More waiting...

Tyson and I have recently learned that although the birth center employs midwives, they do not seem to follow the midwifery model of care. Midwives supposedly believe that pregnancy and childbirth are natural, healthy events to be celebrated, not medical problems to be "fixed." It turns out, a woman "risks out" of the birth center at 41 weeks, and has to deliver at the hospital, TMC. Although it's nice that the midwife still attends the birth, considering the fact that the average length of a first pregnancy is 41 weeks and 1 day, not allowing the woman to remain at the birth center seems excessive. On Friday, at my 41st week, I learned that not only am I unwelcome to deliver at the birth center, but that they condone induction that early, and actually require it at 41.5 weeks. So much for trusting Mother Nature. But I'll spare you from my rant.

Over the past 6 days, I've tried combinations of acupuncture, moxibustion, evening primrose oil, raspberry leaf tea, blue cohash, black cohosh, membrane stripping, and even the fabulous castor oil/orange juice/ice cream shake. Clearly, Godot is not interested in vacating the premises just yet. And so we wait.

But we had a wonderfully productive weekend. The house is clean, Tyson's truck is washed and waxed, we sold a bunch of stuff we don't need anymore, the guest room almost has room for a guest in it now...and today we worked on the nursery.

Tyson worked some more on the palm tree:

We also prepped all the cloth diapers. More work, but less cost, and much better for the environment, plus they come in all these fun colors!

The changing table's ready to go:

Tyson anchored the closetdrawers and shelves to the wall. I finished organizing the closet and we set up the bookshelf and toychest, which Paula found for us.

Maybe a finished nursery is what Godot's been waiting for...

Still no indications that anything's about to happen from my perspective. But some people believe animals can sense an impending birth. Today when we returned from buying paint, this is what we found:

Vader clawed at the doorways at both the master bedroom and the bedroom closest to the street. He didn't damage the doors or flooring, but this couldn't have felt good, and while he always has some neurotic tendencies (following me around the house, or licking the glass door if he's outside and can't see me) he's not done anything like this in the past 5 years. Maybe he can sense that I'll go into labor soon? I've heard of seizure dogs, and cancer dogs, maybe, just maybe, Vader's a labor dog. At any rate, although we're keeping busy, still we're waiting for Godot, and we hope he or she comes soon!

Still waiting...

So we’ve made it past the 40 week mark. I thought from the beginning that Godot would make a late arrival. I’m still relatively comfortable so it seems like we might be waiting a few more days, but Tyson’s definitely anxious to meet this kid face to face, and I’m starting to feel that way, too. Maybe Godot’s waiting to be born on his Grandpa Glass’s or Aunt Jonell’s birthday? Or maybe it’ll turn out that I’m just very lucky and will skip the uncomfortable phase and go straight to labor?
As this pregnancy draws to a close, I like to think back to all the things I was surprised by:
How much I slept in the first trimester
How much energy I had in the second trimester
How dependent I’ve become on a pillow between my knees to be able to sleep
How much effort it takes to roll over/get out of bed
How much longer it takes me to clean the house
How much I’d come to enjoy my “roommate” - kicking, pushing, and all
The nosebleeds
The snoring
The earwax! Seriously, what’s up with the earwax???

Tyson definitely had some nesting thing going on this weekend. He installed a microwave/hood above our range, repaired our screen door, bottled 10 gallons worth of beer (I helped), and finished up countless other tasks, too. As for me, I just cleaned. That’s my typical weekend, though I used to be able to get it all done in one day, whereas these days it’s spread out over three, even with Tyson’s help. Finally, the house feels clean. Maybe that's what Godot's been waiting for...
-C

Nursery Progress

Some progress was made in the nursery, Cheryl's administrative assistant and niece finished up the grass, and the palm tree fronds, we were undecided on colors for the tree trunk, so we are still trying to figure that out. Cheryl and I will actually do all of the finishing work, adding the trunk, coconuts, a monkey and maybe some other animals as well.

Cheryl  has also been having some Braxton Hicks contractions that are becoming uncomfortable. Beforehand, she would notice her tummy getting really hard, but didn't have any discomfort. Maybe it's a sign that the arrival is nearing.

The end is nigh!

The time is drawing nearer, Cheryl is a little embarrassed about her stretch marks, they are inevitable.  I don't know of any pregnant woman who doesn't get them, plus she scars well, she has nothing at all to be concerned about. IMO She's lucky.

I don't know who that jackass is, probably the baby's daddy, I don't know what she sees in him, anyhow I'll be happy to take care of his baby!

Note the bellybutton, that's weird!

Jungle theme, because she says so...

So we finally started to paint, and by we, I mean other people. I had to work Monday through Saturday this week, and we had planned to paint Saturday. Cheryl's admin assistant Pamela volunteered to help paint, she also volunteered her husband who Cheryl said wasn't too hapy to be involved. However, the room seemed to come out nicely. The paint is darker than we epected, so we will not be using this color for the living room as originally planned.

Sorry about this picture it was about to rain and there was just enough light to make the flash unresponsive.


Here is a better image. The color is Teepee or Brown Teepee, its a beige/tan color loos almost like chocolate milk with too much milk.


Yes, we remove all of the light switch and socket plates, as you should. :)