Pre-Labor has begun

WARNING: If you are squeamish or do not care for graphic physiological details then please SKIP THIS POST. You've been warned ;-)





So the evening of the 30th, the day after our last OBGYN visit, I noticed a teeny-tiny-itsy-bitsy amount of pink blood (you can guess where)after our evening walk with Abby. Dr. Flora had warned us that this might happen after my weekly cervical checks and if it did that we should not be concerned. We went to bed that night and I experienced the WORST night of my pregnancy yet. I was up every hour to go pee and my hips, back, and pelvic area were aching really bad and I could barely get in and out of the bed yet alone sit all the way down on the toilet. It was horrible, I was pretty much in tears from the pain that night and none of us got any sleep. Lil schmit was putting a ton of pressure way down low and that was only making things worse.

On the morning of the 31st I didn't want to do anything except go to sleep but sitting and laying down was definitely making things worse in terms of being uncomfortable and it was obvious that sleep was not going to happen. I noticed a little bit more mucusy stuff that morning but this time it was brownish instead of pink. Dr. Flora had advised that I walk a lot and stay active to help speed up the arrival of lil schmit. So K.C. and I hobbled out to the car and headed to Ikea to walk the maze of furniture and to pick up lil schmit's dresser and bookcase. I made a stop to the restroom to discover a rather large piece of my mucus plug! The loss of this plus does not mean labor will happen right away or even for several days or weeks but the thought of going into actual labor while at Ikea was a little daunting. Luckily we made it out of Ikea with lil schmit safely in the womb.

My misery and "attack of the plug" continued throughout the day. I was on the brink of a this baby needs to come today meltdown. Unfortunately this put a damper on what would have been a low key New Year's Eve night of hanging out and watching the festivities on t.v. Instead I fell asleep on the couch for awhile while K.C. and friend Gackle watched hockey until it was time for his friend to go out for a real celebration. We were exhausted from the night before and were asleep before the clock struck 12.

Again I spent another night in pain and in and out of bed. Finally at 6:00am I couldn't stand it and went to the living room to watch t.v. I was able to sleep for about an hour sitting up and listening to the drone of the Rose Parade. Again I had to decide if I wanted to be miserable and uncomfortable in the house or miserable and uncomfortable in public. We decided to go to the Main Place Mall so that I could satisfy my craving for a strawberry banana smoothie from Surf City Squeeze which is my most favorite smoothie place. K.C. walked as slow as he could as I hobbled in pain around the mall. We were quite the spectacle and people had that "she's gonna pop!" expression when they saw us coming. At least I got my smoothie treat half way through the walk. By the time we got back to the car I could barely get myself into the car and was ready for another this baby needs to come today meltdown. We got home and I took some Tylenol and was able to take a nap while propped up on the couch. I was surprised to wake up and find that lil schmit had moved just enough to give my hips and back some relief and that I was no longer in excruciating pain. I was afraid to move in fear that it would all come back. Luckily I got some much needed relief that night and even managed to get one of the best nights sleep I've had for a few months.

We've all been on high alert and are now really anxious for the real labor to begin. We really thought that with how bad I was feeling that lil schmit might have been born by now but things seem to have stabilized, at least for today. So the pre-labor symptoms, cramping/Braxton Hicks contractions, nausea, night sweats, chills, attack of the plug, continue as lil schmit's birthday draws near.

Needless to say, our hospital bags are packed. Once my water breaks and/or I have real contractions that last for one minute, that I can't talk through, at five minute intervals, we can head to the hospital. But for now, we and everyone else must wait. Could be tonight, could be next week, could be the following. We are hoping for sooner than later. If we reach January 12th with no labor the doctor will have to order another ultrasound because by that time lil schmit's size will be of greater concern. So we're keeping our fingers crossed and our legs uncrossed that we will get to meet this baby very soon!

Stay tuned, baby watch 09 is officially here!