What’s going down

I feel like every post from now on could start like the following…

“Still waiting! So ready and so excited. Any day now!”

That would get old pretty quickly.

So instead.. let me tell you about a dream I had the other night.

38 week belly

(38 weeks! Belly has definitely dropped a little lower.. drop it low, drop it drop it drop it low)

My dreams have been pretty vivid throughout the entire pregnancy –half of which I credit to hormones and the other half to our Tempurpedic because when I crash on that thing, I crash hard- and before bed I was inspecting my bellybutton, which has gone from innie, to totally level (the alien no-bellybutton phenomenon) and is now looking like it might want to pop out into an outie. We shall see…

Anyway,

we went to sleep, and I had a dream that I was having severe, intense contractions. In my dream, I looked down to see my baby’s head be born… out of my bellybutton.

The baby looked up at me (the same face I’ve been seeing in all of my dreams), and I rubbed her head and was talking to her. I walked around with her head sticking out and decided to call the midwife, who said the longer the baby could stay in, the better. They were going to have to figure out a way to get the baby back in if she didn’t do so on her own.

So I looked down and said “Ok, baby, you have to finish growing, so go back in until you’re ready.”

She looked up at me and sluuuuuurp. Went right back in my belly. Via bellybutton.

I can’t even make this stuff up.

More notable events from the week:

– I was on the schedule to teach Zumba on Saturday and had to ask to be switched to something else. It made me really sad but there was no way. Flipping over in bed has become an Olympic event, let alone teaching an hour-long intense booty-shaking class.

– Awkward: we were walking through Target and I had a contraction, so I stopped for a second to catch my breath. Tom, who was carrying an enormous frozen turkey to buy for the turkey drive, pressed the turkey against my back for a second to relieve the pain. I can’t even imagine how funny it must have looked to see a preg, with her husband in a flight suit, pressing a frozen turkey against her back. The cold actually felt really, really good, so I’m going to load up on cold compresses to take to the hospital.

– It’s gotten to the point where it feels like I’m going to be pregnant forever, and I’m cool with that. It just seems like that’s how things are now. The interesting thing is that Tom feels the same way. We were talking about it the other night and it’s hard to believe the finish line (or starting line, rather) is just around the corner. We know that one day, labor will be begin and the baby will be born, but it doesn’t feel like it’s really going to happen, especially since we have no idea when.

Moms out there, what was your first sign that labor was on the way? Any interesting/unconventional ones? I’ve been feeling kinda flu-ish (but not totally sick) for the past week or so, which I’m hoping has to do with impending labor instead of the winter sickies.

What’s the most bizarre dream you’ve had lately?

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85 Comments

  1. Ilane on December 19, 2011 at 11:56 pm

    Every day now, I check your blog to see if the baby girl has been born yet 🙂
    I am so excited and happy for you all!!! You will have a wonderful labor, and she will come healthy and blessed.

  2. Ali on December 20, 2011 at 12:25 am

    Wow! That is one crazy dream! I think it means that you are getting really close, but it just isn’t time yet. I love the turkey on the back story! SO very cute.

  3. Elizabeth on December 20, 2011 at 5:40 am

    Exciting! I just saw your tweet that you’ve been having contractions! I had to laugh at the turkey — you guys are so resourceful you’re going to make great parents.

    I was surprised you stocked up on cold compresses though, when the turkey worked so well. 😉 I’d love to see the nurses’ faces if you and Tom pulled out an ice chest full of turkeys in the delivery room.

    Good luck mama! I can’t believe the baby is almost here!

  4. Faith @ For the Health of It on December 20, 2011 at 9:47 am

    I have had some seriously crazy dreams too, even without preggo hormones! A few nights ago I dreamed that cops stole my car when I pulled over for a potty break on a long road trip, and to get it back I had to go to a pawn shop where all of the items were surrounded by a ring of fire. When I finally broke through the fire, they’d already sold my car. What a weird thought process!

  5. Becky on December 20, 2011 at 10:11 am

    your gonna think this is so crazy, but it is tried and true! my best friends mom (who is slightly nuts) told me that the day i go into labor i would wake up and my nose would look big/wider. i laughed and said “ok.” as i approached my due date i constantly studied my nose in the mirror to see if it looked any different. i kid you not, the day i went into labor my nose was noticably wider. even my husband agreed when i asked him. since my first kid (she is 5 now) i’ve told others of the nose thing and i’ve seen it work several times! start checking out your nose! lol!

    • Fitnessista on December 20, 2011 at 12:11 pm

      off to check my nose! haha

  6. Jessica@Fruit and Veggie Tales on December 20, 2011 at 10:38 am

    This post made me giggle! I’m glad you are so upbeat and patient about waiting for labor. That is one thing I have a very hard time with. I was always sooooo uncomfortable the last few weeks because I am only 5 feet tall and have a really short torso and BOTH of my kids lodged their heads in my pelvis so deep! I could barely walk. I actually remember my son’s head grinding against my pelvis as he turned around ~ouch! Hoping that doesn’t happen if there is a next time. Okay, hmm….my first labor started because my water broke at 41 weeks so that was obvious but my mucous plug had passed a few hours prior. With my son, I started labor on my due date. I just woke up feeling different and had very mild contractions. It was the best day, I can’t explain it. We just went with the flow. Whatever I felt like, we did. My husband stayed home and we played with my daughter, knowing this was the last time we would be just the 3 of us. I didn’t want to cook or clean and I didn’t care that it wasn’t done, which is unusual. I took a nap then woke up wanting to be outside. It was a beautiful, sunny day in October so we went to The Cheesecake Factory at a local outdoor mall while my MIL watched my little girl. Later that night, labor stopped and didn’t pick up again for a week. When I woke up at 2 am a week after my due date, I had contractions but I didn’t think it was going to be anything productive. I almost didn’t wake up my husband. I’m glad that I did because my son was born 2 hours later and we almost didn’t get the birthing pool filled up in time! It was fabulous! I can’t wait to do it again, you will looooove water birth! http://fruitveggietales.blogspot.com/2011/02/baby-steps.html Here’s the link to my blog with a pic of our sweet little boy shortly after he was born! Every birth is special, but this one was different-special because it was our first homebirth! Have a great day!

  7. Noelle on December 20, 2011 at 11:31 am

    SO EXCITING!!! almost there!!!

    I went in for my 36 week appt and it was my first cervix check (I was slightly dilated at a 1), I think it was on a wednesday, over the next couple of days I starting loosing bits and pieces of my mucous plug which I’ve heard can happen after they start checking your cervix. That Sunday I woke up feeling crampy and just generally not so great. So I decided I should go ahead and pack my hospital bag since I hadn’t done it yet, as I finished putting the last few items in my bag, my water broke, but just a trickle, we had to go to the hospital for confirmation but yep! thats what it was! So I got induced since once it breaks you have to deliver and we ended up having our daughter at 36.5 weeks, such a surprise! She was our first!

    Good luck! Can’t wait to see that little face of hers!

  8. Alison on December 20, 2011 at 11:48 am

    I love your dream! I had all sorts of crazy dreams while pregnant, like the baby being born and instantly being an older kid who talks… Its so exciting to see your baby even in a dream and funny to look back and what you imagined your baby would look like.

    I had no idea when I’d go into labor. I was a week late and it was a heat wave in September the week she was born, so I was just a crabby person unfortunately the whole week. I went into labor after my sister made me go for a long walk. She takes credit!

    @Becky – I’m curious to see if the nose observation works for me with #2!

  9. Jess on December 20, 2011 at 1:05 pm

    I had an amazing amount of energy the day before my daughter was born. I cleaned our entire house and drove all over town shopping. I also felt like I had been punched in the pubic bone.

  10. Bree on December 20, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    That is a crazy dream.

    I had one last night that I gave birth to both babies (I am expecting boy/girl twins) but in the dream, it happened in seconds, then I told my husband that it was really easy and it didn’t hurt at all. Definitely a dream!

  11. Lori on December 20, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    I was induced the first time around but the second time, it was fast and furious (meaning thank Heaven’s morning rush hour wasn’t bad otherwise I may have delivered in the car) but I had intense back pain the night before. I couldn’t get comfortable but I was able to fall asleep for a few hours until I woke up with slight contractions. Looking back that was probably a sign. Also, I had an appt earlier in the day and the nurse told me I was 90% effaced! Doesn’t take a math genius to figure out that one! lol

    I can’t wait to hear your birth story, Gina! Happy Holidays! I know this is only your first but how many kids would you like to have? I’m always curious to everyone’s number! I have a stepdaughter and two boys so I’m done but I tell my husband, if I was younger and we were rich, I would of had another one!

  12. Debbie on December 20, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    Sort of gross…but the first time..my mucus plug came out about a week before…the night I went into labor my water started leaking slowly…I called the midwife and they told me to wear a pad and come in to the doctor in the morning and they would test it to make sure that is what it was (I was thinking what else could it be!). My water never fully broke, they had to do it at the hospital. With my second, I started having contractions during the night that I thought was gas pains until my husband told me my gas pains were coming every ten minutes 🙂 I went from 10 minutes to 2 minutes within an hour and had to rush to the hospital…they never believe you when you get there so they took there time, by the time I got up to the exam room I was 8 and a half centimeters dialated…then they started moving.

    I know what you mean, the week before my daughter was born, I remember thinking that she is never coming out. Believe me, it goes by so fast…enjoy it!

  13. Jamie on December 20, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    Love your blog and love following your pregnancy, as I am 38 weeks pregnant as well with our first baby (a boy!). Definitely will be checking back and getting some tips to drop the 30lbs of weight I’ve gained over the last 9 months. I feel like I’ve stayed pretty active throughout my entire pregnancy but looking forward to that first really good sweat session after baby is born! Good luck to you in the next couple of weeks! I’ll be checking in 🙂

  14. Christina on December 20, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    I had more frequent trips to the bathroom experiencing the big D, sorry for the TMI. I woke up at 3am realizing I was having contractions, the first I had felt other than the BH kind. They progressed to 5 minutes apart by 9 am, and I had been instructed to go to the hospital then due to needing meds for Strep B. I went, the monitors showed I was at a steady 5, but only dialated to a 1 and 50%. They sent me home after an hour of walking didn’t progress me. I was told to come back when the pain was stronger, which I didn’t understand. I had to stop to catch my breath already!
    My husband had already told his job that he was taking his 2 weeks that day. I had informed my job I was in labor. I was determined to have this baby. The hospital advised me to move as much as possible, so while my husband napped, I got on the treadmill and walked. I noticed the contractions increased steadily, but when I would stop walking they would be slow and sporadic. I had so much energy I started to “jog” which was more of a fast paced waddle. When I got off the treadmill we were back at 5-6 minutes apart. I took a shower and within an hour I went from 6 minutes to 90 seconds apart. When they stayed at 90 seconds, we went back in. The running dialated me to a 3, but it took my wonderful doctor to convince the mean nurse to admit me. I was in so much pain with contractions less than 2 minutes apart, but she wanted to send me home!
    36.5 hours after I woke up to contractions, I finally had a baby.

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