Well I did not go into labor.
It is not an exaggeration to say (well, maybe it is a little) that the majority of the people in my life were really, really worried about this. In fact, probably a little more worried than I thought any of them should be, though who am I to have qualms with that many people loving and caring about the well-being me of and the squirmy worm residing in my uterus?
Call it a mother’s instincts, or just the copious amounts of information I’ve absorbed these past several months, but I knew going into labor was unlikely. First? The squirmy worm part. My daughter continues to treat my insides as though it’s personal Dance Dance Revolution platform. By all accounts, when labor is near, the baby will chill the hell out. Our kid gets a taste of, as was the case yesterday, some almonds and she loses her little mind. At least I assume that’s what’s happening. I keep telling Scott that now that I’ve switched to a much stricter (in comparison), healthier diet, that I’m convinced she’s a health nut. However, it could be that she misses the tubs of Peanut Butter Fudge ice cream we used to have every day and is throwing a massive shit fit with each bite I take. Now it’s all coconut milk “ice cream” sandwiches and kale.
Tough, sister. Mama would like to be around to see you torture your own baby in utero should that be that your choice.
So the second reason I figured she wasn’t going anywhere: sister is still riding high. Oh, I am a ridiculous sight for sore or rested eyes. In addition to the lack of breathing, I now can’t sit on the couch and, say, lean over and grab the remote control. The position of this kid makes it impossible. There has been no dropping or lowering or anything that can be construed as that she’s looking to make an exit anytime soon.
Lastly, there’s been no pattern of contractions, and after my visit with my midwife today, we’re all feeling confident that she won’t be making any grand appearances – my doula thinks she’ll most likely be late. She mentioned eight days, to be exact, which means my daughter and my husband would share a birthday. Scott feels badly for her if this is the case, but it’s him I’ll feel for – it’ll be her birthday that takes center stage, I’m afraid.
Speaking of the midwife visit today, my Group B Strep test came back negative, which means I’m that much more in the clear of not needing any particular intervention once I do go into labor. Under my current care, needing an IV port didn’t make me nervous, but I’m happy not to have to deal with any of that for the moment.
We went over the game plan today with her, which was a little surreal. Admittedly, and this is for a post later this weekend, it’s very surreal because while I’m not plagued by fear and terror about labor and pain and all of that, it is crazy that barring any surprises, I’m going to be giving birth to a human being in two weeks or so. All of a sudden we’re talking about contractions and timing and water breaking and a real live baby. I mean, it’s a good thing we’re going to be bringing a baby home, otherwise the three Sophie the Giraffes we’ve got in the nursery right now are going to Glin, and those things are way too pricey to be given to our dog who won’t appreciate them whatsoever.
(I love those little French teethers. So adorable. So giraffe-y.)
All of my freaking out about being prepared and ready? Yeah. We’re done now. I mean, there are drapes to hang, and a few accessories to assemble, some pictures to hang, but yeah. Done. There isn’t much more for me to do at this point than to sit on my butt and relax and read. Which is what I wanted, of course. I’m trying to embrace it since it’ll be the last time in, well, ever, that I’ll have this sort of unfettered me time. When I’m not working, I’ll be spending the majority of my time in my new chair (when it gets here, which now is supposed to be Monday), reading and sleeping and watching all of the awful Bravo-produced television my heart desires. I can think of no better way to spend the next few weeks, except perhaps on a beach somewhere with plenty of cold beer.
Thankfully we’re heading to Puerta Vallarta at the end of the year for a few days so that’ll be a reality at some point in 2011. Just not at this point.
The other day I dug out a baby picture of myself, and once I get a picture of Scott as a baby, and then one of our baby when she gets here, I’ll frame them all together. It’s weird to look at it now, of course, as I wonder if my kid will look anything at all like me. I know it’s one of those ego things people who have kids go through. I can’t imagine you don’t want to be able to see bits and pieces of yourself in your baby. My sister and I most resemble our dad, though there are some small resemblances to my mother that I possess. Just the same, it’s JP who everyone says we most take after. It’s entirely possible that this kid will be a mirror image of her dad and not look a thing like me. Which is perfectly and absolutely fine, of course, but it might be fun if she, say, gets my nose.
I suppose in a just a couple of weeks, we’ll find out.
What a cute baby you were/are! Good luck in the next few weeks, I will keep you and yours in my prayers.
I was born on my Dad’s birthday and it ROCKS! Just sayin…
Yay! I am so excited you are getting close.
I read somewhere that babies tend to come out looking like the dad and it’s some evolutionary byproduct of trying to get the dad to stick around? I forget if it has any evidence, but it has been true in my case. I am 3 for 3 on kids that come out looking exactly like the dad (brown hair, brown eyes, olive skin) then 2 of them morphed into my coloring (blonde, blue eyes, pink skin). Technically they didn’t have brown eyes to start but they had that dark greyish color newborn eyes. But anyway, just as a word of warning, she might look like him and turn into you.
You probably know this, but for evolutionary reasons, new babies most often resemble their dads. (So he doesn’t go storming out of the cave to find another woman but sticks around to look after the progeny that’s clearly his.) So you might find it takes a while for your nose (say) to come into focus.
That said, when my daughter was born we both immediately saw a definite (and somewhat scary) resemblance to my mother. Mostly I can only see resemblances to either of us well after the fact and in photos. I still haven’t seen my features in either of my children. Which is probably just as well.
If ours comes about 2 weeks early there’s a chance he’ll be born on my husband’s birthday. Though I think in some ways the day after that would be kind of neat. March 30th is the 16th anniversary of the day we met. I guess we’ll see though. I feel like I still have a way to go yet.
Leah, you are correct. There is a belief that babies look like Dad for a good reason. I can tell you from experience that it was true for me – my mom said next Halloween we should stick a goatee on the kid so he and my husband can go as twins!
But that’s just the baby face. They will change a lot, of course.
One of my favorite parts about meeting my new baby was seeing who he looked like. When he came out he looked just like my husband and now he looks nothing like him. The most amazing thing is that he has inherited from both of us the things we disliked most about our apperiences. My husbands ears and my legs. It really makes you come to terms with yourself because seriously my legs have NEVER looked so good! My husbands ears look fabulous on him and fabulous on my son as well!
You can look at some baby pictures and you just know exactly what that child will look like as an adult. You were one of those babies. That’s a good thing, by the way. And I think you’re going to be an amazing mother, Erin.
And Sophie Giraffe “makes a happy sound when her body is squeezed?” Nope. Ain’t touchin’ *that* one.
My mother is convinced that our baby will be born on her birthday. The official due date is only two days later, so it’s possible, although I am convinced the baby will take after both its parents and be late.
Her birthday is 4 July, which is a nice memorable birthday to have, if you had to double up. Even if you’re not American!
Glin would love those Sophies! We have 2 of them, and when we’d go to my sister-in-law’s place, her dogs would go insane trying to get the giraffes – they’re just big squeaky toys in a dog’s mind!
When I woke up from a brief nap the day after my son was born, I looked at him and he looked exactly like MY father, which was too strange. Within a few weeks though, he strongly favored my husband, which is what they say most babies do. Now, he’s a pretty even mix of both of us!
You just never know with due dates. Everyone told me little dude would be late (because “all first babies are late”), and I had a strong feeling he would NOT be. Sure enough, born 5 days before his “offical” due date, and one day shy of the due date I calculated based on his conception – easy to do when you are in a long-distance relationship! So, you just never know!
So exciting to be following you and remembering what it was like with my daughter. I don’t think I actually “dropped,” since it still felt like I couldn’t breathe when the time came. Actually, i went in for my regular checkup and the doctor announced that she wasn’t letting me leave the hospital, heh. Hell, you never know how it might go. I had dilated to a 4 or 5 for a week and didn’t even know it.
I totally had to hide Sophie the Giraffe from my dogs. They thought she was awesome. I even kept an extra one just in case they got a hold of her. They were way more interested in it than my daughter Sophie was, which made me sad (because Sophie the Giraffe is awesome!).
Hang in there! You guys should go see a movie. I wish we had gone to more movies when I was pregnant, because our movie date nights are few and far between now. Then again, when you’re at the end, you don’t feel like doing much at all.
My son was born the day before my husband’s bday & 5 before mine. It is kinda cool that we’re all lumped together like that. Needless to say, though, right now it is all about HIS birthday. (Which could end up being your daughter’s birthday too. Pisces babies are awesome).
Good luck & congrats, hope she isn’t too late. : )