Wednesday? Thursday? What day IS it? FRIDAY!!!!

Well Hello there.

I don't really have much to write. I have been leading the glamorous life of a woman on bedrest. Really this means that I sleep till noon and spend the majority of my day and night on the couch.

My Tuesday night Dr. Appt got canceled as my midwife had a baby to deliver, so we rescheduled for Wednesday. my blood pressure was high, 141/96 and 138/98. So I got sent to OB for the Routine NST and blood work to rule out toxemia, and then got taken off work permanently. I was totally ready for that. But I really thought that I wouldn't have the bedrest part to ruin all my good partying. I denied having an internal exam on Wednesday because I pretty much felt that if anyone stuck anything inside me I might burst. So who knows how dilated and effaced I am now. It doesn't seem to matter in the scheme of things so why get myself worked up? So Wednesday I left home at 9:30am, got released from OB around 12:15, spent the next hour in Human Resources filling out FMLA paperwork and filing an appeal for my "denied" short term disability claim (yeah, that was a great idea, to open the mail at 4am and find out that they denied my claim.) Then I went to the Ace Learning Ladder and filled out daycare paperwork and took the tour there. It was awesome there!

That afternoon and evening I busied myself with Parenting and Baby magazines... going through them and tearing out anything that I thought I might actually reference later, and tossing the rest, than organizing the torn out pages by category in sheet protectors.

Of course then about 6pm I had a total scare where I thought I was either dying or in labor. Basically my back was hurting, and Evan went to Princeton to go grab supper, and I thought I would get up for a pee break and take some Tylenol. I tried to pee and couldn't (huh?) and suddenly when I got up I had this horrible stabbing and STRONG back pain, only on my left side. It was bad. I thought it was gonna be one of those strange late pregnancy pains and twangs that just goes away and is unexplained, but it was KILLING me and it wouldn't stop. Steady and strong. I ripped off my clothes and tried to relax and lay down in bed. I couldn't lay down. On either side. I couldn't even position my pillows or pull the blankets over me. I was like paralyzed. Then a sudden panic that something was WRONG. Things are going through my head like "baby's choking" or "placenta is tearing" and then I thought OH MY GOD this is what labor feels like and mine has started and already I am a baby and there is no way I can do this.

I was feeling so nauseous I could barely get down two tylenol (as if that would provide instant relief, ha ha) I called Evan, whimpering for him to come home right away, and got a washcloth with cold water for my forehead. I had started the hypnobirthing CD but couldn't concentrate or even hear it to relax. It was insane. I was completely overtaken by pain. I ended up getting the birth ball and putting a towel over it, and sitting on it while leaning into the edge of the bed with a pillow under my head and the washcloth over my forehead. RELIEF, albeit small and slow, seeped into my back. I needed to get her weight off my back or something. When Evan came in he found me sitting naked on the ball, washcloth on my forehead, head propped up on my elbows. He wanted me to lay down but I was too scared it would come back. He rubbed the spot in my back and it got better and better. Eventually he convinced me to lay down and got me all snuggled in with pillows on every direction and the cloth on my forehead, and he started hypnobirthing over again and I was able to relax and the next thing I know, it was an hour later, and Evan was waking me up with supper ready. He laughed and said he could hear me snoring when he walked in the house. I hadn't moved an inch, but had slept for an hour. the washcloth was still on my forehead.

I spent the night alternating between the couch and the birth ball, when my back would ache in that spot, and I ate supper on the birth ball. I asked my midwife and she was sure that what I had was a back spasm. Holy crap. She assured me that labor doesn't start like that, and that if I am supposed to have back labor, I will feel it later on. I knew they weren't contractions, because they never wrapped around to the front, and there was no start/stop time whatsoever... The spasm lasted for almost a full 20 minutes straight. It actually vaguely reminded me of the hydronephrosis that I had earlier in pregnancy, and I actually had a nurse (who has had kidney stones) ask me if I might have passed one. Who knows. But It didn't last too long and It hasn't happened since. I probably need to go to the chiropractor and get another adjustment. Or maybe another prenatal massage.

So today we had our waterbirth class. It was great. I learned lots, which surprised me considering that I have read an entire waterbirth book, four books on natural birth, and seen countless videos of waterbirths. But every hospital is different and has different policies. I feel well prepared. Evan and I attended the class, then stopped by the midwife's office to pick up the letter for the short term disability appeal. Then we grabbed a few things from my office, since I am "done" like my wireless keyboard and mouse and my mini-fridge.

This afternoon I sat around and went through the last of my magazines. Then I filled out the entire folder of paperwork from the daycare. I read their entire handbook. I organized hospital bills. I opened mail and packages. The wipes warmer finally got here, and a couple more sets of clothes from eBay. I ate some cheeseburger macaroni. And some oreos. I watched a movie. I checked my email.

Tonight I went to mom's for a bit and we watched TV and chatted. I kept my feet up in the recliner. It was nice. Then when I got home I checked my email again, and made up an entire list of things for Evan to remember when we go to the hospital. Things to grab that aren't packed (last minute stuff) and who to call when. Crazy little stuff that floats through my brain like "don't forget to put her footprints inside the Longaberger Purse lid" and "Don't forget to call my insurance company within 24 hours of birth in order for them to cover everything" and other crap like that. It feels good to have that all on paper. I had it in a notebook but it wasn't easy to find and in one place.

Then I made a list of administrative tasks that I can complete- things that I can do sitting down.... and things that need to get done that Evan can do. Not that they have to be done before she gets here, but just like "take out that garbage" and household stuff that drives me nuts while I sit here all day and that I can barely stand not doing. I also made neat little stacks of things like bills and magazines and crap, and re-packed some of the hospital stuff into a bigger basket. I have been keeping a little basket where I put things that I can't "fully" pack, like the camera and camcorder, and the accordion file with all the FMLA and baby paperwork inside. It was bigger than the lil basket I had it in, so I started a bigger one that we can just carry to the car, and added a couple of magazines and a book, since I feel much closer now that the due date is just a week and a few days away.

I need to work on thank you notes from the baby shower. I have a basket full of the supplies and gift lists... it's just a matter of sitting down and working on them. Another administrative task to add to the list.

The cleaning people come on Monday and I can't decide yet what I am supposed to do. Evacuate my own house? Hang out here and look stupid while they clean? Maybe that's where the prenatal massage would come in handy. But my luck as soon as I make an appointment I will be in labor and have to not only cancel the cleaning people, but the massage too.

Hope everyone is well. All is grand here. And since it's after 1am, it's time for bed. I sleep upright now, since the heartburn is so bad that no amount of Zantac mixed with tums and mylanta takes care of it. And believe me, I have tried coating my stomach with milk before meals and sprinkling sugar on pasta sauce and pizza. I don't think so. At least once she's born the heartburn will cease and desist.