No News Is Good News, Right?

Well, we had our last Dr. appointment before our due date today. It was fairly uneventful. We saw Noah Finn on the ultrasound. He is still positioned well and his head has dropped slightly lower into my pelvic area. The amniotic fluid and placenta look great, his heartbeat is strong and regular, and my strep test came back negative--so, no need to arrive at the hospital early for delivery.

I have had no "usual" signs of preparing for labor like lightening, losing my mucus plug, leaky boobs, frequent practice contractions (at least not in the last month)--but then again, none of that necessarily has to happen to indicate labor is close by.

If our little bundle of joy doesn't make his debut between now and our next appointment, which is on our due date (the 17th), then we will schedule another appointment for the 23rd when we have agreed to have an internal exam to finally check for dilation, effacement and softening of the cervix--just to see how things are or aren't progressing. If nothing has happened by the 28th, our Dr. would like to schedule an induction for that day--but we really don't want that to happen. We are really wishing for the most natural birth possible.

I am still teaching in the mornings and afternoons and will continue to until I either begin to feel horrible or give birth to little Noah Finn! The last day of the winter term is this coming Friday, two days after our due date--so, we'll see if I make it to the end! And after that, Dean and I will be off for the holidays and will have nothing but time to wait for our best Christmas present ever!

We put up and decorated a beautiful 8 foot tree and put up the rest of the holiday decorations this week in preparation for Noah's first Christmas! Me, Dean and the boys all have stockings hung over the fireplace (with care, hee, hee) and I have saved a space in the middle for Noah Finn's. I am on the prowl now for the perfect stocking for him that he can have for his first Christmas and many years to come.

Otherwise, I'm keeping active by running non-stop baby errands (even for stuff we don't need but I am convinced we do!), prenatal yoga and walking. I'm drinking lots of raspberry leaf tea and putting flax seed on just about everything I eat. There's a restaurant in North Hollywood that we learned about in our birthing class (and have heard about from many moms) that serves a special "labor" salad. This salad is said to bring on labor within 24 hours of consumption! Maybe by late next week we'll give this salad and even perhaps a dose of castor oil a try if we're still waiting . . .