Monday, November 30, 2009

Lightening!

Why, hello blog! I haven't forgotten you; it's just that this pregnancy has been blessedly boring. Praise the Lord!

This past Friday, I had one of my boring, quick, bi-weekly appointments. This was with Dr. B, the one male in the practice who I've felt iffy about in the past, but he's actually pretty funny and personable, so I feel better now. Also, he walked in the exam room before I had even had a chance to climb up onto the table! So he gets a bonus for not making me wait. We were leaving the office only 15 minutes after my scheduled appointment time. That's pretty much unheard of! Anyway, when he walked in the room, he studied Erich's beautiful curly locks and asked if he had a perm. "It's too perfect! It must be man-made!" Nope, all natural. :)

After he measured my belly, Dr. B gave the baby a little squeeze and declared that the head is down in the pelvis and will now stay that way. Having a breech baby was one last little fear I had left, so this was a great relief!

The more I thought of it, the more I realized that I had felt Lily drop the day before. After Thanksgiving dinner, I was relaxing in a La-z-Boy at my parents house and had a few Braxton Hicks contractions. I gradually began to notice that my baby, who usually crushes my ribs and crowds my lungs, was being a bit kinder. Now it is unmistakable: my once-high bump has lowered significantly.

I hadn't realized that babies could drop so soon (at 33.5 weeks), but Google confirms that that's okay. And I have found myself pretty excited about this! I know I have a way to go yet, and my bladder is getting abused more and my waddle is out of control, but this feels like the first real sign of the beginning of the end--the first significant step before birthing my baby! It's like this is real!

To be perfectly honest, though, I still get irrational fears. I'm sure I'd have these fears with or without my miscarriage history, but it's still difficult to fully accept that I will be taking home a live baby from the hospital in about six weeks. The more our house fills up with furniture, clothes, and supplies for the baby, the more my nervous level increases. We have to plan for a permanent situation here, and even though I'm 99% sure we will not regret having so much for the baby, I'm still not 100% sure. I think this is a symptom of just general anxiety--normal pregnancy stuff. But I sure don't like it!

Let's just say I thank Lily profusely every time she wiggles, kicks, or presses against my skin. Stay strong, Little One!

4 comments:

MooreMama said...

You're on the home stretch! I worried like a crazy person (well, my OB called me neurotic) until 16-18 weeks, when he pronounced her "sticking". Then, I was pretty calm until I hit about 34 weeks, when I started to worry again.
We induced at 39 weeks, partly because I was afraid of going into labor when my (very trusted) OB was not on call, but partly because I had convinced myself that she was safer "out" than "in". I simply didn't trust my defective body to keep her alive any longer.

This time around, my goal is to stay calm until s/he decides to come out...

who said life is fair said...

very exciting, so nice to read a "boring" update. :-)

i have yet to purchase anything at almost 23 wks b/c of my irrational fears.

you stay strong too! not too much longer and how very exciting!

Kacey said...

Wow! It's been a while since I read your blog, and it looks like you're about to have your baby girl! Congrats!! We have gone down similare rocky roads from what it seems on your history. I do my 1st Ivf in Jan. To be continued...
hisplannotmine.blogspot.com

ROD said...

You will love it, and in 20 years you will love having a grandchild.