39 Weeks
I may have mentioned this before, but early on in pregnancy I started getting into my head that this baby was going to be coming early. Not so early - but earlier than my other kids. From the very beginning until about 30 weeks he was measuring 6 days early. I knew it wasn't a huge deal - but adding that to the fact that there was some confusion between my doctors office and my BabyCenterApp (ha) about my actual due date (March 7 vs March 13), I let myself get sucked in. I really tried not to, because I always think it's silly when people say "My due date is this... but I just know that I'll be early." Because no one really knows that. But, I also didn't want to be unprepared if this baby did decide to make his appearance early. (And March 7 or March 10 sound so much nicer than March 13 - ha.)
Even though I let myself get kind of sucked in to the thought that this baby would be early - I've not been particularly anxious about getting him here sooner. I have fairly easy pregnancies and haven't ever hit the point of feeling so uncomfortable or sick of being pregnant that I just want to be done. Plus, I believe that babies should be allowed as much time as they need to grow in-utero as possible. (So many benefits for those little babies!) So we decided against being induced even though the fact that Austin came so fast does make us a little nervous. Honestly, I'm just grateful to be pregnant and happy to enjoy the last few weeks of my little family of four (and of sleeping through the night).
However, Thursday night (March 2) I started having some more frequent contractions just before 8 o'clock. (I've been having Braxton-Hicks contractions, or maybe some real contractions here and there - but absolutely nothing frequent or regular.) I'd just gotten the kids down to bed and was sitting in my baby's nursery working on something on the computer. David was still at work, because - busy season, but was planning to come home about 8:30. The contractions weren't painful, but they were uncomfortable and when I started timing them I saw that they were roughly 6 minutes apart. I wrote a couple of texts to David asking him to come home early, but deleted them before I sent then because I figured that he'd be home soon enough. He ended up coming home early, about 8:15 - and I was grateful! The contractions started coming much less regularly, sometimes 5 minutes apart, sometimes 30 minutes. I wasn't convinced that this was real labor, I mean - it obviously wasn't active labor but who knows when pre-labor turns into Early Labor. It was just after 9ish (9:30? I'm not sure). We decided to call David's sister Amy because even though it was clear that we weren't heading to the hospital right then, we didn't know if we'd be going at 1 in the morning and we figured that it was better to call Amy and just ask her to sleep at our house instead of calling her at midnight, waking her up and asking her to come. I was still having irregular contractions and flipped back and forth between feeling silly for calling Amy so soon and being so glad that she was there and I didn't have to worry about leaving my kids at night.
I headed up to bed about ten-thirty because I was tired and uncomfortable. The contractions kept coming until about 12:30 when I assume they stopped because I fell asleep for the night and woke up the next morning. During that time, I had a very very vivid dream that the contractions had stopped - so we had taken the kids to the swimming pool and as we were leaving I suddenly delivered the baby and we were trying to drive to the hospital to make sure that everything was okay. I just remember holding my sweet boy in my arms and feeling so happy and so much love, then waking up and realizing that I did not have my baby during the night. It was so weird. And so hard to shake.
We had a nice "Amy-Day" to make up for calling her to come on a false alarm (really just an excuse to hang out with her). She played with the kids and in the afternoon, she and I went and got pedicures while Lydia played at a friends house (and Austin played games on my phone on my lap). It was so relaxing and exactly what I needed, but...
Since then, I've been feeling SO off balance.
I never had any contractions with Lydia OR Austin until it was the day. But now I have contractions all day long, and even through the night. They aren't regular at all. I might have several just 5-10 minutes apart and then not another one for two hours. They range from not uncomfortable at all (just tightening = Braxton Hicks?) to definitely uncomfortable and edging on painful. I wouldn't be worried so much except Austin came so fast, I've been afraid that I won't pay attention soon enough to get David home and the kids set up before we need to leave.
It's just kind of unsettling because I thought that I knew what to expect, but things have been completely different... again. Now I just have no idea what to expect.
I am feeling much better tonight, actually, because my mom has come to stay with us until the baby gets here. Just knowing that she's here and I don't need to call anyone in the night has been such a blessing already. I don't know when this baby will come, but I feel so much better knowing that she's here.
Other updates: I've been having awful heartburn that really has just kicked in during the last week. I'm still sleeping fine, only waking up once or twice to go to the bathroom but falling back asleep pretty easily. (Now when I wake up to go to the bathroom, I'm almost always having a contraction. I don't know if the contraction is waking me up or the contraction starts because I start moving but either way...) I don't feel as big as I felt with Austin or Lydia, but I'm measuring exactly on track, so that's good.
My doctor is out of town until Friday. (My new doctor that I had to switch to when Dr. Cloward left.) So I won't have my 39 week appointment until then. It seems like so far away. Honestly, I've not been really planning to go to the appointment because I've assumed that I'll have my baby already - but who knows. As I said before, I'm not feeling rushed to have this baby - more just unsettled about not knowing what to expect.
Regardless of what happens, I'm just praying for a smooth and safe birth. I already love this baby so much and I'm looking forward to meeting him, holding him, and telling him how much I love him.
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