39-Week Midwife Appointment

So Labor Day passed, and still no Baby Helms. Oh well, she has to come soon, right? We're now a week out from the due date. Today was my 39-week appointment with Margaret. I was stressing out trying to get there on time this morning because my dumb alarm decided to not go off, regardless of the fact that it was set for the correct time and turned on. I still was able to get there not more than 10 or 15 minutes late, which was pretty amazing... and it turned out I shouldn't have been stressed anyway because poor Margaret was having a time of it trying to leave the hospital. Apparently about six women were in labor last night/this morning. So I guess I'm glad I didn't go into labor last night, considering there are only six labor and delivery rooms at the hospital anyway. And it wasn't even a full moon...

The appointment went well -- peed in a cup (fine), had my blood pressure taken (also fine), weighed in (I had actually lost a pound!), and then went into the examination room to see Margaret. She checked out the baby, and everything was pretty much the same. She seems to think I'll have the baby in the next week or two, but I imagine she really doesn't know any more than I do. She ended up not checking to see if I was dilated/effaced, but I believe her theory (though she didn't say so herself) is to not let me get too concerned (read: obsessed) about those numbers and just relax and let it happen. She said she will check me next week... if I make it that long. She also said that it seemed like I still had an ample amount of amniotic fluid, so there is not concern about that yet.

The baby's feet are definitely in a different spot these days, and one that is very sensitive at that. I told Margaret that, and she said that it could be that the baby is kicking my liver. That would explain it! She can also definitely still reach my ribs, but that isn't nearly as bad... although it's a little strange to feel her foot kind of get stuck up under the rib cage for a second and then sort of pop out. I asked Margaret about the loss of the pound, and she said it's fairly normal to lose some weight toward the end of the pregnancy, and that it could even be a sign that I am getting close. We shall see!

I did some cleaning/organizing over the weekend. You can call it nesting, but I probably would have felt the urge to do it even if I wasn't pregnant. I also went grocery shopping and purchased ingredients to make a homemade lasagna and big pot of chili, which I made and put in the freezer last night so that we'll have something there that we can just heat and eat in those first few days after the little one arrives.

In other baby news, Jarrett and I went to a breastfeeding class at the hospital last Wednesday, and we definitely learned a few things, though I wasn't totally astounded by the class or the instructor (one of the lactation consultants on staff). It was definitely worth it to go, though, and I'm glad that we did. Jenn, our doula, has highly recommended one of the lactation consultants at the hospital, so I have already noted in the birth plan that I would really like to see her before leaving, if at all possible.

Jarrett's office also threw us a baby shower on Friday, which was really nice of them. It was kind of a surprise for Jarrett, and they invited me to come down over my lunch hour to take part in the festivities. Lunch was ordered in from Taqueria del Sol, one of our most favorite places to eat, and they got us a lot of nice things, including a Tigger Halloween costume Jarrett had seen in Babies R Us, and was extremely excited about. It is definitely cute.

So we're still feeling ready. In fact, we are just more prepared by the day. We got some more snacks for Jarrett to take to the hospital, and he made a few Labor and Delivery playlists for the iPod yesterday evening. I will definitely have a wide variety of musical distraction, which I am quite excited about. It will be interesting to see what I think during the throws of labor.