The Waiting Game

My view as I stand barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen! (Yes, I know, I stand like a dancer.)

38 weeks, 6 days.  That’s how far along I was the day G was born.  Today I am 39 weeks.  I totally thought this baby would be earlier than G. Guess I was wrong!  But then, I was also induced with G (read her birth story here), so I really don’t know when I would have gone into labor with her had we waited for it to happen on its own. 

This whole waiting around for labor to happen is weird!  It’s weird knowing that I have given birth before, but still having no idea what to expect this time around.  By the time hard labor started with G, I had already been in the hospital 2 days and gotten the epidural, so I don’t actually know what the super painful contractions you see in movies & TV feel like.  I am having flurries of contractions here and there, but still nothing painful or regular.  Saturday night and last night they started becoming more frequent, averaging 8 minutes apart (sometimes as close together as 2 ½ minutes, sometimes as far apart as 20 minutes).  We seriously thought it might be leading to meeting our son.  I decided to get some sleep and see how I felt in the morning.  By the time I woke up though, both times, my body had reset and we were back to infrequent, sporadic contractions.

I am very grateful to this child for giving me adequate nesting time to clean and organize and prepare for his arrival.  I have organized parts of our house that have needed to be organized since before G was born!  However, it seems there is always more to do!  In addition to organizing, I have also done some deep cleaning throughout the house.  It feels so good to finally have the time to do some deep cleaning and organizing!  The only problem is that I definitely do not have the stamina that I do when not pregnant.  I find I can only be on my feet for about an hour or two before I start to get exhausted, my back starts hurting, and my feet and ankles start swelling. Granted, my feet and ankles are generally pretty bony, so the only person who can tell they are swollen is me … and maybe Aaron.

I’m really looking forward to meeting this little one.  I can’t wait to see what he looks like and hold his little hands and touch his little feet that keep sticking out of my belly!  I’m so curious to see what his personality ends up being like.  Will he be similar to G or completely different?  She was such a good baby that we are preparing ourselves for a colicky, needy baby, just in case he’s the exact opposite of her. 

At today’s appointment, the midwife said that I am already 80% effaced and 4cm dilated!  So it really could happen any day now.  At least the hospital bags have been packed for weeks.  Now all there is to do is wait . . . (Watch, after making a post all about waiting for labor to happen, I’ll go into active labor tonight!)