One week and counting

After waking up a few times last night with pains in my abdominal area and thinking maybe I was in the early stages of labor I realized that they were not real contractions. One of the telltale signs for distinguishing between real and false contractions is if you move positions and the pain changes or goes away. If it does then you are not having a real contraction. Both to my disappointment and relief I was not having contractions.

I am beginning to get emails and phone calls from people asking how I'm doing, but secretly wanting to know if I've had the baby yet. For a long time I thought I would deliver after my due date (April 4), but after I found out the baby's head moved down into my pelvis I thought maybe I'll have this baby on or before the due date. Now I'm not so sure. It seems that Bean is perfectly satisfied in its tropical waters even if its squeezed tightly in there. A lot of the time the baby's feet, butt and back are pressed up against my skin. It feels extremely tight to me so it must feel that way to the baby, too.

Yesterday, Bean didn't move that much. I started getting worried that something was wrong. I ate breakfast before I showered for the sole purpose of getting Bean to respond to the influx in fuel. S/he moved around ever so slightly. I had a little more sugar than usual to get Bean in action, but again s/he didn't move all that much. I was glad to feel any movement though. Today, Bean is back to her/his normal antics; pushing its feet out against my left side and moving its back and butt in grand ungraceful sweeps.

While I'm waiting I am trying to keep myself busy. Today I drove over to NJ to return the stroller that I had ordered on line last week. The one that was delivered was not the one that is advertised on the website. At first I was dreading having to truck the stroller out to one of the not-conveniently located Babies R Us stores, but it gave me something to do today to keep my mind off the anticipation of the baby's arrival. Yesterday, I planted bulbs and seeds in our garden and flower pots. I have cleaned our house and organized Bean's room as much as I can. People say that when you go around cleaning your house and making everything look perfect you're nesting and that is a sure sign that labor is not far off. But I feel like I've been "nesting" for the past 4 weeks and don't have any more in me. I have also run out of things to knit for Bean. Last night I finished a baby bath mitt that took me all of 2 hours to make.

Still waiting...