Rounding The Bend

Hi all!

We are rounding the last bend here. Because I have two due dates (August 16th and 20th), I either have 7 or 11 days left until my due date, depending how you look at it. I, of course, see it as 7, and my midwife sees it as 11.

For the most part I have felt great, and all in all, very very normal. My back can be sore when I wake up but other than that, I don't really feel that pregnant. The belly certainly says otherwise, but I kinda like it. People stop more often to let me cross the street and strangers smile in the grocery stores. It's sort of like wearing a special badge around. Everyone seems to like a ripe pregnant belly.

I am looking forward to my next appointment this Wednesday where I will get another check up and update to my progress. Thus far, I am 80% effaced and not dilated.  Effacement is how thin the cervix gets. It must get to 100% (meaning it's paper thin). Then, of course, you must be dilated to 10cm. I have heard that effacement is what can take a while during the early stages of labor, so this is good news for me to be able to get nearly full effacement out of the way. So far I have not had a contraction. This is a good thing because midwife Winnie has been out of town for a week on a bike tour of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. I am really looking forward to her attending the birth, not her backup.

I am going into my first full week off of work. It still kind of feels like a long weekend or stay-cation, but either way, it feels nice - lots of blueberries have been picked! I do miss earning money though. It's a hard adjustment already. For the first time in my adult life I have taken a break from the working world. So this is what happens from 8-5 outside of an office...hmm.

I have finished the baby room (ended up being more of a transformation than originally planned) and have posted some pictures for you to see. Without thinking, I ended up with a pistachio color scheme for almost all furniture items.

Hope you like it! I'll try and be better at keeping you posted! Also, I've included a pic of me and my dear mother-in-law in our yard.