still at home

Hi there: I called the answering service and one of the midwives called me back. She told me that because I could talk through the contractions that told her I wasn't as far into labor as I'd thought, so she recommended I wait another hour, take a long shower, and walk it off. True to form, the contractions slowed, and I figured if I could I should try to get some sleep. So I've been sleeping (mostly) rather than at the hospital since last I posted.
The contractions that I'm getting now? I haven't been timing them but they are WAY more painful when they do come. I can see how eventually they are going to take my breath away to the point where I can't speak when they occur.
As for phone calls, don't expect them at any moment this morning as I'd previously implied. This is shaping up to be a very long day. But rest assured, you will be called when Acorn arrives, and like me, you'll have to be patient until then!

in labor

I woke up this morning (meaning Saturday, 8/21) with mild contractions. I spent the day with phases of consistently-happening-but-irregularly-timed contractions and interludes where I'd get maybe one or two and hour. At about 9:30pm they resumed consistency with irregularity and escalated in pain, but by 11pm they began to be relatively consistent -- and as of right now, they are less than 5 minutes apart and have been so for about 45 minutes. Another 15 minutes and we've hit the threshold to call the OB office and alert the doc, and then head to the hospital. Technically you're supposed to call when they're 5 minutes apart, 1 minute long each, and have occurred for at least 1 hour. Since I'm actually averaging more like 3-4 minutes apart in the second part of this hour, I may have already passed that threshold, so maybe I'll call now.
*Not* looking forward to the car ride.
In any case, this is probably my last update as a pregnant woman. If you're reading this blog entry on Sunday morning of 8/22 and you haven't received a phone call yet, expect one soon!
Wish us luck!

T minus one week and one day

Had my final OB office visit today...that's right, final. We talked about our options and Dr. H recommended that we not go too far over one week past the due date (which was yesterday), so we picked a date. On the evening of August 25th we'll check into the hospital and they'll apply a cervical softener overnight, which in and of itself sometimes induces labor; on the 26th, if nothing's still happening, we'll use the pitocin and go ahead and have a baby. (Thus no more office visits.) He suggested that date as Lesley, one of the midwives, will be on the ward that day and can spend one on one time with us.
This is, of course, if Acorn decides not to make his/her appearance sooner. This week I was 1.5 cm dilated and 50-60% effaced according to Dr. H. The dilation may be subjective (since I see a different person each week, Sue's 1cm last week could be the same as Dr. H's 1.5cm this week) although the effacement appears to be a significant change from last week. When he checked, he could also feel the baby's head, which means the rather squeamishly-named "mucous plug" disappeared at some point without me noticing. Again, the slight dilation, effacement, and loss of the plug don't necessarily mean I can expect labor to happen right away, but they are all signs that my body is thinking about it, along with the somewhat regular Braxton-Hicks contractions I've been getting this past week.
I am still hopeful that this will happen the natural way -- I don't love the idea of being induced, although Dr. H reassures me that while it makes the earlier stages of labor happen faster, it's not more painful. We'll see about that!
Send some momentum vibes our way this week!

Another interesting date...

It just occurred to me that this Friday is the 13th, and I was thinking, if this baby takes after its dad (he loves horror movies) or somehow absorbed the info that our favorite bar in San Francisco was called "Lucky 13," maybe we'll see some action then?
"Jason Voorhees Chesney/House" has a nice ring to it, no?

"Pregatory"

Today I met the final mid-wife at the practice, meaning I've now met all of the staff who might show up on labor day. And this mid-wife, Sue, informed me that I am 1cm dilated. While it's nice to hear that something is happening, there are many tales of people walking around 1-2cm dilated for weeks, so I'm not allowing myself to get anxious or excited.
I was not, however, surprised to hear of the change. Yesterday I had about 1/2 hour of Braxton-Hicks contractions (essentially translating to "practice cramps") that I was able to relieve by lying down and hydrating (which is one of the ways one knows they're not the real thing -- they go away). They felt a little different from the belly-tightening I've felt before but were not painful, and I thought to myself "I bet when I go to the OB I will have dilated a little bit." Pure supposition on my part, and yet, lo and behold!
By Sue's estimation, since I'm not really effacing and only dilated a tiny bit, I will probably make my Wednesday appointment next week without having gone into labor, at which point we will start to talk about how long we'll wait past my due date, inducing labor, etc. Still, I think I'm finally going to pack that hospital bag and get the car-seat set up. We have a waterproof liner on my side of the mattress and we wrapped up the rest of our registry shopping on Sunday, so we're just about ready in terms of practical preparations.
Mental preparations, however, are still in progress. Steve and I chatted a bit and both agreed that however we feel about having a baby in our lives, we are good and ready for it to come just so we can start adapting to it already. This waiting around stuff is pregatory (= pregnancy + purgatory, in case that's not obvious). Once baby comes, we can adapt to it with hopefully just enough time to adapt to all of the girls returning to school in early September and my job starting, and then...finally...routine. After a summer-long period of transition after transition, it's hard to imagine a routine again!
But I digress. One centimeter, people. With the actual speed of the events to follow still unknown, at least we can say, "it has begun."

Gender fun, redux

Last night I had my first really vivid dream about the baby, and it was once again a boy. It looked normal and healthy and I recall noting it had eye color like mine, only a lighter, more aqua color.
The midwife today asked me what I thought it was and I mentioned the dream, and she said she thought it was a boy too. I told her lots of people said that because of how I was carrying it, but she said she thinks dreams are even better indicators.
Do with that information what you will. :)

All quiet on the Southern Front

Met with midwife #2 today, a woman named Sara who I'd also be happy to have show up in the delivery room. I measured the same weight and centimeters; my belly and baby growth seems to enjoy an echelon style of giant leaps rather than the old slow and steady method. Sara reported that there's nothing new in indications-of-oncoming-labor town; the shop is still closed up and quiet. The midwife said I could take evening primrose oil supplements and that those supposedly help loosen things up (but only if they were on the verge of loosening up anyway) but I'm feeling kind of que sera sera about it. On the one hand, am I about ready to meet this baby and have my body back to being a one-horse town again? Yes. On the other, am I ready for the huge major enormous monstrous life change of delivery and having a baby? Not sure that anyone can really be ready for that. So let the little one make its own decision about when to emerge without prompting from me, and I'll be ready when it tells me to be.
Another interesting note -- I mentioned that they had not yet re-tested me regarding my previous low iron count results, so Sara looked back through the notes and surprised me by saying my iron count had actually been pretty darn normal for a pregnant woman, just a little low for a non-pregnant woman. She said she wouldn't have bothered to put me on iron in the first place, although it doesn't hurt. So we're not going to bother with the retest after all. Maybe the CO doctor's concern was an altitude thing?
I have had one annoying symptom to speak of this last week or so -- Symphysis pubis dysfunction, or SPD. The name is a pretty fancy way of saying 'pelvic girdle pain,' meaning that the hormones that loosen up the ligaments and tendons to make the pelvic girdle bones roomier for birth are doing their job, only a little too well and a little too soon. It's not perpetual, it mostly occurs when I do things that stretch my legs apart -- like, say, take the big step up into a pick up truck -- which gives me a pretty sharp and stabby pain. The only real treatment is to avoid said stretching apart, so I sit a little more carefully and put pants on a little more carefully.
The good news about this is that the stronger onset of SPD (I'd had it slightly for a while now) is a good indication among others that the baby has "dropped," or at least started to, meaning that it's starting to line itself up into birthing position. This normally happens at 2-4 weeks out for first pregnancies and it's right on time. I've noticed I feel a little less compressed, I can eat a little bit more in a given sitting, I use the bathroom more, and the appearance of my belly has lowered. The midwife confirmed that Acorn's head is pretty low while she was palpating my belly to check for its positioning so she could get a good read on the heartbeat (which is as strong and clear as ever).
Acorn, true to form, squirmed and swirled underneath her hands.