Almost 39 weeks

It's the final countdown!  9 days to go or so.

On Sunday and Monday night I was up for around 4 hours each night because of some mild contractions. They weren't painful, but enough to keep me awake. Thinking that labor must be coming soon, I forced myself to rest and stay in bed, despite being awake for so long.  But nothing.

I woke up on Wednesday feeling better rested and with much more energy than normal. So, I took advantage of it and washed and put away all the cloth diapers, washed every dirty dish in the house (how are there still dirty dishes?!?), went to the library, bank, drugstore, two grocery stores, the post office, and made dinner, all while trying to keep Gabriela entertained. I woke up at 9:30pm all rested up from putting G down for the night, so I baked some cranberry bread, organized the fridge, and swept the floors. Pretty sure this nesting business is kicking in.

This morning was my (almost) 39 week appointment with the midwife.  The midwife said that my cervix is right where it is supposed to be for the birth, very soft and half way effaced. I am 1.5 cm dilated, but she says there is very little resistance, the baby's head is right there, and she thinks that once things get started, they will progress very quickly. Boy, I hope she's right!  He's still in the "sunny side up" position, with his back facing the same direction as mine.

The midwife offered to strip my membranes, in hopes that the resulting increased hormone activity could stimulate more contractions and get things going. I declined - I still have a week until my due date, and I'm not feeling desperate yet. Baby will come when he's ready, right?

She also said this lull in contraction activity, compared with Sunday and Monday nights, might be the "calm before the storm" - we'll see. 

In any case, we are ready and waiting to meet our little guy.