Jeremy greeted me this morning with “Happy Fifth of July.” Why is today such a big day – because it’s the baby’s due date. This means about nothing, but this is the day that we’ve been counting down to with the baby. We kind of hoped that the baby would come on the Fourth of July (fireworks for birthdays…) but that was not to be. Frankly, I’d be surprised if the baby came today… I just don’t feel like today’s the day. But, I’ve never done this before so it’s entirely possible I could be wrong. I still think it’ll be sometime next week.
Since up until mid-last week the baby hadn’t even ‘dropped’ yet and I wasn’t having very strong Braxton-Hicks contractions, my midwife recommended that I get acupuncture to ‘get my body ready.’ So I’ve had two sessions so far and I think it’s working. At the first session I could feel my body start having stronger contractions and cramping and at the second session I literally felt the baby move down more. After the second session J and I went to the coast and while we were there the baby got into perfect position – back out, head very low, perfect ‘birth’ position. I kind of hoped I was going to go into labor that night, but the kid wasn’t ready and by Saturday morning it moved back over to my left side (it’s favorite place to hang out). Sigh… So I’m going back on Monday to get punctured and I guess I’ll keep it up until the kid comes.
Besides waiting J and I have been trying to enjoy our last few days as a family of 2 (2 people at least). We went to the coast on Friday, just to Manzanita for some walking on the beach, snacks at a wine bar (sparkling water for me), and watching the sunset over chowder. Yesterday I met up with friends for brunch (J slept in) and then we tried to escape the heat by going up to Mt. Hood Wilderness area to go hiking. It was cooler up there (85 as compared to 95 in Portland) and we found a nice park with shaded, flat, paved trails. Perfect for a waddling pregnant woman. We stopped at about every other bench to rest, went through 3 water bottles and probably hiked less than 2 miles total but it was a very nice way to spend the afternoon. The idea of sitting at home, waiting and constantly asking myself ‘was that a contraction? Is labor starting?’ is enough to drive me nuts so I’m trying to come up with things that a) will be fun for the two of us, b) we won’t be able to do as easily once we’re caring for a small person who needs to eat every 2 or 3 hours, and c) distracts me. All of these things are fairly active as well, so bonus if the hiking brings on labor. Besides, Sadie has enjoyed our little outings and she’s going to be very neglected soon. It gives our little family a chance to connect before the dynamic changes.
Here are some pictures from our hike.
40 weeks…
Salmon River at Wildwood State Park. It’s a really nice park with lots of picnic areas, very easy trails and a cool ‘salmon viewing window’ where you look into a creek and see baby salmon. It’s about the easiest ‘hike’ I’ve ever taken but if you’re looking for a place close to town for older or younger hikers it’s a cool place to experience the wilderness very easily.As for today – I’m not sure what we’re going to do. I’m going to try to pry J away from the Wimbledon finals and go to brunch, and then I may abandon him back to the TV so I can go to the farmers market and the library. The Waterfront Blues Festival is going on downtown but, while I love to go to it, the idea of sitting out on an unshaded lawn in 90 degree weather (not to mention getting up and down from the ground….) doesn’t really appeal to me. Today might be a hang out around the house and put my feet up day – which isn’t bad considering I won’t have many of those once the aforementioned small person arrives. We’ll see.