Sorry, no Meet-and-Greet this week… We still had company on Monday, so I didn’t even realize I’d forgotten until Tuesday, and then I had no laptop, just this dinosaur of a desktop and decided if I tried to upload pictures using THIS, you wouldn’t get them until Friday anyway.  I do have pictures though!  Just wait til Monday!

AND Josh just informed me HP emailed him that my lappy should be back tomorrow.  😀 YAY.  We don’t know if they’ve replaced it or fixed it.  If they fixed it, they haven’t told us what they did to it.  I’ll know whether it’s a new one when I open the box.  The clue will be whether the scratch on the top from when Benjamin knocked it off the tray on the train is still there.

So I’ve decided that 37 1/2 weeks is about the time I should start thinking about getting ready for baby.  Mostly, the credit goes to these braxton hicks contractions that are pretty much on top of each other.

Yesterday, I made a list of what to pack (and what we have yet to buy) to bring to the hospital.  I also washed all the little boy and gender nuetral clothes for 0-3 months.  All our little girl 0-3 month clothes are in a Missouri basement and will be coming when the baby’s born.  So if it’s a boy, he’ll come home in blue.  If it’s a girl, she’ll come home in yellow.

I have a problem with that, but Josh doesn’t.

I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but at the same time praying that the baby comes before the 16th.  It’s hard to have faith that God CAN do something without getting your hopes up that He WILL.  Two different things.

Why the 16th?  *sniff*  Because that’s when Aunt Sassa leaves us for Australia.  She’ll be there for three years.  Of course we’ll pool our moneys to get her to come home occasionally, but I really want her to meet her new neice or nephew before she leaves.  So if you could pray with me…

Oh! Contraction!

Just kidding.

I’m mean.

I’ve decided no more cervix checks with this pregnancy until I get admitted to the hospital.  I say “more” because three weeks ago, when they did the Group B Strep test, I succumbed to the curiosity and found out I was at 1cm.  But I’m not doing any more.  (And yes, they ask me everytime if I want it and everytime I have to renew my strength and say, “no”.)

Why not?  Because it really doesn’t predict labor with me.  I dilate about a month before the baby’s born.  And at different rates.  With Olivia, I dilated about 2cm every week it seemed.  I then held off at 5cm for a week before the doctor talked me into an unnecessary induction a week early.  I was literally (young and naive here) worried Olivia would just fall out without me knowing because I’d dilated so far without even feeling a contraction.

With Benjamin, I was dilated a month prior as well, but at the last appointment was only up to 3cm.  And he was a week late.

So I wonder if this one is dilating even slower, to continue the pattern, or if I’m dilating as fast as I was with Olivia, since there are other similarities between this pregnancy and her’s.

Like the swelling.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I’ve already loosened the straps on my Birks and they need to be loosened AGAIN.  I’ve been told it gets worse with every pregnancy, but I didn’t swell at all with Benjamin.  So maybe that means it’s a girl?  Or maybe it’s just the summer weather (as Olivia was born in July and Benjamin in March).

So yeah, no more cervix checks.  And why the disappointment?  No, it’s not because I *like* them.  I just am a curious person by nature and I really, really, really want to know how progressed I am in this labor.  But it’s not worth the risk of infection.  Plus checking your cervix can actually dilate you *further*.  Not to be confused with “start your labor”.  More like “give you false hope”.  Maybe that’s what happened with the last two. So maybe I’m still at 1cm.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I think that’s enough rambling about baby/pregnancy/random stuff.  Time to do the dishes and fold some laundry.  And maybe shower.  Maybe.