37 Week Appointment & 20 Days left to go

I'm happy to report that the rest of the week has gone much better, thank goodness. I took my husband's advice and went to the library and checked out a bunch of books that I've been reading each night and it seems to help me relax. Which means that I've been asleep most nights by 7:30, and even though I wake up about 10:00 p.m. or so, I read some more, and then I go back to sleep about midnight. I'm still getting up a lot at night - but I'm feeling much better than I was in the beginning of the week which is a good thing.

Yesterday, I officially hit 37 weeks. I had a Dr's appointment as well with Dr. M, who is very thorough, but doesn't have the best bedside manner. Even still, I'm hoping that he is the Dr. who delivers Madeline. Anyway, the appointment went well. He did one last ultrasound to check her heart and her position. Heart rate was great, and she's still head down. Hard to believe that the next time we'll see her, she'll be in our arms instead on the screen. I'm still measuring right on time and he thinks that Madeline will weigh anywhere from 6 to 8 lbs. at birth which was music to my ears! No 10 lb. babies for this Mama - thank goodness!!

So here's where the appointment took a turn, or at least Dr. M went down the wrong road. He asked me how I'd been feeling, and I told him - "I'm exhausted, I'm uncomfortable, my back hurts, my stomach burns, I have heartburn (that's brought on by water for pete's sake), she's dropped so I have a lot of pressure and I go to the bathroom so much that it's not even funny anymore." To which he responds "The biggest risk in pregnant women is preterm labor, which is when a woman goes into labor anytime before 37 weeks. So the good news is that you've hit 37 weeks, you are full term - you've overcome that risk. Everything else is insignificant." I almost came off the table. I replied "Whoa, whoa, whoa - it may be insignificant to you, but it's certainly not insignificant to me." He started laughing and said, "I'm sorry, you are right. I've never been pregnant - but most pregnant women would probably agree with you. I'll try not to brush those things off in the future." INSIGNIFICANT??? Are you kidding me? Nothing about the physical hurdles these last few weeks present is insignificant. Those are words that only a man could utter. I have to say that although I caught even myself off guard with my response to him, I walked out of that office holding my head a little bit higher. I felt like I'd taken a stand for all miserable pregnant women out there. Hopefully, Dr. M will still be willing to deliver Madeline after yesterday's appointment. I'm sure, however, my chart now has some interesting documentations.

Here's a look at my big belly at 37 weeks:


So, although I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be pregnant and carry Miss Madeline these last 9 months, I'm ready to officially serve her an eviction notice. With the Dr.'s approval, it's time for to pack it up and move out Maddie, and any day now would be great. I promised some friends to wait until Mike gets home next Saturday to try any natural methods to induce labor, but once he's home it's on like donkey kong. Spicy food, eggplant parmesan, walking, riding down bumpy roads, Castor oil, you name it and I'm going to try it. And believe me, that's just the beginning of a list of things I have to try. Plus - there's a full moon on March 11th - so we've got that card in our back pocket as well. Hopefully Madeline will work with me on this and make her entrance into the world sooner rather than later.

20 days and counting...