Holding Pattern

I guess it's been an entire week since my last post. And basically nothing has changed.

We had an amazing amount of adrenaline last week, frantically preparing for the birth, timing and counting the contractions. SR was excited because his paternity leave seemed imminent. And we both couldn't believe we could feel his little head and he'd be ours soon.

But now, it's 9 days since the strong contractions started and the little guy hasn't moved. And all the adrenaline is gone, but the discomfort and fatigue remain. Happily, I have been able to increase my running to 5.5 miles/day and those endorphins have been helping me a lot.

The truth is, I only get the contractions when I am moving around, so despite how strong and regular they may be, they are probably still just Braxton Hicks.

One of the many things I want to avoid in childbirth is being induced by Pitocin. It's still 8 days before my due date, so we have a little time. But last night we went to visit our eastern medicine friend, who works as a receptionist on one of the hospital floors. She agreed to try to induce me on Monday at our house. SR told me she had claimed she "could induce a whale." When I asked her about the whales, she gave me a look that said, "I've never actually induced anyone, whales included, but I'll give it a try."

SR does make me laugh. Thank goodness I'm not going through this alone.

We celebrated SR's birthday with some ice cream and a lot of love.

And then two days ago we celebrated his daughter's birthday. We had her tell us all of the things she had learned in her 7th year of life. And then we ate way too much cake.

Thank you to everyone for your very touching comments over the last couple of weeks.

Running song of the Day: All that She Wants by Ace of Base