37 weeks and 4 days

Here's a pregnancy update.  I have decided to not edit myself and keep out details that you might not want to read.  So consider this your warning.

I had my regular visit with my OB on Wednesday.  It included my first internal exam.  (I should have had one a week ago but since we were in SLC, that didn't happen.)  She informed me that I was 80% effaced and dilated to 1 centimeter.  She also said that she thought I'd go all the way to my due date of August 30th.  One side note - I LOVE my doctor.  I picked her after hours of research online reading reviews and such.  She has been a perfect match for me from my very first appt. with her.  She let me fly to SLC when technically I shouldn't have been on a plane and that far along in pregnancy.  She was extremely compassionate during this visit regarding my loss.  It was her first day back from vacation and I was her last patient of the day (she saw 50 people that day!).  So it was after 6 pm when we finally had our visit and she spent quite a bit of time talking to me and sharing about the loss of her father, etc.  I certainly didn't feel like I was one of the last obstacles in her finishing her marathon day and getting to go home.  So, if you need an OB in Frisco, TX... Suzette Boyd is amazing.

Anyway, back to the pregnancy update.  My feet have been swelling a little by the end of the day for the past month and a half but after putting them up in the evenings, they go back to normal.  Not anymore.  They are now swollen all the time.  I actually wore flip flops (against dress code but who is going to say anything to a poor pregnant woman about what she has on her feet?) to work yesterday because the other shoes I was going to wear wouldn't fit.

I have a small amount of heartburn pretty much everyday but thanks to Tums once or twice, that's not a problem.

I get up probably 5-7 times each night to use the restroom and rolling over in bed is an ordeal.  The kind of ordeal where I can't help but grunt or moan or whimper.  Just like standing up or getting up from the ground, it amazes me that movement is now accompanied by sounds coming out of my mouth.  I swear, it helps.  :)

I came to the conclusion last week that I was having contractions.  I don't know how long I've been having them because I hadn't identified that feeling as a "contraction" until Thursday last week.  But I was sitting at Village Inn with Kimberly, Alex, and Brittany and her family and described what I was feeling to my sisters and they said it was a contraction.  (I ended up having lots of consistent contractions that night and at one point thought that this baby was going to have "Utah" as his place of birth but it didn't happen.  Luckily they did stop.)  I have continued having contractions each day.  They aren't to the point where they are painful but certainly uncomfortable.  There have been a few that have been intense enough that I have grabbed Peter's arm and breathed through it.  So, my body is certainly starting to prepare.  Then yesterday I lost my mucus plug so that's another step closer.  The baby still hasn't dropped yet (at least he hadn't as of my Dr's appt and it doesn't feel like anything has changed since then).

I am not ready to go through labor and delivery.  This part of pregnancy has always been my biggest fear.  I even asked my doctor if there was a way to put this off for a few months because I'm not ready. I will put up with being this pregnant for much longer if it means I don't have to go through labor.  Not ready, not looking forward to it, not ready for there to be a baby to take care of, not ready to go through any pain, not ready for my "business" to be open to the public, just NOT READY.

We took a baby care class at the hospital the morning before we flew to SLC.  It's not like I haven't ever been around or taken care of babies but the closer we get to this thing really happening, the more I feel inadequate and uneducated.  The class was helpful and I'm glad we went. 

This week we took our second class - Breastfeeding - at the hospital.  I KNOW that class will come in handy since this is completely new territory for me.  And then tomorrow we have the first of 2 prepared childbirth classes. 

I know some people may laugh at us for taking these classes and reading the books we read.  I know some people do it all without any of this stuff and their babies still survive and turn out okay.  But hey, it works for us and I think it's important to be as educated as possible considering this is one of the most, if not the most, important things we will do in our lives.  I'd hate to think that we spent more time researching what car we want to buy versus how to be care for a child and be a good parent.

Today is a full moon.  Apparently full moons bring on labor.  I'll be getting my hospital bag ready today and hopefully not using it for a week or two.

Oh yes, an update on the heat.  The streak of "consecutive days over 100 degrees" finally ended on Thursday.  We were at 40 days.  The all time record was 41.  Of course I would be pregnant during this crazy hot summer.  So Thursday's high was 97 but then Friday was right back to 103 and there's no end in sight right now to the over 100 degree days.  The heat is making it hard to want to get out there and go shopping for a second car.  I refuse to shop for a car when it's 106 degrees outside.