41 weeks 2 days--Out, out damned snot.

OK, so it's not technically snot. But I am losing my mucous plug in large pieces. Which is heartening. It means I'm dialating. Which, of course, doesn't really mean a damned thing, but I am going to hope it means the baby will come soon.

Contractions are continuing to happen sporadically. Wake me up sometimes. I read something in the Midwife Archives about the theory that an open mouth makes for an open cervix. Not too sure I believe that, but consciously relaxing my mouth has indeed helped to get the rest of my body to relax. I can't exactly hop up out of bed to squat & rock every time I have a contraction.

Oh, I'm having bad back labor too. I've always had back problems. This is like my worst backache piling on top of itself repeatedly. God, it hurts. All the contractions hurt, but this back pain (which never really goes away between contractions, only dulls a bit) is a special sort of hell.

And the thing is, I could end this tomorrow if I wanted. Walk into Kapiolani and say "Hey, I've had two c-sections, gimme a third" and then give birth in a most painless fashion.

But I'm not gonna.

Oy, I'm insane.

Pool...Pool...I love my pool. It really doesn't stop the pain of contractions, or even seem to ease them in the slightest, but it sure makes me more comfortable in between them. Spent some more time in it today. Not laboring, just trying to ease my back. Heavenly. I took the advice of an online acquaintance & made myself a drink. I had about 45 minutes of near-painlessness, except for the contractions of course. And there were only two or three of those.

I think I said in my last entry that I had Rob check my cervix (he looked!) & he said it was maybe a centimeter dialated. I checked it last night and since I could actually find it and tell it was dialated, it has obviously changed some between Tuesday & Thursday. So I've got some change going on, however slowly. That was a big fear of mine. When I was induced with Bobbie, I stayed stubbornly at the 2cm I came in at, & had been at for more than a month. And of course I never got the opportunity to labor/dialate with Linda. So I'll take the movement, however slight.

Tried belly binding tonight. Folded a twin-sized sheet, pulled up my tummy, & had Rob tie it around me. Only problem being, by the time we got it tight enough that it actually held my stomach up, it was so tight I could barely breathe and it made my back return to screaming in pain. Nice theory. I'm certain it even works for some women. It did not work for me.

Took more belly shots tonight, since I've hopes this will be about my last opportunity:

Compare that to the one back at 34 or 35 weeks. There's more of a difference than just extra hair on my legs. My tummy is broader, for one. It doesn't look like it sticks out as far, but the truth is I just can't bring my feet in as much as I could seven weeks ago. Geez, I wonder why, LOL.

OK, this next deserves a side-by-side comparison:


Impressive, eh? That first one is 34 weeks, 2 days. The second, 41 weeks, 2 days. Not a huge difference, but an appreciable one. If I knew where my tape measure was, I'd measure myself again, just to see what it says.

Weighed myself on Monday & it said 213. So I've gained about thirty-three pounds. Wow. That's a lot. Not that it bothers me--much. I guess by the time you hit a week overdue, it the whole "ideal weight gain" thing flies out the window anyway.

God, I gotta e-mail these pictures to Mark. He'll get a kick out of them, I think.