Pre-Labor (I hope) Update

So on Tuesday, my due date, I got acupuncture, and I definitely felt like it started something. Since then, I've been having Braxton-Hicks contractions non-stop, and I'm pretty sure I lost my mucus plug or some bits of it over the last day or two. I've also been feeling increasing pressure on my cervix.

Last night I was desperate enough to try taking a long walk--I wanted to harness the power of these Braxton-Hicks! Plus, my Dad has been pushing the walking for a week now. So James and I went to UConn and I waddled around at top speed and raced up and down many sets of stairs. I will say that this had the effect of making the contractions I was having more painful. However, if we would stop for even a minute, they would stop being painful, and once I returned home, that was it. They might have been been painful because I was asking my poor abdominal muscles to hold up a 30 pound uterus while I jostled it all over.

Anyway, I couldn't fall asleep last night, partly because my back was hurting, and partly because I drank caffeinated tea all day yesterday. I eventually fell asleep on the couch watching Harry Potter 4 and with my ribs belted together.

And now it is Thursday the 18th--the last day of my prediction window that I felt was incredibly realistic. ::snort:: Anyway, honestly, if it wasn't for the acupuncture, I would have little hope of giving birth before 41 weeks. But my friend claims his patients are more or less "on time", within a couple of days.

So I have another acupuncture appointment today at 1pm and considering all the pre-laborish stuff I've been having for two days straight, I'm feeling good about the possibility of going into labor tonight. Please send little James all the evacuation vibes you can possibly spare!! ;-)

Belting my Ribs/Shower-Baths

So I FINALLY think I realized why I have been having such serious back pain. I think my huge uterus/baby is pushing my rib cage apart, and specifically putting pressure on this one spot in my back just because of exactly how James is positioned in there.

The other night I took this belt of James and put it around my ribs and belted it really tight, putting counter-pressure on my rib cage. Of course this was/is uncomfortable in a different way, but it TOTALLY relieved the pressure off of my back. I fell asleep like that, and didn't wake up until 3 am, at which point I thought I should probably take the belt off, but the second I laid back down, my back started hurting again and I regretted it. So I've been wearing the belt around my rib cage here and there throughout the day, especially while I'm sitting or laying down because that seems to be the worst for my back hurting.

And in other news, my new before bed ritual, as I think I've mentioned, is taking a shower-bath. It is so comforting to get in the hot shower and feel my body relax, and then to lay down in the bath and just feel so warm and comfortable. I'm so glad we have the birth tub for me to labor in, because I'm pretty sure I will be in it non-stop, LOL. I think in the last two weeks, I've gone to bed without first taking a shower maybe twice. And I was NOT an every-day showerer before the development of this end-of-pregnancy ritual, let me tell you.

Anyway, I just keep hoping that *this* night will be the last one and soon I will be holding my big beautiful baby on the outside of my body instead of inside and my body will have a break.

Maternity Support Belt

So I got this Maternity Support Belt at Babies R Us last week, and I am loving it!

I feel like it has REALLY been helping my back--I can totally feel that my stomach is better supported when I am wearing it and not PULLING on my back. Or not as much or not in the same way. Before getting acupuncture (and a few days later, this belt), I had been taking Tylenol every evening for probably a week, so I could fall asleep without being in pain. Since getting acupuncture and then getting the belt, I think I have only taken Tylenol once in the past ten days. So it is a serious improvement!

In other news, I'm supposed to leave right now and go to this La Leche League Meeting. Going to a meeting is part of the "homework" of my Bradley Class (which, by the way, is still going well though I have neglected to write about it for awhile), but I am SO unmotivated to go tonight. My Mom visited me from Sunday until today, and we did a ton of cleaning, cooking, and general pre-baby prep. I am TIRED and do NOT feel like leaving my house tonight.

And honestly, I really do know a TON about breastfeeding (I mean, for someone who has never done it). Sigh. Sorry Dr. Bradley, it is not happening.

Thank You Acupuncture!!

As I've mentioned, I go to get weekly adjustments from a chiropractor, who also happens to be my good friend. Her partner, who is an acupuncturist, is also my good friend. Though I don't get acupuncture nearly as often, it is definitely useful for some things.

For instance, a few weeks ago when James David was still head up, I made an appointment for yesterday to get him to flip over. Craig (my friend) said that it was pointless trying to flip them sooner because they would just flip back. So I made the appointment just in case I got here and he was still head up.

Luckily, as we know, he is head down and engaged. The shooting pains down my inner thighs and my 2X per hour bathroom trips are evidence of that. (And, on happier notes, less heartburn and more ability to put on my own socks).

So when Craig walked into the room yesterday and said: "So what are we treating you for today?" at first I was like: "Uuuuhhh, I don't know! He's head down and engaged, so that's good, and it's not time for him to come out yet, so I don't need acupuncture for that yet . . . " Finally I ended up explaining about the back pain I have been having.

So he did his thing and I sat there with needles in one arm and one leg, wiggling my back from time to time, per his instruction, and I could actually feel things happening in there--a heat flowing through . . . afterwards, I went merrily on my way.

And you know? It helped SO MUCH!!! It isn't completely and totally gone, but last night was the first night in maybe a week that I didn't take Tylenol just so I could fall asleep. Over the last week or so, I've been asking James to rub it so hard and so often in this one spot that I think I have bruises now. Well last night I was able to let them heal because I needed minimal back rubbing as I fell asleep.

I am just SOOOO grateful. Especially since in the past, when I've had acupuncture, it usually takes a couple days before the treatment reaches its full effectiveness, so I'm hoping it will continue to be really manageable!!

I don't know why I sound so surprised. Acupuncture has done miraculous things for my back pain in the past. But usually back pain is supposed to be caused from blocked qi that is caught in your stiff muscles (according to chinese medicine), and I guess I figured since mine is caused from carrying a baby around in my uterus that he might be less able to help me. But I was so wrong. I could feel that qi getting unblocked as I sat there, hehehe!!

I am just so so happy, it's been pretty miserable the last couple of days.

I made another appointment for 3 weeks from yesterday (the day before I am 39 weeks), so I can get acupuncture to make the baby come on time. Craig has great success with inducing labor and said none of his patients have EVER gone more than 1 day past their due date. So I made that "Let's kick the baby out now" appointment.

But honestly if my back pain comes back I might just try to get acupuncture every week for that, because it helped SO much!!

THANK YOU CRAIG!!!

(Incidentally, Craig is the brother of my friend Steph who I just learned is pregnant . . . so he'll be an uncle in May!)

One Month to Go: Back Pain and Nesting

My ticker is in the last box and tells me I only have 30 days until my due date! Shall we crunch the numbers?

2 is the number of days until I can go into labor and still have my home-birth (36 weeks)
9 is the number of days until I am full term (37 weeks)
30 is the number of days until my meaningless due date (40 weeks)
44 is the absolute maximum number of days that I could be pregnant (42 weeks)

12 is the number of things on our "to do before the baby comes" list (which is actually going to be updated now, and get a lot longer again, but we definitely making progress).

Anyway, needless to say, we are in the home stretch! As I enter the ninth and final month of pregnancy, I am forced to conclude that this might be the worst month of all for me.

I was very lucky to have little to no morning sickness, to find my emotions and health stabilized by pregnancy, rather than disrupted, and generally to be a pretty happy and care-free pregnant lady. In retrospect the second trimester was such a godsend! Even my issues of heartburn and being uncomfortable tend to go in waves, where it will be bad for a few days, and then I'll feel better again.

But now, for over a week (maybe even two), I have had persistent and killer back pain. Whenever I have to sit or lay down, I have to arrange a million pillows around me so that I'm not horribly uncomfortable, and even then, it is pretty bad. I am still getting regular adjustments from the chiropractor, but it seems to make no difference. Basically, I have a 20 pound uterus (baby, uterus, placenta, and fluid) pulling on my weak back muscles. The fact that the same area is always in pain seems a testament to this theory. I can practically feel it happening as I type.

Several times a day I beg James to rub it--I get down on my hands and knees to relieve the pressure--I bounce on my birth ball hoping for a miracle. But it only seems to get worse. The only time I feel relatively okay is for a few hours in the morning. :-/

A few days ago I remembered with a cry of joy that I am able to take tylenol. Now I'm struggling not to take it around the clock. I take some and then a few hours later I start wondering when I can take more again. It is fairly miserable.

And yet despite my complaining, I'm still grateful for the fact that this is the worst part of the pregnancy for me so far. At least there is an end in sight!


Okay, moving on.


We had/are having another productive weekend. As I reported earlier, we finished installing our changing area and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! James loves it, too, and keeps saying how nice it is and how glad he is that I envisioned it. :-)

Today we also gathered up the blankets, pillows, and couch cushions from the living room and are doing a flea "fogger" in one of the upstairs rooms. We don't have a serious flea problem at this point, but I have had several itchy episodes and I think there were/are a few living in our couch area. So the fogger is supposed to work for seven months, and I love that I won't have to worry about fleas for all that time. So that is happening today.

We also moved the rug in the living room back a bit, which is part of getting the woodstove ready for inspection. As part of this, we got into dusting and vacuuming some of the surfaces in the living room--the old-fashioned radio and the lamps. I was recalled back to this post as I watched James vacuum off the lampshades, but they WERE super dusty so I'm glad he thought to do it!

Hopefully the rest of the day will be equally productive. We have to wash all the blankets and pillows that just got "fogged", and I need to switch out the summer and winter clothes. (You may be thinking that you are SURE this has been on my "to-do today" list before. You would be right, readers, and yet it is still undone.) :-/

James is studying for his big exam right now, so it would be an ideal time for me to start dealing with the clothes. Will she do it, folks? WILL SHE DO IT?