39 Weeks

39 weeks, yesterday

Well obviously I haven't been blogging lately, so I'm painfully overdue for some life updates.  Really it comes down to this: moving + Christmas + two little kids + pregnant = not much time/energy for much else.  As far as moving goes, we have been in our new home 2 1/2 months, and have been making some wonderful connections.  Our church has been a lifeline in this respect and we are so thankful for the community we have found through that wonderful group of Jesus-followers.  We have been embraced so quickly and unquestioningly which is just...beautiful.

Speaking of things that are beautiful, it is no secret that I think this pregnancy has been the most challenging one I have experienced to date.  However, I am so grateful to be a state of mind in these last days where I am relishing the moments, feeling pretty good (so many thanks to my chiropractor for keeping back pain at bay!), and just enjoying the beauty that is the miracle of carrying a precious, unique baby.  I can honestly say that I am not "done."  Any ladies who have been there know what I mean, but I'm not not there yet.  I am not in that achingly desperate place where I beg the baby to "get out" several times a day and pray that every contraction is the onset of labor.  I'm happy for her to stay put a while longer.   Of course, I partially want her to hang in there a little longer because my mother is flying in on the 3rd and she'll keep the kids when birthing time comes, but I also am just feeling patient.  I think I began this pregnancy with the mentality that I'd have another 41 week baby, so that is probably a huge factor.  However, it is hard to not get a little bit excited when your practitioner exclaims, "Do you think you might be in labor!?" when she examines you at your 39 week prenatal appointment.  Like when I got home from that appointment I finally did a little bit of baby laundry and started packing bags...just in case.  But the recent move is throwing me off.  Where is my breast pump and my favorite diaper bag?!

I'm not in labor.   But here are some stats (for my records), so if you don't like specific pregnancy details and vocabulary, this is a good place for you to check out. (Bye!)

36 1/2 weeks: 75% effaced, 1 cm dilated (lost my plug w/i a day or two of that news)
37 1/2 weeks:  no changes,
Went to Oregon for a 6-day Christmas vacation.  Record low of contractions during that week, including on the airplane. 
39 weeks:  80% effaced, 3 - 4 cm dilated (still a record low of Braxton Hicks contractions up to this point so I'm not really sure how that happened - ha!)

So far so good.  I'm pretty excited that I'm 1/3 of the way done before even starting labor.  This gives me courage for my goal of another natural birth, a water birth this time!  You see, unlike what most people say about how you forget the pain of a med-free delivery, I remember the pain in great detail, so I have been feeling a little anxious about doing it again.  However, in my experience the recovery after drug-free birth is so much faster than a birth with an epidural that it is hands-down worth it to me! 

And in case you think my pregnancies are just full of glam and round, "all baby" bellies, behold a small sample of my old lady pregnancy legs:

 

Be very jealous.  This is a terribly vague picture - it is much worse in person - but you get the idea.  Varicose veins run down the entire length of my legs, all the way down to my toes.  Usually they don't bother me, but sometimes they fiercely itch, and just recently they sometimes make my legs deeply ache at the end of the day.  I just hope they go away after baby time.  Please?  I'm not quite ready to compete with the old ladies yet.

;-)