40 Weeks and Still Counting...

No news is usually good news, but in this case, it's just frustrating. Today was D-Day - Due Date. Instead of cuddling a beautiful baby girl, I chased my son around the house and work (we dropped off cookies to the office) and continued the cleaning marathon that started last week.

Bad news: No baby and my relationship with my son is deteriorating quickly. Luckily he won't remember most of this time. But I will. :o(   I'm tired of being cranky and irritated. At the end of the day, we'll make it through but I think he's going to the sitter's house tomorrow. We both need a little break.

Good news: I'm caught up on laundry once again! AND my floors have never looked so clean! My great-grandma said that good old fashioned floor scrubbing kick started all her labors, so for an hour this afternoon, I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the crap out of the floors. They seriously look fabulous. My knees however may never be the same and as you can tell, no labor. Sigh.

Once again today (from 10PM last night until about 8AM this morning) I had contractions every 5 minutes, just not active labor contractions (you know, the painful kind). Towards the end though I really thought they were starting to ramp up and borderline be painful! And then....nothing. Back to every 30 minutes and only slightly annoying.

I finally broke down and called the doctor. I talked to Jessica A (who just so happens to be my favorite midwife!) and she calmed me down quite a bit. I'm worried that this labor might be so different I may not even recognize when it's TIME. In addition, Mom comes on Friday and leaves on the 14th. If baby doesn't come on her own, they'll let me go 10 days before inducing. Well, the 14th is day 10 and there goes my help! I'm trying to be less stressed about things but can't help but get stressed when I think about that!

Jessica told me that all the starting and stopping of contractions is perfectly normal (especially for a second pregnancy) and she really doesn't see me going all the way to inducing. Never say never, but everything I'm talking about are signs of labor, just not yet. I go see them again on Friday and if I'm still not in labor she said they'd check for progress (I'm hoping for at least 3-4 cm at this point and almost fully effaced) and possible strip my membranes to see if that kick starts anything. Here's where it gets gross - I had to look this up. Stripping membranes involves manually separating the amniotic sac from the cervix. It's a 50/50 shot, but there's a good chance for me - past due date, showing signs of pre-labor, etc - that it could start labor. It also may not work, but at least we gave it a shot, right? Maybe just the thought of this working is what my body needs to calm itself down even more to allow this baby to come naturally.

In the end, I think tomorrow is going to be a mommy day and we'll try a little retail therapy and walking - sans Jack. We could each use a little time to remember just how much we love each other! Because when we're good, we're good. And when we're off, it's ugly. But this little face is definitely one of the greatest things in my life and I hope we always have this much fun!