The Final Days

Before I write the birth story, I thought I'd write a quick post about the last week of pregnancy. My sister-in-laws came to stay with us on Sunday (at 39 weeks 1 day). I'd been really anxious about who would stay with our kids when I went into labor, especially if it were the middle of the night. We decided to just have folks stay with us until I delivered. While it was a bit stressful to host so heavily pregnant, it was worth it to have the coverage!

39 weeks 3 days, my nephew is amazed at the size of my belly

I also attempted to do an underwater maternity photo shoot with a rabbi during my last week of pregnancy. Read that sentence again. I promise it's as amazing as it sounds. There's a little boy in my daughter's daycare whose mom is a rabbi. She's phenomenal. Her photographer friend was trying to build his underwater maternity portfolio and was offering very cheap sessions. The rabbi and I drove out to this mansion for the shoot. It was such a comedy of errors! He was doing a shoot with "real models" later in the day. They were arriving for hair and makeup while we were waiting for our shoot. Suffice it to say, the side by side comparison was humbling. They assumed we owned the home (because why would we be getting photos taken looking like that?!), and kept asking questions about the house. When it was finally our turn to get in the pool (about an hour and a half after we thought we'd be getting in the pool), it was freezing! He had us get in for awhile to practice holding our breath and "sinking". By the time he got in, we were shivering and practically blue. He goes underwater with his camera for the first shot and realizes he didn't put the waterproof case on correctly. His camera is ruined and so was the photoshoot. That being said, we definitely have a story to look back on, and I now own a rainbow bikini.

At 39 weeks and 5 days, Susan and I went to the birth center for our appointment. The midwife stripped my membranes and, in doing so, noticed that I did have scar tissue on my cervix (a concern I'd had due to a previous LEEP procedure). She massaged the cervix but noted a "tight band" around it. At that time, I was 3 cm dilated (after her massage), 75% effaced, and the baby was at +1 station. I left the appointment, and went to a friend's house to help her assemble a bunk bed for her son. I joked that we should count that as nesting. I was cramping mildly and had some bloody show, but the midwife assured me that was normal after the membrane sweeping...

This bed will always be known as the one that put me into labor.