8 Days to go!

So let me first start off by saying how weird it is to have your stomach growl, but realize that the sound and feeling is coming from behind your boob. This kid is taking up so much of my abdomen that every other organ is jammed into my ribs! Craziness! I really can't complain though. Some women get swollen and achy and all around angry at the end of their pregnancy, but I have been blessed by the Preggy Gods and am doing just fine! My doctor said 'your body likes to be pregnant!'. I said 'let's wait and see how it likes to push out a baby first!'. Today was another internal exam day. I've only had one previously a few weeks ago. What an adventure that was.

Nurse Practioner : 'I definitely feel a head down here!'

Me: 'WOW, you're really up there aren't you???'

Today's wasn't quite so bad since I knew what to expect. Unfortunately though, my cervix is not anywhere near where it should be to give birth. (The cervix moves from back near your lower back towards the front in order to give birth at the end of pregnancy-which i never knew until I read it in a book a few months ago) We still have a week to go before the official due date. My midwife has said that she'll let me go 2 weeks past it if I need it. It's nice to know on one hand because it means I will probably avoid any type of induction (which can really suck for moms and babies). But as great as I feel, I'm just so excited to meet this kid that I don't really WANT to go much longer! Plus, with each week that passes....he gets bigger!!!! Cervixes are tricky things though. They can appear perfectly happy right where they are, all high and undilated, not letting anything pass through (like a mini human). And then BAM! They can ripen faster than a tomato in a window sill. Seriously, they call it 'cervical ripening'. Just ruined your fruit eating experiences for the rest of your life huh? I know that the time will come and he WILL be born within the next 3 weeks (oh God, only three???), but Josh and I have a few tricks up our sleeve to try and coax him out. One involves some TMI but you can imagine what type of thing can get in there to irritate the cervix into 'ripening'. The other involves some simple reflexology. Jess's friend at work is trained in it and gave us some tips on pressure points that are known to stimulate the onset of labor. So we'll see how that works out. Until then I'm guzzling red raspberry leaf tea (to tone the uterus for more effective contractions), walking a ton (by just going to work every day), and trying to stay positive and excited (which isn't hard at all!!)

Oh and one more thing that we found out...Baby Fisch has flipped! For awhile there he was 'sunny side up', meaning that he could come out face up...meaning a painful labor and prolonged delivery. But all of my squats and pelvic rocks have paid off! He spun around and is laying on his left side which is great. He should have no problem sliding his little head (oh how I hope it's little!) into that birth canal when the time comes. Fingers crossed for a nice, normal delivery!