Just a few minutes....

to post an update. Yay, I made it through Friday at work! She can come anytime now. This afternoon would be good. I can't wait to sleep on my back or my stomach or anything but my side again.

My brother made it in safely, so it's been good to see him. My daughter just adores him. It's so cute.

Her last day of daycare was yesterday. It was so sad in a way. My husband is pretty worried about her and the havoc we're about to wreak on her little life, but I remember being worried when she started there after he first got his job. Again, a lot of havoc and she did wonderfully, so I know she'll be great.

My grandmother made it in safely yesterday as well. I'm glad she came for Christmas, but she's already driving me crazy, and I've only spent a few hours with her. Another week and a half is going to be hard. At least when my husband gets home, we can limit our time with my family.

I told my mother our plans for when the baby is born and introducing her to her big sister. We (my husband and I) really want it to be just the 4 of us in the room when we make the introduction. I told my mother this as a warning that we're not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but we don't want any more than that. Her response, "Well, can we come peek at the baby?" Um, did you not just hear what I said? I told her she could after we had introduced our 2 year old to her. Her response? "Well, can your husband come pick her up from the car in the parking lot? We're not going to bring her in and not see the baby."

I was like, what the f---?!! I ask for one thing -- ONE THING. I told her that was fine -- I'd send him down to retrieve her. She could tell I was pissed about it. She said that there was no reason for them to come up unless they were going to see the baby. I told her that we didn't want hours and hours alone, but at least 15 minutes or something. She decided that they could probably bring our 2 year old to the lobby and drop her off there (with my husband of course) and get a coke or something from the cafeteria and come back. We'll see if it actually happens that way. I think she's willing to respect my wishes (especially since she could tell that I was going to be pissed if it doesn't happen that way), but she'll have my grandmother and my father with her as well. I'm tempted to tell my husband to block the door if anyone tries to come in. He told me that they probably just want to see my daughter's reaction as well, but still. I don't have too many demands as far as things go. I don't want them in the delivery room, but she knew that was coming. I don't think it's too much to ask that my family respect our wishes on this one.

So, as of now, we're all set for Tuesday. But, she can feel free to arrive anytime before then as well. I don't know if I'll have a chance to post before then, so it might be after she's here before I post again.

My Last Appointment

We had our last appointment this morning. Surprisingly, there was no wait time. By the time I was sitting down, they were calling us back. Shocking, I know, especially for my OB's office. Everything looked good, urine good (no comments on how I need to drink more water this time), blood pressure good, weight, well, good enough (I passed the dreaded 200 mark -- I was afraid that would happen, but it means that baby is growing well, so I can't complain too much), baby measuring well, heartbeat in the 150s.

Dr. B comes in to talk to us. He asks me if I got the shakes (shivers, whatever) when I had my daughter. That's a no. Or at least it is as far as I remember. I think I would have remembered that, so I'd have to say no. He wants to make sure that I know that isn't uncommon at all and not to worry if I do get them this time. My group B strep test was negative. So, therefore, we are all systems go for next week.

Then he tells us that we should make sure the camera is ready. He's seen it time and time again. Batteries are dead. No film. New camera -- don't know how to operate. Um, okay, well, I know how to work my camera, I've already charged the batteries (although I'm sure I'll do that again anyway), and I've uploaded everything that was on the memory card of my digital camera, so it's free.

He also suggested that many of his patients get professional portraits done before they deliver. Yeah, okay, well, next time I have lots of cash lying around just waiting to be spent, I'll do that. As it is, I was barely able to pay my electric bill last Friday before they shut if off, so no pictures unless I take them myself. And, well, with the stretch marks and all, I don't know if I want to do that. I am thinking about taking a few of me and my daughter in front of the tree as a gift for my husband. I have a shirt that will match her little Christmas dress.

Then he asked if I had any questions?

Yes, what if my cervix isn't ready? What then? I don't want to get there and find out that I can't have a baby that day. He looks at my chart and sees that last week zip, nada, nothing was happening, so he decides to check me again this week (which I guess he normally doesn't do). Especially since I haven't had many contractions. Well, apparently something is working because I'm now 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. As long as the little monkey decides to stay put for a few more days, we're all set. No worries.

Appointment Tomorrow

My 37 week (and hopefully last) appointment is tomorrow morning. My next appointment is scheduled for the 27th. I better be in the hospital having a baby that day. The only way that I won't be is if everyone in the city decides to go into labor and my induction gets bumped. I am #2 on their list of inductions, so I don't see that as likely.

I'm predicting no change from last week. She definitely hasn't dropped. I know this by the fact that I can feel pressure on my sternum! I think she's trying to see if she can wiggle her little butt up into my rib cage. But, only one more week and one day to go. I can take almost anything that long.

I probably ought to check the weather forecast to see what days would be bad for baby bugger to get here. However, the local weathermen are so bad at predicting the weather that they are likely to get it wrong. According to www.weather.com, anytime after tomorrow is good. Nice and sunny.

I also should probably finish packing my bag. I don't know why I've put this off for so long. Maybe because I feel like I live out of a suitcase for most of the week anyway. What do I need to take? I packed and took a lot the first time. I have a much more scaled down list this time:

Toiletries (contacts, glasses, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush) are already packed because I never unpack them. They travel back and forth with my daughter and I. I just have to put the little bag into my hospital bag.

Makeup. I already know there are going to be lots of pictures, but I hate makeup. I'll probably throw it in anyway. It's packed in a matching bag with my toiletries.

Baby coming home outfit. Already packed (including socks!).
Baby blanket. Already packed.

Mommy coming home outfit. Half packed (the shirt is packed, the pants are in the laundry somewhere).
Mommy nightgowns. Half packed (I have one in the bag and another in the laundry somewhere).

Camera. I've already charged the batteries and emptied the memory card in the digital camera. I've also charged the camcorder and put in a new tape. Should be good to go.

Carseat. Washed, cleaned, ready to go. I will put it in the car Sunday or Monday. That will be weird to see two carseats in our car.

So, let's see, what am I forgetting?
Nursing bra -- might want to buy at least one of those -- preferably two.
Socks.
Shampoo and soap. Those could be helpful after I've just had a baby. I don't want to smell like I just had a baby.
Maybe a hair dryer to make my hair look good for pictures. I'm so vain. I've kept my toenails painted and my legs shaved for about 2 weeks now (although I assure you neither of those tasks is easy). Oh, and my eyebrows plucked.

My husband also pointed out that I might want to pack a bag for my 2 year old. Ooops! That had totally slipped my mind (what a great mother I am!). My parents might appreciate me making sure she has clothes and diapers when I send her out.

I'm sure that there are other things I'm forgetting, but I remember packing a lot of stuff last time and not needing hardly any of it. I don't feel like lugging it back and forth if I don't need it. Plus, we live about 10 minutes from the hospital, so how hard would it be for me to send my husband for anything I need?

No, I have not been on a jury this entire time....

I'm just getting really lazy at this end of my pregnancy. So, let me try to sum up the last week and a half or so.

1. Went to jury duty. Very interesting process. There ended up being only one case that day, and they needed a 6 person jury. I was juror #11, so I figured I should be pretty safe since 5 people had to get bumped for me to make the jury. Four people got bumped. They took through juror #10. Whew! Dodged a bullet there.

2. Office party last Thursday went well. Catering was only an hour late. But we had a lot of fun and good food. We had a white elephant gift exchange. A white elephant gift in our office seems to be crap you don't want. The gift exchange is one where everyone draws numbers. Number 1 gets a gift from under the tree and opens it. Number 2 can then "steal" the gift from number 1 or get a different gift from under the tree. There were a couple of neat things, but mostly weird stupid stuff. I say at least get something people could use. But, that would probably defeat the purpose. There is a vase that has been circulating around the office every year during this exchange for about 15 years now. Scary.

3. Monday, the boss bought us lunch and we had a gift exchange between the secretaries. That went well. Spaghetti is always one of my favorites.

4. After lunch, we had our 36 week appointment. Woohoo! Everything looked good--BP normal, baby measuring right on, I gained a pound, so that puts me at 199 (maybe I won't hit 200). Apparently I'm not drinking enough water because my urine is cloudy or something like that. Whatever. If you had to drink the stuff that came out of the water fountain, you wouldn't be getting enough either. I make up for it in the evening when I'm dying of thirst. And then I make up for that overnight when I have to get up to pee over and over again. Bottom line, I'm getting enough water. It just didn't happen to be right before my appointment. I had my group B strep test and he checked my cervix. Absolutely nothing is going on. No dilation, no effacement. My OB assured me she hasn't dropped. No shit. I think she's clinging to my ribs like a little monkey right now. But, the most exciting part of the appointment...dum-da-da-dum! We have an induction date! If the little bugger doesn't try to escape early, I will be induced on December 27th. Yay!

This is a good date for many reasons. It is before December 31st -- very important -- need that tax credit. This is after December 23rd -- very important -- need to work through the 23rd so that I get my holiday pay for the last week in December or else we are what is known as "financially screwed". So, all the stupid idiots in my family who think it would be cool for this to be her first Christmas better just shut up before I scream when they mention it. Sorry, I'm getting a little hormonal anymore. And I will scream if anyone mentions to me that they think that's a sign that she's coming early. Just kidding. Sort of.

So, in short -- I must work through the 23rd. My husband needs (not necessarily a must) to work through the 24th. Since I would kind of like to have him around when she's born, baby cannot be born before 9:00 PM on the 24th or after the 31st. I don't think that's too much to ask. Obviously, if she chooses a different time, I can't really argue, but my preference would be between those dates. And I don't care if she's a Christmas baby. As long as they can get the anesthesiologist in to do the epidural and I don't get a crappy nurse and my OB is in town (which I get the feeling he won't be since they moved the date to the 27th rather than the 26th so that he would be here), she can arrive on Christmas. The anesthesiologist would be the most important of those 3. I can deal with a bad nurse, and my 2 year old was born on a Sunday, so my OB missed her birth as well.

Busy Day Tomorrow....

I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon that I cannot miss. Well, wouldn't that be the day that I have to report for jury duty? Of course it would.

So, seriously, what are my chances of making the jury? Would you choose the pregnant woman who looks like she'll go into labor if she doesn't get excused? I may not go into labor, but I can guarantee a panic attack. Complete with throwing up and dizziness and general feeling awful. I hope not, but it could happen.

I just want to go in, be excused, go to work, and go to my meeting. That's it. No fuss. So, I'm praying that is what happens.

My co-worker assures me that I could use my daughter to get out of it, but I have this thing about lying and signing my name to it.....she also just throws hers away and goes by the "they can't prove I actually got it in the mail" theory. Again, don't want to do that. So, I'm going with the karma will be good to me for actually showing up and I'll get out of it theory. Yeah, I've been watching My Name Is Earl.

Why is it...

that people feel the need to tell horror stories to pregnant women?

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I got to hear the labor horror stories. I worked in an office with mostly women, and I heard about how I shouldn't have an epidural because they don't work. One woman's never took and the other woman's "went the wrong way." She told me that it numbed the upper half of her body rather than the lower. This was the same woman who told her son (at age 8) that she'd never had stitches except for when she had an episiotomy (which she then explained to him). Anyway, I've now been through labor and had a picture perfect time of it. I use my story to counteract the ones that are horror stories that soon to be first time mommies hear.

So, what do you get the second time around?

Well, people know they can't scare you with the labor stories. You've been there, done that. So, they start in on the sibling rivalry stories. Complete strangers. I've had more than one complete stranger tell me their stories of how their kids hated their new sibling and on and on and on. So what? Your kid isn't my kid.

I'm not saying I think my daughter will just jump right in and think that her baby sister is the best thing to ever happen to her, but I don't think she'll be trying to do anything drastic . I remember hearing the labor horror stories and mine turned out fine, so now, I choose to believe that everything will turn out fine with my daughter and her baby sister. If not, I'm sure I'll be asking advice from the parents who've been there and done that. But, I won't tell anyone my horror stories.

It's Never A Good Sign.....

when I wake up late. Not too late, but enough to feel rushed. I got dressed, got my daughter up, got her dressed, got her some fruit loops in a bag to eat in the car (hey, she ate breakfast even if it was out of a bag in the car), gave her a sippy cup of milk, grabbed stuff for me for lunch, grabbed my purse, grabbed the diaper bag, put the carseat in the car, and off we went.

Since I had a doctor's appointment at 9:30, I figured I should take her to get a flu shot before there was no point anymore. I called yesterday, and they told me that it's a nurse appointment (yay, no copay!) and that they do them between 8:00 and 8:30. Great, I could take her to the doctor, get the shot, take her to daycare, and go to my doctor's appointment. Good plan, right?

Good plan. So, yesterday I looked up the address on the internet (most up to date you would think). I had a pretty good idea where it was. This morning, I looked it up in the phone book to get the exact street address in case I had any problems. I was running a little behind, but I drove right to it. That never happens to me. I get lost very easily. However, there were no other cars in the parking lot. I tried to convince myself that it was because all the smart parents had already gotten flu shots for their kids. But, there was a sign on the door. I shook my head and told my daughter this was a bad sign. The sign said:

We will be closed Thursday and Friday of this week. I first thought it was from last week and hadn't been taken down. Realizing it wasn't, I got a little angry that when I called yesterday and said I was bringing my daughter in the morning, no one bothered to tell me that they would be closed (I didn't have to make an appointment for the shot). We will reopen in our new location on Monday, October 10th, at XXX Street. I tried to keep my cool as I realized that in the attempt to get my daughter her shot, I have called no less than three times in the past month, and no one ever said anything remotely like, "Hey, you do know that we've moved, right?"

So, we get to the new location about 8:15 or so. Shots are from 8:00 to 8:30. They took my insurance information and such. Afterward, the receptionist says, "The nurse isn't here yet, but she should be here any minute." Come again. She knows which location to go to. I shouldn't be waiting on her. But we did. She got there around 8:30 (or at least that's when we got called back). Got the shot. My princess didn't even cry. She was too excited about the thought of the bandaid she was getting.

Then it was a rush to daycare where I hoped to drop her and run. Hahahahahahaha, I should have known better. The woman in the office says she needs to talk to me after I drop my daughter at her classroom. Okay. Hmmmm.....what now? So, I get to the classroom, but no class. Not good. They were in the gym. So, I get her dropped off, give her teacher a nice, "Good luck today, she got a shot and daddy went back to work, so she's sleepy and grumpy and full of flu shot," and head back to the office. They just wanted to know when the new baby would be starting. Um...never. How much notice did you need before my daughter left? 2 weeks. Can't forget.

Shot over to my doctor's office. I didn't have to wait very long in the waiting room. Thank goodness. The nurse's assistant (I think that's what she is) took my blood pressure, weight, and urine sample. The nurse came in and measured me and checked the heartbeat (in the 140s -- she must have been asleep). I waited a while (not too long, though), and Dr. B came in. He briefly talked to me about how we're getting close, that no two babies are alike in delivery (too bad because I had the dream delivery with my daughter). Then he asked me about pain management during labor. I told him that I wanted an epidural, that I would like to avoid narcotics, but that I would keep my options open. That saved him the trouble of talking me into an epidural. Yeah, I've been through labor before. I have a high respect for anyone who can do it without drugs. I certainly don't think I could have. Everything looks good, no questions. See you in two weeks.

So, I go back on the 12th for my 36 week appointment. I can't believe I'm this close already.