Today, the day I finally get bored.

I have nothing to do today. I could go shopping, or sew, or watch tv, but all of these things sounds boring to me. I slept pretty well last night, but had a lot of braxton-hicks contractions. I just took Stella on a walk, with the hope that her pulling me all over the neighborhood might encourage the Bloob, but I don't think it worked. She did a pretty good job of walking slow with me though.
Yesterday I gave Richard some catnip, just for entertainment. It was a good hours worth of laughs.

This waiting part is getting on my nerves.

Can I post the Final Countdown video again?

Ugh. I knew these last couple weeks were going to be the hardest, but UGH! I eat, I get heartburn. I don't eat, I get dizzy and weak, and I still get heartburn. I  want to exercise, but when I do I want to stop. I want to lie down, but when I do my pelvic pain gets so bad I have to get up and move around again. No wonder people try all kinds of crazy things to start labor!

Josh brought me flowers the other day, which was very sweet. Tulips are my favorite, and these are such a pretty color!

We did set up the bed in the basement bedroom the other day. It's my bed, you know, from back in my single days, and it's way more modern than Josh's style, but makes the basement space feel very clean and modern! I can't lift or bend at all really, so I mostly stood around and gave instructions while Josh put it all together. Then we laid down on the bed and Richard sat in the windowsill and Stella laid on her little rug at the foot of the bed. It was nice.

I mad this pillow for the bed yesterday. I made some quick curtains today, but I have to go get a tension rod today so I can hang them. And then…. I think we're ready.

We have a midwife appointment today at 3pm, where we will once again probably find out very little except that we just need to keep waiting.

39 weeks.

We're only a couple days away from 39 weeks, so I'm just calling it. I think we are all getting impatient, and I keep having to remind myself that 85% of first time babies are at least 8 days late. This last week has been surprisingly tough on Josh and I - since we can't plan when it will happen, but we feel ready and anxious. Both of us really want to be able to plan and control it! I'm having lots of ups and downs, which seem to really depend on the weather - sunny days I feel good and I've weeded the yard and cleaned and nested. Rainy days I get sad and cranky and I sit on the couch like a bump and get teary at dumb stuff and make Josh run to the store for stuff I want. Okay, I only made Josh go to the store once, for Tofurky pizza and an orange soda, and he said he would make the salad to go with it for lunch, but then got distracted, so I did it all, which seems like a fair trade.
Our last midwife appointment went well, I'm still right where I should be, and I've only gained about 30 pounds. They asked us if we would mind if they used these special crayons to draw the baby on my belly, for fun, and also so we could get an idea of what the baby looked like in there. It was pretty much the most "hippie" thing I've ever been a part of, except maybe for the time in college when I went camping with 9 hippie lesbian ladies in the pouring rain because one of them was my good friend and her girlfriend had just broken up with her and she didn't want to go alone with 4 other couples and it turned out as awkward and soaking wet as it sounds like it would be.
The belly drawing turned out to be fun, and it was actually a nice time for us to get to just chat and get to know Lucina (midwife) and Lindsey (her assistant) better. Here is the result.

It was pretty hilarious. Lindsey did the drawing, and I think she was feeling intimidated by Josh looking over her shoulder the whole time, after she found out he was a painter. We had a great time giggling about it all day, and it washed of the next day in the shower. 

As the pain in my groin area has intensified, I have done some research and diagnosed myself with Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) or Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD). I can't really tell what the difference between these two things are, but the general idea is, the pelvic bones have gotten so loose that my ligaments are being strained when I move. And it hurts. A LOT. And seriously, I'm not a wimp about this stuff, I've been putting up with it hurting a bit for a month now, and it has gotten really bad this week. After a busy day yesterday I was miserable all night and this morning. It sounds like it goes away after pregnancy in most cases, but I'm worried about having limited movement after the baby is born so I'm pretty much putting myself on couch rest until the birth. The internet has suggested that I not lift anything, and that I try to move with my knees together when I'm getting up from sitting or rolling over in bed. I've been resting all day and trying it out and it seems to help, and then I carried the laundry basket of clean clothes up the stairs and then I was miserable again, so lesson learned. It will also inhibit my movement in yoga, but I'll talk with the teacher and I'm sure she can suggest some modified stretches for me so I don't have to squat or spread my legs so much. On the upside, I have seen a few places on the internet say that birth can be a little easier when you have this because your bones are so loose. Here's to hoping.

Josh is just about to finish up the baseboards in the basement, which means that tonight we are setting up the bed in the front bedroom down there. We're actually really looking forward to being able to sleep down there in the summer when it's hot. That room still needs the french doors put on, but we priced them yesterday finally and they are $250 for the cheapest ones we found (unpainted and unfinished - more work!), so we may be holding off on that for a minute. Between baby stuff and the basement, I think we are both pretty tired of spending money right now. The basement will have a main door, so whomever is staying down there (mom) will have to make due with that and maybe a curtain for a door for a little while. 

No more contractions the last couple of days, but I'm holding out hope for this week. No Earth Day baby, no Easter baby, maybe a May Day baby (may 1st) or our actual due date for a Cinco de Mayo baby, or Mother's Day (may 8th)?! So many holiday choices!

No news, but the weather.

Yesterday's contractions stopped in the evening again. I got a lot done though! Laundry, some packing, a bunch of flannel wipes and nursing pads made, and I finished my boppy cover. And I did the dishes!
Then Josh came home and we went out to eat and I ran out of energy.

The weather forecast said 65 and sunny for today, so I got up early and met Leela for breakfast, went to work (they don't need me, but it's so busy!) and then went to Ikea to get some new outside furniture for the bakery. At Ikea I loaded 8 chairs and 2 folding tables onto my cart, checked out at the self-checkout and took it all out and loaded it in the car and not a single person there asked me if I wanted help. I didn't need help, so it was fine, but I decided I must be a pretty intimidating pregnant lady.

Then I picked up Stella, drove back to the bakery, dropped all the stuff off and took her to play in the park across the street. I wore her out! Everyone at the mini-mall got to meet her (and give her treats) and she did so well! Now she is happily sunning her tired self on the deck. It's so nice out! Now it's 1pm and I'm out of things to do for the day. Ahhhhhhh. It's too bad Josh always has to work.

Contractions again

They've been happening for the last couple of hours, still far apart and erratic, but more intense this time. Also combined with an intense urge to do the laundry, pack the hospital bag, finish my baby sewing projects and wash the dishes. Plus maybe cook dinner and some meals to freeze just in case. Would that the be nesting urge and burst of energy they talk about happening? Ha. Still think it may be another false alarm, so I'm not calling the midwife yet.
Laundry is in and bag is half packed and dishes are next. We'll see how far I get!

False Labor

I had my first little bout of false labor last night. Really mild contractions, about 15 - 20 seconds long and pretty irregularly timed. I did keep me up most of the night, but not from pain, more from curiosity and a bit of anxiety. I took a bath at 3am, and finally slept about 4am I think. They were gone by the time I woke up this morning. No other signs of things happening though, so I guess it was just a little warm up. Makes me happy to know SOMETHING is going on in there! We have our weekly midwife appointment today at 4pm, so if I get any news from her I'll keep you guys updated.

Hurry Up Bloob

Oh my god, I'm ready for this baby to come out. I know we still have the possibility of 3 or 4 weeks to go, but I'd happily settle for anytime next week. The Bloob just keeps dropping lower, which is good, but means that I have lots of pressure on my cervix, and also on my rectum, which gives this awkward sensation of kind of having to poop all the time, even though I don't. The things no one tells you!

We had 49 straight days of rain here, which has been making everyone crazy. It's been a tough spring. Today is our first day of sun in a month and a half! I got up this morning so excited about it, I grabbed the camera and took a picture of outside.

Then I made biscuits and gravy and veggie sausage for breakfast, in the sunlight! I love making biscuits, and I was thinking about getting to teach the Bloob to make them someday.

They were delicious, as usual, and Josh thoroughly enjoyed them, and ate too much, and then complained again about how he is getting fat. I told him that I am also fat (190 lbs, what?!?!) and that he can just shut up about it. I mean seriously, look at those scrawny shoulders.

We have spent a nice weekend at home getting stuff done, mostly basement related. The floor is DONE, except for several coats of polyurethane, which Josh will do during the evenings this week. The coats have to dry for 24 hours between each one, so that will work out fine. He also hung all of the light fixtures this morning, which helps it all look a little more finished. Choosing light fixtures was actually surprisingly difficult. At this point we couldn't really afford to buy the ones we want, and the cheap ones are really pretty unattractive, or just not our style. So, we splurged on one from Ikea for the front bedroom, and the rest are just cheaper, boring ones.

I bought myself a used Boppy nursing pillow at a resale thing the other day, and I made a new cover for it a few days ago. The cover that came with it was actually in good shape, but it had police cars and fire trucks all over it. I think I'm being snobby, but I can't understand why something made for ME to use has to have a dumb kid's print on it. I don't want to look at police cars every time I nurse the baby. So I made a more stylish one. I still need to put velcro on the back closure, but I'm happy with how it came out! I made it with different fabrics on each side.

We moved Richard's food back to the old spot, now that the basement dust has died down. I can't wait for the litter box to go back downstairs too. Even though I know he knows where the food is, because he ate it all last night while we were asleep, he was very adamant this morning that he didn't know where it was. It's a small brain in that little head. This was him telling me that he was upset about the situation.

I also promised a belly picture, so here it is. I feel very frumpy, and have started only wearing yoga pants around the house, but nothing else is comfortable at this point. Also, I cut my head off again sorry. I'm going to try to head outside into the sun and do some weeding in the yard now. Yay!