Wednesday night Rob and I picked up a few things at the drug store and then came home and packed for the hospital. I have a main suitcase with most everything I'll need for the stay, a gym bag for things I know I'll need when I'm in labor, and my own pillow. I'd like the stay to be as short as possible (I hate hospitals) but I've been warned that a perfectly normal vaginal birth will probably have me in there for at least five days because of all of my high risk factors (normal stay for that is two days). Ugh. Oh well, at least I'm packed and ready to go. There are some things I'd like to have done before the baby arrives (more cleaning and the like), but if he comes soon we're at least ready.

Yesterday I had another OB appointment with Dr. Hill. Rob picked me up during his lunch break and my appointment was at 3pm. When we got to the hospital we had the street food bacon wrapped hot dogs for lunch and then Rob went back to work while I hung out in the employee break room playing Sudoku. Apparently all hell has broken loose at his work and he's being run ragged. To top that off, he no longer can access any non-work sites from work including Journalscape.

I headed up to my appointment a little before I needed to and Rob met up with me when he got out of a meeting. At first the usual was done - I peed in a cup, was weighed, and my blood pressure was taken. Rob and I then went into a room to wait for Dr. Hill. She listened to the baby's heartbeat and then asked me if I was having any contractions. I've been having a lot recently (both painful and just tight) and told her so. She said she usually does an internal exam at this point, but gave me the option of waiting if I wanted to since it would probably hurt and there might be some bleeding after it was done. I told her to go ahead and do it, it's better to know where we stand. I'm glad we did! I'm well on my way. I'm 2 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and the baby is at -2 station.

I realize not all of you know what the hell any of that means. So, here's the deal. Dilation is how far your cervix is open. Being not dilated at all means labor has not yet started. Being dilated a bit means you're in the first stage of labor (which can last weeks). Generally you dilate up to 3-4 cm before it's hospital time. I'm already at 2. At 10 cm, the baby comes out. Effacement is how thin the cervix is. 0% means you still have a thick cervix. 100% means it's completely thinned out and is about to dilate all the way. I'm at 70%. And station is where the baby is. -5 is when the baby is all the way up. 0 is when the baby has dropped completely and is fully engaged in the pubic bone. +5 is when the baby's head is crowing at the vaginal opening.

What this means for me is that the first stages of labor have started. I'm not in active labor and this stage can last from a few hours to a few weeks depending on the woman and the pregnancy. Dr. Hill said that there's a very good chance I'll be delivering before my due date of the 22nd. She said she would be very surprised if I was still pregnant on the 22nd. I have another appointment scheduled for next week on Thursday - she said she'd see me then if not before. So, the Dr. thinks there's a chance Gabriel might even arrive sometime this week. Scary.

After the doctor's appointment I called my Mom to let her know what was going on. I need to cross my legs or something and try to keep him in there until she's out here on the 19th, but I don't know if that will happen or not. I don't know why, but I get a very strong feeling that he'll be coming on Valentine's Day, which oddly enough was my original due date. Then again I also had a strong feeling that the baby was a girl and that there was no way I could have GD and we all know how accurate those feelings were. I hope he doesn't come on Valentine's Day itself. That can be a depressing enough holiday for a teenager or an adult without having your birthday fall on it as well. After talking to my Mom I headed back to the employee lounge and played more Sudoku until Rob's work day was done.

He met up with me in the lounge when he was done with work and we headed out. On the way to the car he called Carmen (my doula) to let her know what was up. She said that she also didn't think I would make it to my due date, but that she thinks I have at least ten more days to wait since he's at -2 station and is still "a floaty baby". Only time will tell when he's ready to come out.

We then headed out and made a stop at Burger King on the way home for dinner. When we got home we installed the car seat in Rob's car which made us realize that we should probably get a car seat base for my car as well. It would be a massive pain in the ass to have to keep moving the base back and forth between the cars. So, tonight we'll probably look for an extra base. But the car seat is installed in his car and we're ready to go.

----------

You scored as Otherkin. You are Otherkin. You identify with otherworldy beings and feel you are truly something other than human. You are only biding your time here until you can return to where you truly belong. You seek others who share your yearnings and spend your time commiserating with those you like and mocking the ones you don't. Otherkin 90% White Lighter 75% Spiritualist 70% Magician 55% Aimless Eclectic 55% Mystic 55% True Alternative 45% Discordian 40% What Subversive Alternative Paradigm Are You? created with QuizFarm.com