Week 38 - Countdown Begins

Eeek, only 1 more week until Induction date! I can't believe it's coming up so quickly. I am so excited and terrified all at the same time. Part of me is like... "get her out, i'm sore, tired and want to be able to tie my shoes or sneeze without peeing myself!" but another part of me is like... "this means lack of sleep, crying nights and A LOT of work". All I have to do is remind myself that I get to see that little face, the one that's been keeping me company squirming in my belly all these months. She is almost here and ready to meet us. When I think about that, it brings me to tears and I know I am strong enough to handle it. Women have been doing this from the beginning of time and I am not so special. It's time to begin that next chapter, the one where I stop being so selfish and become a better person to raise this little human being who will need my love, guidance and care.

I go in for my final Ultrasound today and I am seeing the midwife or doctor after. I wanted to discuss the potential for scarring from my LEEP procedure I had years ago. I read that sometimes you don't dilate properly or fast enough due to the scar tissue needing to be broken up. I guess they can manually do that during the induction or sometimes labor just goes a little longer. Either doesn't sound too great but I want to keep reminding the providers that this could be an issue and hopefully I don't forget to bring it up. I read online (i know, i know) some horror stories of labor gone wrong because doctor didn't realize about the scarring and patient didn't say anything so when the cervix wasn't dilating, they automatically went to c-section when it was possible to break up the scar tissue manually. Clearly, my anxiety is a little high right now.

On another note, let me gloat about how much I love my husband! I bought this labor gown that has snaps all the way down the back and snaps in the front. This was supposed to open up like a flap in the front so you can do skin to skin and breastfeed but the dress wasn't a flap but snap opening for each side to breastfeed and it was sewn at the top. I didn't want to risk ordering a new one of from a different company in case I went into labor asap... so I decided to do a little surgery on the dress myself. I cut the fabric away from the top and went to sew the seams closed to make it look decent... well, Chris saw this and said... "no, you aren't doing that very well... give it to me" and he proceeded to sew my labor dress! I had no idea he had this talent but it was super sweet and he definitely did a better job than me. I am attaching a photo of him diligent at work with Linus snoozing next to his Daddy.

Oh, another funny story... now that I've gloated about my husband... I called the hospital the other day because we will be there for almost a full day "waiting" and they won't be giving me Pitocin until the end of the day Friday or Sat morning. I know it'll be boring, so I wanted to check and see if the TV's on site had a hook-up for the PlayStation and he could bring it. I called up and the lady immediately asked me "how old is the kid that'll be in the room with you?" I'm like, "Kid? no, no... this is for my husband!" Yes, my husband who is 30.... not a kid. Priceless!

This weekend I'll be helping Mother-In-Law with Christmas cookies and then Sunday we are spending another day with family celebrating Christmas with his brother and girlfriend (they won't be around on Christmas since they'll be spending it with her family). So packed weekend but I'm OK with that because otherwise I would just be a ball of nerves thinking about what's coming up!

I'll try and update during the induction or at least write my thoughts down on paper to transfer here. I am determined to get "my labor story" down while it's fresh and it'll be something to do while waiting in the hospital.