Unstitched

Today was The Big Day -- cerclage removal. It's a good thing I was anticipating pain, because there definitely were some marked moments of it. Deep breathing came in handy (didn't erase the pain, but helped me relax), and thankfully the procedure took less than 5 minutes. (If you would like a detailed account, please email me.)

There was no scar tissue that had grown over the mersilene or the nylon thread, although because the cerclage was placed very high at the top of the cervix, some amount of digging (for lack of a better word) was required. Uggggh. After my doc cut the mersilene and the thread (she said that the peri who placed it used the mersilene around the cervix and the nylon thread through the cervix like a figure-8), she held it up for me to see and explained what piece went where. I have pictures of both which I'll post tomorrow. Good news is that my cervix is "big", as my doc described to the nurse, which I took to mean "long" and not "open". She examined my cervix after the cerclage was removed and it was closed yet soft.

I'm under strict instructions not to go into labor this weekend because she'll be out of town with her family. We joked that we would be joining her. She introduced us to the on-call doc who was briefed about my situation. If I have any contractions or bleeding I'm to go straight to the hospital. Hmm, we should install the carseat, and my hospital bag is halfway packed. 

I feel the same physically, but now that there's just my iffy cervix between the baby and the outside world, I am a tiny bit on edge. But as my doc pointed out, baby won't come out without me knowing it. Although he won't knock, there will be contractions or bleeding or water breaking beforehand.

As for my gastrointestinal issues, my doc isn't concerned because the episodes are pretty sporadic, about 3x a day. I did lose 3 lbs since my last appointment a week ago Tuesday, and I plan to make it up once things clear up down there.

And we're off the hook for The Sex for a week, until I get to 37 weeks. (I think we're both relieved to not have that pressure to perform. Heeheee! I don't think we could stand all that laughing anyway!)

Deli

The monstrosity of a deli sammy yesterday -- half for lunch, half for dinner -- slammed me back on the can this morning. Mental note made. This needs to clear up before the cerclage removal on Thursday a.m. or we're going to have some serious issues.

Rejoice

They're back to normal, my bowels. I am so happy. Bring on real food.

Lingering

My little visitor is still here. It's not the watery, shoot out of your buttcrack, splash all over the back of the toilet kind, but it's accompanied by stomach cramps and definitely not the awesome normal #2 I've enjoyed for most of my life. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss you, #2.

I attempted chicken soup the other night, eating it over a three-hour period (it was extremely hot soup and I thought I would take the greasiness, which I read can irritate an already upset belly, one small portion at a time) which was met with dismay the next morning. So far the only agreeable item is white bread/dinner rolls with jam, which I'm getting sick of. The strangest thing about this bug is that I don't feel worn down and I don't have a fever or nausea. In fact my energy level is steady; we were at the office until midnight on Thursday. 

On top of all this, one of my fave actors Mike Myers just released Love Guru, which is The Worst Movie Ever. We met up with some friends for dinner and that awful movie last night, which we ended up walking out of and demanding our dollars back. Ok, demanding is harsh, the nice cashier handed it over like she was waiting for someone to walk out. It was really just plain fucking horrific, and I feel disgusted for even watching a minute of it. I am so mad at him. Admittedly, my favorite movie is So I Married an Axe Murderer, so I was expecting at least some good humor from this flick. Blah.

And for some good news today, it's the last day of that 17p shot! Woo hoo! Typically it would go to 36 weeks but since I'm getting the cerclage out on Thursday, my doc said it doesn't make sense to get the stitch out then get the shot in two days. Her opinion, other docs might feel differently. I've grown to really like the nurse that visits me, and I'll sure miss her and our talks about doggies.

The last TMI tidbit for this post -- we attempted The Sex this morning. Now that was a comedy. It's been so damn long that I'm pretty much now a virgin down there, it was sore and there was barely any penetration! The cats were out of the room, the dog was nowhere nearby, but it didn't quite work out to be the marathon that we imagined. Besides, I got a stomach cramp and really had to go. Perhaps we try again in a few days. At least we laughed a lot. :)

Running

Since about 5 p.m. yesterday, that's what I've been doing.

Only it's been to the bathroom.

Let's just say it's not for #1 or #2, but #3. Seems I've caught some type of bug! What did I eat yesterday? Recall: breakfast - 2 dinner rolls with scrambled egg & steak (leftover from the party - yum!); snack - a handful of raw broccoli and raw snow peas (also leftover from the veggie tray), 2 dinner rolls with apricot jam; lunch - 2 dinner rolls with more steak (ok, that's too many dinner rolls), and a spoonful of cheesecake (more leftover, I suspect it's the cheesecake that arrived at our house on Saturday around 6 p.m. and got put away around 11 p.m.); dinner - skipped; snack: bowl of whole grain Cheerios my new favorite cereal.

Wannabe dad ate the same thing I did except for the broccoli and the cheesecake.

Either it's spoiled food, and thankfully I'm not throwing up, or labor is pending.

Any bouts of diarrhea that hit you before going into labor? How far in advance? How often? I've consulted g.oogle and people's experiences are pretty much all over the place. I want to be able to tell if it's a bug or if I need to start packing. Serious advice needed. Gotta run.

Marching

We are still moving forward...34w4d and counting. The big 36w is coming up which means cerclage removal -- scheduled for next Thursday. It hadn't occurred to me that we might be coming home with a cuddly, poopy, screaming baby in a matter of weeks, or heck maybe even next Thursday if my cervix decides to get things going. There is a room in our house specifically for said baby, and I doubt we'll have to babyproof anything else besides the dog, and maybe vacuum the excess cat hair from our bed coverings. We have two donated car seats that are not installed nor inspected, diapers that are on the registry list (I finally did one after my SIL informed me that she wanted to host a shower), hopefully my breasts will function properly so I can feed the baby even if nothing else is done. 

We've gotten the question so many times: "Is the nursery all set up?" And not wanting to believe that we'll actually use one, my answer has always been "No, not yet. It's too early."

My doctor has advised us that we might want to get things as ready as we can before next Thursday. She predicts that I won't go into labor right away, but it would be best to be prepared. The shower is this Sunday, which worked out well considering it's prior to the cerclage removal. And the 17p shot this Saturday will be the last one, it doesn't make sense to my doctor to continue getting the shot after the cerclage is removed.

What I'm really looking forward to? After a 7-8 month hiatus? Well, we've been cleared for The Sex. (Cobwebs, look out. We're comin'.) Doc is even OK with The Sex pre-removal, but what's a week?

I wrote before that I'm not falling for the baby marketing. Wannabe dad might be, though, mentioning that we should get some sort of baby-themed border for the room (which was already painted a lovely sage green when we used the room as our home office). Since he's of the graphic designer variety, I suggested that he put a collage together of the kitties and doggie faces, print them out and tape them to the walls. We have a framed picture of a cute llama, hand-drawn in colored pencil, given by his aunt to hold on to until she can come back from Peru to retrieve, that we can put in the room. We also have a framed picture of a building-scape of Cuzco, from the same aunt, so baby can get familiar with the abodes of his ancestors. 

The thought of sports-related baby paraphernalia actually makes me cringe. Just because he's a boy does not mean he should play football, basketball, baseball, or even like the stuff. If anyone gives me anything Oakland Raiders or SF Giants related I will hurl. What if he wants to sew? How about a picture of my sewing machine that I never use? Let's put up a picture of Dad washing dishes so the thought isn't foreign to him. While we're at it, add laundry and cooking to Dad's talents. (He's very good at all of these.)

All this time has passed. I think back to the chilly days of February when I first took to the bed, complaining about achy hips and shoulders and neck, headaches, worrying about every twitch and sting. I looked forward to the warmth of June, July, those elusive months with weeks of pregnancy that started with "3" and thought, how the hell am I going to make it that far? And somehow, I've gotten this far by just living hour by hour, and with the help of my wonderful wannabe dad, am still marching forward.

Whirly

Missing in blogging action, that's me. (Note/Warning: Belly pic at bottom of post.)

It's certainly been a whirlwind since my release. Bon, thanks for checking in, it really kicked my butt to put up a quick post on what the hell I've been up to. For starters, everything is fine. Better than fine. Super duper. Great. Cervix is still holding strong, baby kicks and movements and hiccups and wiggles and rolls are consistent.

The same day of my release (Tuesday, 5/27) my bedrest haven at home was quickly uprooted (wannabe dad doesn't fool around!) and moved to the office. I was immediately thrust onto a 6-page brochure project which wrapped up on Friday.

Friday night was a happy hour networking event (just 3 hours, I was so uncomfortable from sitting up that we had to leave).

Saturday, birthday party for my gramma -- the big 9-5! Again, a 3-hour stint then we had to go home.

The following Monday I tagged along to a photoshoot for a client with wannabe dad, a 2.5 hour drive to the lovely town of Carmel (I so heart Carmel but most of the time was spent working, not walking the quaint downtown or visiting the mission or letting the sand caress my feet).

We got home on Tuesday evening, with 5 minutes to spare to turn in our mail-in ballots (so much for voting by mail).

Wednesday brought another OB appointment, at which I told my doc about the nasty rash I got on my right buttcheek from the 17p shot the previous Sunday. Her instruction was that if I got the rash again, to have the shots stopped as it was making me uncomfortable and I haven't had preterm labor symptoms.

Thursday and Friday...work work work Friday was nice, a photographer friend offered to take pictures of me because she wanted to test some new lighting, but I'll have to buy the shots I want. :(

Saturday, the nurse came to give me my shot, which resulted in a small red bump at the injection site. Sounds like it might be time to stop those shots.

Sunday was a trip to the mobile pet vaccine at a local pet store for an updated rabies shot for Kaleo. That was fun -- my cousin was with me to keep Kaleo from getting to the other doggies. His puppyness takes over all sense of reason. When will he mellow out?

That has been what I've been up to, in a big nutshell. I've been conscious of the b-h ctx, which seem to kick in toward the end of the day. I still lie down several times a day, in fact I'm so much more comfortable after a little lie-down. At the end of the day I usually lie down on the couch watching bad tv or rented movies.

And all these switches turn on in my body at every week that I complete of this pregnancy. For example, at week 19 I was ravenously hungry and had to eat every 2-3 hours. At week 24 the I must have peanut butter now switch turned on. At week 31 the middle of the night bathroom trips increased from 1 to 3. At week 33 the holy cow! mucho! discharge! switch turned on, which conveniently rushes out after I'm done using the bathroom. Niiiiice, and gross.

Things are going so well. I'm happy to be out and about in the world. I know I'm not out of the woods until he's home, yet I feel so optimistic. I sorted through the 3 bags of baby boy clothes given by my friend and they're in their happy places in what is going to be the baby's room (I refuse to say that we have set up the nursery, because this Saturday that room will be where the food for the big wannabe dad's 4-0 party will be set up! woo hooo!!). And due to budgetary constraints there will be no assorted, unnecessary baby paraphernalia gracing the room. He won't care, and I don't feel the need to show off any highly decorated fashionable nursery to anyone. It's funny, because I'm a marketer and I am not falling for the baby marketing!!

Geez don't I sound like the bah humbug mama!

We have reached 33w4d today. Wow.

31w5d, the day after my release