Author: sox

For those of you checking…nothing happening yet. I can’t even say I had a contraction last night. I hardly woke up at all, in fact, which was kind of nice.

It’s starting to feel weird, this waiting. Especially when I go to bed, because I think I have more time to think of it. It’s strange knowing that labour will come some time soon, but to not know when.

Unfortunately it looks like I missed the window of having my own doctor deliver Beet, as her call ends in 2.5 hours. Unless I go another week! 🙂

I woke up last night at about 2:45 with a contraction. One, single contraction. Nothing followed. I lay awake for about 45 minutes wondering if something was going to happen. Nope, just one. Painful enough to wake me up, but that was it.

But I’ve achieved my second goal…I didn’t have an April Fool’s baby. My next goal will be to avoid having this baby in May. 😉

My fluid volume is fine — it actually went up from last week. I have another ultrasound on Friday.

Which is just fine with me. That way Beet and Greg won’t have to share a birthday month.

I have another ultrasound today to check fluid volume, and if it’s still okay, we’re just in a holding pattern for the next few days. Which is also fine with me. I’m not at the point yet where I’m anxious to get this baby out. I’m very much aware of the fact that he/she is much easier to take care of in his/her current location.

Last night I had three or four contractions that were strong enough to wake me up, but nothing since about 4 am this morning.

I have a doctor’s appointment this morning, so we’ll see what she says. Today’s Greg’s birthday so I’m hoping I can hold off until tomorrow. So far, that doesn’t seem to be too difficult an achievement!

A post for Michelle’s benefit. Still pregnant. M, if I don’t see you tonight, you’ll know why. 🙂

Had my ultrasound this morning (which means I did not go into labour last night). Fluid volume appears fine, baby appears to be doing fine. I didn’t ask how big they thought the baby was. I’m just not going to go there.

Plan of attack…wait.

Apparently I can drink castor oil with little problem. I just drank the prescribed two ounces with two ounces of orange juice. It was oily, but it just tasted like oj.

Then I stupidly did some internet reading (I did this last night too…I’m a glutton for punishment). Here are some quotes:

“Diarrhea, nausea and vomiting are common in castor oil inductions and are not only uncomfortable during labor but can cause the mother to become dehydrated.”

“Castor oil does cross the placenta, causing severe problems!”

“You can go into false labour, have horrible runs, and just get sick. You should make sure you are willing to deal with this if it doesn’t promote labour.”

Admittedly these quotes are from lay people — the professionals say otherwise — but I think I’ll stop reading now.

Tomorrow is my official due date, but I think it’s actually today because I don’t think the wheely thing they use takes into account a leap year.

Anyway, I had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon and she thinks my fluid volume is low again. This isn’t what I wanted to hear, as this was the reason I was induced with Elliot and I do not want to be induced again.

My doctor would also prefer to get things going a bit more naturally, so she suggested taking some castor oil tomorrow morning. Apparently the act of purging my bowels may induce labour a bit more naturally. Sounds lovely.

If nothing’s happening by Friday then I’ll get an ultrasound and a non-stress test, and if my doctor is right about the fluid volume then it’s induction time for me. I’m trying not to think about it too much. The one plus with an induction is we can plan our Elliot care a bit more easily.

I also need to try to keep my mind on the fact that regardless of how my labour goes, the end result will be the same. Greg and I will have a new baby boy or girl, and Elliot will have a younger sibling. That’s the important part.

…but I’m not ready to go. I’m officially on maternity leave now, but I’ve got a list of stuff I’d like to get done before Beet arrives, not to mention I’d like to have a few days on my own before we become a family of four. I’ve actually crossed quite a few items off the list in the last three days, but I keep adding more.

And to be honest, my bag isn’t really packed yet either. It’s hard to pack it when you use half of the stuff on a daily basis (toothpaste, toothbrush, pj’s, etc.) Last night I went to bed and started to have what I thought was some cramping, and I freaked out a bit…I really would like a bit more time. But I think it was just Beet moving around in some weird positions.

So this afternoon I packed part of my bag, and I’ve got a list ready should I need to pack it quickly. Plus I went through Elliot’s 0-3 months clothes and took out a bunch. So that made me feel a bit better. I also got a good walk in for Yoshi and a nap for me. I’ve got today, tomorrow and Wednesday without Elliot (he’s in daycare), so I’m trying to make the most of it.

I’ve been feeling much better lately, and my feelings of anxiety have mostly gone away, but sleep has continued to elude me. It’s a combination of having to pee all the time, being uncomfortable and having really dry eyes. It takes me a while to fall asleep, and I wake up frequently.

Two nights ago I decided to turn my clock off so I wouldn’t know how little sleep I was getting. I’m a real clock-watcher, so I was very much aware of the fact that I was awake almost every hour. Wednesday night I still had a pretty crappy sleep, but since I couldn’t see my clock, I didn’t know how crappy, and it did feel better. Ignorance is bliss.

Then last night was heaven. I got up once to pee, then again when Greg got up, and then I slept in until 8:30! (Which meant Elliot also slept in until 8:30, or at least was quiet until then.) It was wonderful.

I know my nights of sleep are numbered, so I’ll take what I can get over the next couple of weeks.