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November 07, 2008

Digital Epidural, Volume 19

By Michelle Boudreau at 03:55 PM| Permalink | Comments (5)

It's been awhile since I wrote my last blog. As I write this, I have less than 4 weeks until my official due date. It is hard to believe that d-day is so close. It's been a unique experience to be sure. But I am, without a doubt, ready for the baby to be out of the womb ASAP. The expiration date on the overcrowding in my uterus, my inability to sleep well, and heartburn every time I eat has come and gone. Bring on the next challenges.

I've started weekly doctor appointments where they check my cervix for dilatation. It's great fun and not at all uncomfortable -- HA! Actually it's not fun at all and super uncomfortable . . . especially since my cervix is still a locked vault, meaning our new arrival will probably not be coming anytime soon.

My boss has a little celebration every time I come back to the office after one of these appointments and report no progress. While I understand her wanting me to stay around as long as possible (who wouldn't, really), I'm ready for this journey to be over.

While we were at our most recent doctor's appointment, the doctor had us set up an induction date in the event that the baby doesn't come on its own. If baby Boudreau continues in it's stubborn ways, December 2 is the last stop. When the doctor was telling us about this, she began down the path of explaining how many people don't like the thought of induction, but that once you get past your due date risks go up, etc. I don't know if she thought I was going to put up a road block, but I cleared that right up. I told her that if the baby wasn't here by my due date, I didn't care how they did it but they needed to get it out of me. Like I said, I'm ready for the baby to take up its wriggly squirmy habits somewhere other than my uterus.

I saw a commercial on TLC the other day for a show called something like "I didn't know I was pregnant." I guess the premise of the show is telling the stories of women who end up delivering a baby without ever knowing they were pregnant. While I'm sure that this happens on the extremely rare occasion, I call foul on there being enough women out there with this experience to base an entire show on.

Having gone through almost 9 months of pregnancy now, I don't understand how this is possible. It's not like the only clue would be the lack of that monthly visitor. Among the myriad of symptoms, I don't get how you would explain the baby's movements (especially towards the end when they get painful based on the lack of room). I mean what kind of health issues could you possibly think you have that would result in that kind of symptom -- some kind of massive tape worm?

So, to wrap up, I can no longer bend over without great difficulty, sleeping is a chore more than something I enjoy, my baby thinks it's an acrobat, and there are no signs of labor on the horizon.

Hooray!