out.  Using the breast pump is said to naturally stimulate labor.  I didn't know how long I was supposed to work with it.  I ask my midwife Monday morning, who said 15 minutes a day, or 15 minutes every hour, depending on how much you're really trying to start labor.  After that, I continued with my Hypnobabies CD's.  I have been rotating in the maintenance program between the Deepening, Fear Clearing, and Hypnotic Childbirth #1 and #2 tracks these past couple of weeks.  Last night, it was the Deepening track.

Threes Days to Estimated Due Date

39 weeks, 5 days

And, that guesstimate is really iffy.  Who knows when baby Lily is ready to come?  Does baby Lily even know?  I sure don't know.  It could be this weekend, next week, the week after that, or later. I am working until next Friday.  Folks are surprised that I'm still working. I'm actually pretty mobile, even here at the end.  It was referenced several times in classes and materials I read that active pregnant ladies generally feel better and have easier labors.  I'm hoping that's the case for me.  I do certainly feel pretty good.  I've been trying to walk as much as possible, when my energy level, schedule, and the temperature allow.  It hasn't helped that it's been 35 degrees upon waking these past few days.

Thursday, I went to what could be my last chiropractor appointment.  My spine is pretty straight.  I am sure the way I'm sleeping is causing some discrepancies.  I'm not generally uncomfortable, save when I'm sleeping or when she's got her feetsies in my ribs.   It's hard to support the top of my abdomen, so it's aches, this especially because baby is often using my ribs to stretch her legs.  My chiropractor was happy with how aligned my spine was so close to my due date.  Virgos are like the Vulcans of humanity, so I probably have good posture from having a stick up my ass.  It's cool; we know that's how we are, and we don't want to be any different.

My mom and I bought groceries for this weekend.   I was supposed to end up at a baller party for a former coworker that just bought a house, but I decided not to go.  Usually, it would be because I'm tired.  But, today, I don't want to be treated like the walking time-bomb.  I make people nervous.  I now understand the comments one of the pregnant ladies in my new mommies group made.  She said that when she walked into a restaurant, they would ask her if she wanted to sit by the door, acting like she could have the baby any minute.  Maybe that's the intuition of the people around us telling us that they can tell changes are happening.  People will tell me in once breath that I don't really look THAT pregnant, but act as if I'm about to pop.  That's something to note.

I spent yesterday morning putting together Baby Lily Dance Mix:

"Coming Home"  by  Diddy - Dirty Money & Skylar Grey
"The Fighter" (feat. Ryan Tedder) by Gym Class Heroes
"Die Young" by Ke$ha
"I Cry" by Flo Rida
"Lights" by Ellie Goulding
"Hard Knock Life"  by Jay-Z
"Goodnight Goodnight "  by Hot Hot Heat
"All of Your Love" by Hello Goodbye
"TiK ToK" by Ke$ha
"We R Who We R" by Ke$ha
"Forget You" by Cee Lo Green
"Price Tag" (feat. B.o.B) by Jessie J
"Dynamite" by Taio Cruz
"Till the World Ends" (The Femme Fatale Remix)
"What the Hell " by Avril Lavigne
"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" by Katy Perry
"Helena Beat" by Foster the People
"You Make Me Feel..." (feat. Sabi) by Cobra Starship
"Good Feeling by Flo Rida
"I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You " by Black Kids
"Stereo Hearts" (feat. Adam Levine) by Gym Class Heroes
"Moves Like Jagger" by  Maroon 5
"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
"Rehab" (Remix) by Amy Winehouse
"Blow" (Remix) [feat. B.o.B.] by Ke$ha
"Dance In the Dark" (Monarchy "Stylites" Remix) by Lady GaGa
"Umbrella" (feat. Jay-Z) [Jody den Broeder Lush Club Remix] by Rihanna
"The Sleazy Remix" (feat. Andre 3000) by Ke$ha
"Party Rock Anthem" (Audiobot Remix) [feat. GoonRock & Lauren Bennett] by LMFAO
"Brokenhearted" by Karmin
"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" by Kelly Clarkson

Signs That Baby Is Coming

And, oh no, this baby is not making her debut anytime soon, at least, that's what I thought until today, when the nesting instinct started to kick in..  There have been a few clues that she's on her way, but other missing clues that tell us that she's got some baking time left:

Imminent birth signs I've seen:

1. Baby dropping lower: Lily started dropping down into position a couple of weeks ago, and she's continued to get a little lower.  From what I've read, baby can start to drop in first-time moms a few weeks before birth.  Otherwise, the baby can drop as late as during labor for subsequent pregnancies.
2. Softening of stool: This started three or four weeks ago, not long after I started taking evening primrose oil and an herbal labor prep that the birth center recommends pregnant women start at 34 weeks. According to my midwife, this happens, because the body is making room lower in the body for baby.
3. Increase in vaginal discharge: This started three weeks ago.  According to my midwife, we gotta make it ready for the baby to come out!
4. Stronger/more Braxton-Hicks contractions: There has been more tightening in my abdomen, and some of these contractions have been happening lower, more like menstrual cramps.  Some of the tension has been in my back.

Imminent birth signs to come:

1. Nesting instinct: I am just starting to see this today.  I cleaned my room, and I will not leave anything not put in its place.  This is a sudden burst of energy that causes mom-to-be to clean everything in preparation for the baby, put the crib together, etc.  My mom, who moved down here from Ohio and has been a stay-at-home-preggers-caretaker has done everything, so I don't have much to do.  Next: thank you cards.
2. Bloody show: Some red spotting.  This is an indication that the cervix is starting to dialate, and that labor is imminent in the next couple of days.

Regardless, I am going to wait to see when baby Lily is ready to poke her head out.  The body, and maybe even baby Lily, know when it's time for her to be born.