And You Thought it Couldn't be Done....

Wow, 38 weeks. The week in which I said back at week 35 that I was going to go into labor. You know, for planning and travel arrangement purposes. I can only imagine the thoughts that were going through everyone's heads when I said that I planned on picking when I went into labor. I'm sure I got more than one eyeroll and even more laughs. Okay, so I was laughing right along with you. But now I'm just freaking out, because apparently I was right...

Last Wednesday I went to my weekly doctor's appointment figuring it would be just another routine visit: pee in a cup, check blood pressure, hear the heartbeat, and go to lunch with Kevin (since all of the events in my life revolve around food). No worries. Then the nurse came in to check my blood pressure. She pumped up the cuff, stopped, pumped it up again, and said "let's try the other arm." Then she proceeded to try it twice on the other arm. She said that my blood pressure was high and that she was going to go get the doctor. The doctor came in and checked the baby's heartbeat and said that it was perfect, but since my blood pressure was high we weren't going to be able to wait for me to go into labor on my own. Well, she actually said that it wasn't at a critical level so we technically could wait, but since it would only continue to go up, doing so could put both me and the baby at risk. She said that instead of letting it get higher and risking the complications, it was best to induce labor early and head off any problems before they begin. She said to come back on Friday and we'd see if my blood pressure had changed at all, but to plan on having the baby within the next 5 days. (I actually told her that I was sorry, but 5 days was impossible because I still didn't have a valence for the nursery. I plead that I was in shock at the time.) But we came back on Friday only to find that while my blood pressure was still high, it hadn't gone up and still wasn't at a critical level. The doctor gave me the weekend to get things finished up (she knows me all too well) and said to take it easy and relax.

So what does that mean? It means we have officially scheduled an eviction date! On November 1st, 2010, I will be induced. Yup, 38 weeks and 3 days. So I was off by a little bit. Whose laughing now? Probably still you, because I am a little too freaked out to laugh at this point. Not near as freaked out as we were on Wednesday though. And it's beginning to sink in. On the plus side we were able to make arrangements so that my parents can fly down for the birth. Before this change of plans they were going to wait until Thanksgiving before coming to visit. Now if when Kevin passes out in the delivery room, I'll have both my mom and my mother-in-law there as a backups. I can also guarantee that Bob WILL be here on Monday. How do I know this? Because Monday is my mom's birthday and she pretty much told me that I was going to have him on her birthday or else. I don't know if I'm more scared of labor or my mom at this point, but I am also not stupid enough to mess with a first time grandma. So Monday it is.

In addition to that little newsflash, I'm doing really good! I still feel great, but I'm watching for signs that I should go into L&D: headaches, blurry vision, nausea, etc. The only things that aren't great right now are my feet! I don't even have fat days anymore, I have puffy feet days. But I think the time has come to give up fighting them, although I think I've put up a valiant battle. I've tried elevating, ice, even cute nail polish, but my cankles still won. The fact of the matter is, they're huge. I was hoping that by making it all of the way to 36 weeks without swelling would translate into finishing up the last month with no swelling as well. The fact of the matter is, I was way wrong. Kevin has even tried rubbing my feet for me. Now before you start with the "awww, what a sweet husband" comments, don't get the wrong idea. I'm 99% sure that the reason he's doing it is because he knows that fat feet aren't enough to keep me home and on the couch. And since he's the one who has to be seen in public with me, he's making every effort to get them down to a somewhat normal size before having to hold my hand in public. But honestly, the fact of the matter is that this pregnancy has taught me a valuable lesson: NO ONE can make cankles look good.

CHECKING IN - WEEK 37!

Due Date: November 1, 2010!
Total weight gain: 34 pounds! And since I don't plan on weighing myself again before Monday, it looks like I'm not going to have to bump up the old goal to 40 pounds. I'll admit, I might have been starting to sweat a little bit...
Next Appointment: Monday, November 1. I'm reporting to Labor and Delivery at 6 am. Yes, at 6 AM as in THE MORNING. They won't even let me sleep in on my last day of freedom. Yes, I asked.
Maternity Clothes: Not for much longer! And since the doctor said I have to rest for the weekend, my maternity clothes are officially yoga pants, tank tops, and flip flops from here on out. I am in heaven.
Labor Signs: Well, I'm dilated 2 cm. But what does it matter?
Sleep: Yeah, like that's going to happen. I'm pretty much counting on staying up and not being able to sleep for the next 48 hours or so.
Best moment this week: I guess I'm supposed to say finding out the date I'm going into labor. But I'm still hanging out on the "oh HELL no, whose idea was it to have a baby" bandwagon at this point. I'm hoping to hop off it sometime before I deliver. I may require a good, hard shove between the shoulder blades at some point.
Movement: Still the same as before. He's still trying to make his own exit through my ribs. He would save a lot of energy if he'd just read the eviction memo we received earlier in the week.

Food cravings: Yes, please. This is it. The final weekend. And I'm not weighing myself. It's going to be an all out food fest from here on out. Whose with me???
Planning/Preparations: Well, I guess now would be the time to finish up the nursery. It may be a little easier now that we have a THEME. Yes, we finally picked one a whole week before the baby arrives. Go us! (Of course in our defense, we thought we still had 3 weeks.) Actually, I take that back. I tried to pick a theme 5 months ago. I spent countless hours online searching for bedding and ideas, to the point where I was so stressed out about it I almost had a meltdown. So I decided that instead of a theme, we're going to decorate around a color instead. Big mistake. At least with a theme, you know what kind of decor to buy. With a color, the possibilities are endless. And as I have said before, I am NOT a decision maker. That's the whole reason I don't like shopping. Give me 3 choices, I'm fine. Give me 147, and I have a panic attack. Anyway, we were in Hell Babies 'R Us last weekend to finish out our registry and while we're walking around aimless and confused, Kevin suddenly decided that he wanted a jungle theme for the nursery. I just about died. I believe my exact words were “so what you’re telling me is that 6 months ago when I asked how you wanted to decorate the nursery, and you said that you didn’t care and had no opinion, which resulted in me spending countless hours obsessing over finding bedding and a “theme” only to get completely stressed out and decide that I COULDN’T decide on one and would go with a “color” scheme instead, only to get even more stressed out and decide that not having a theme was too hard because I couldn’t find any decorations, and freaking out because I STILL COULND’T FIND A BEDDING SET OR THEME, and suddenly you’ve decided that you want a jungle theme? Really?????” His response? “Yup. I like this one” and he pointed to one. AAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!! So now we have a jungle themed nursery. Just in time I guess. Here it is:

Belly Button in or out: Me: 1, Belly button: 0
Stretch Marks: As long as they don't pop up while I'm pushing, I think I'm golden.

What I miss: Not having a lead weight in the bottom of my stomach. And I'm not even talking about Bob. Ever since the doctor said my blood pressure was high and that we'd be inducing two weeks early, I have had a nice sized knot in my stomach.

What I am looking forward to: Again, I am supposed to say Monday. I'm hoping that by Monday, I'll actually believe it when I say that. It's still not quite real. Luckily, I was told that when I deliver the baby, the instructions come out first, followed by the baby, followed by a receipt. That makes me feel a little better.
Milestones: Besides having a birthday for the little man? Well, my rings are officially OFF. You know what that means....I'm SINGLE!!! (Which would be a lot more fun if I weren't approximately 2 days out from having a baby.)

38 week pictures!

I know I said I wouldn't do any bare belly shots, but in honor of having the big day on the calendar, I decided to bend the rules and throw at least one out there for your viewing pleasure. You're welcome!

And here's another one, this time clothed.