One week late...

...and no one took me up on my bet. Dang, I could be rich by now! But I suppose I'd still be pregnant.

On the plus side, Chason painted the kitchen last weekend...the dishes are pretty much all clean...the baby's laundry is washed and put away...I've even purchased a couple of Christmas gifts! Since I was technically supposed to start my 6 weeks of maternity leave on Monday, I'm not putting in a full work week this week (probably 30 hours when all is said and done rather than 40), so I've gotten a few other things done. That's good, right?

Argh, I'm anxious. Unfortunately, I shared a few of my anxieties with my doctor on Monday, and since then I've had to do two non-stress tests (one at Monday's appointment, one this morning) and an ultrasound on Wednesday to check the baby's AFI (amniotic fluid index). All the tests have been fine. Baby's fine. She's just not showing up when she was supposed to, which is causing me anxiety.

So here's the update everyone is looking for: basically, the doctors will not let me go past 42 weeks. Period. They will induce before then. I have an appointment on Monday, and assuming baby hasn't arrived by then, they will call over to Methodist Hospital and schedule me for an induction sometime next week - before Friday. I'm going to suggest/request Wednesday, but there's no guarantee they'll take my suggestion. And it's of course still possible that my body could suddenly realize that it's not doing what it's supposed to be doing and go into labor on its own. But we'll see.

That's all I know.

Meanwhile, we have lots of fun plans to keep us busy this weekend. Romelie and I may go cheer on BSM's varsity volleyball team at Southwest High School tonight, and then stay for a Halloween party afterwards. Tomorrow my mom comes into town to wait this thing out with us. We need to carve pumpkins, which we'll probably do Saturday morning. We've been invited to a leaf crawl with some friends from church as well as a birthday party for Jen's daughter, Kaelin, at Build-a-Bear Workshop at the Mall of America Saturday afternoon / evening. Sunday will bring my first day attending church at Bryn Mawr (and Romelie's first day in the nursery without me...we'll see how that goes...), another Vikings game to look forward to and dread at the same time, and trick-or-treating with Romelie Sunday evening. Of course, if baby decides to come out today, then I'm fine scrapping all of those plans. But again...we'll see.

No new pictures...nothing else to share...back to staring at the clock...

No baby yet, huh?

I get that question so many times every day. It totally doesn't bother me at all (so feel free to continue to ask; it shows you care!), but I do get it in all its varied formats many, many, many times. Consequently, I can answer the question pretty succinctly. For example:

Question from teacher this morning: When are you due?

Answer: Three days ago!

Question from 4th grader this morning: Are you having a baby?

Answer: Hopefully soon!

Question from co-worker: You're still here?

Answer: Unfortunately!

Question from folks at church yesterday: Wasn't your due date on Friday?

Answer: Apparently not!

Question from people over the phone who can't see me: Are you in labor yet?

Answer: I wish!

Note the exclamation points at the end of each of my responses. I have all the enthusiasm in the world for these loving friends, family, and strangers. At the same time, I'm so far past being ready to deliver this baby, if she doesn't get here in the next day or so, my answers will start to become a bit strained. You've been warned.

So here's the full update: I have been having contractions since last Thursday (10/14). Last Saturday I was actually starting to believe I was in labor. Well, obviously not, since it's been 9 days since then. I had a doctor's appointment last Monday, and I'm at zero centimeters. I'm closed. Not dialated at all. Stupid cervix! I have been having contractions off and on the past week, but none particularly severe or noteworthy. I have a doctor's appointment today at 3:15, so I will update again if anything has changed...but I'm trying really, really hard to go in with no expections other than still being at zero. I do plan on discussing induction with my doctor today even though I've been so adament against it this whole pregnancy. I'm not going to do it sooner than necessary, but I don't want to go past two weeks late for fear of giant baby c-section, bad placenta, or any of the other scary side effects. So my personal induction goal date would be Nov. 3 or 4 (12-13 days past due), and we'll see what Dr. McEvoy says about that.

Otherwise...things are fine. As of this morning, I'm officially done with all work commitments. Finished volleyball on Tuesday; I have included some lovely pictures of my team's end-of-season celebration as well as pictures of me in the team shirt I made at that celebration. I ended up working one more Sunday (yesterday) at Bryn Mawr, but I plan to continue to attend church as a member. I finished up at the schools I'd been teaching in and even made it out for some surveys at a school this morning. Now all I have on my to-do list are a few non-essential meetings that no one was expecting me to attend anyway.

In other news, the Vikings are hugely disappointing me. Sad, sad loss to the Packers, not helped by the two questionable ref calls that cost us 4 points (the difference between a loss and a tie) and gave them 7 points (the difference between a loss and a win). I hate losing games that way.

And Romelie has been given a new mantra. Stay calm; ask for help. I've started to say that to her anytime she has a panic attack over something trivial, which unfortunately she does a lot. I've always said she's a pretty senstive kid, and I'm okay with that. She's smart and creative and loving and emotional. But remember that scene in "Parenthood?" The oldest son of Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen is at Chuck-E-Cheese or something and loses his retainer and immediately throws this huge, panicky, crying fit. Everyone's looking, and the parents are stressed and embarrassed. Later, the parents are outside in the alley digging through the trash to try to find the retainer, and Steve Martin is frustrated at how his son just goes into these instantaneous freak-outs. "He's so high strung." And he laments about how he doesn't know what to do to change this behavior.

That's how I feel these days. I understand that Romelie is still 2 years old, and that this is not crazy uncommon for toddlers. I also can't help but feel frustrated when she's playing nicely or reading, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, she's crying and screaming "Where are my shoes?" I mean, I get it - in her head, she decides she wants her shoes, realizes that she doesn't know where they are, concludes that the shoes are gone forever, and panics and cries. However, to my logical grown-up brain, particularly when I know exactly where her shoes are, it stresses the heck out of me. I just want her to calmly ask "Where are my shoes?" and give me a 5-second opportunity to at least try to answer her question before the freak out begins. So, new mantra. Stay calm; ask for help.

I'll let you know if it works.

Work commitment countdown

Sunday, October 17 - last day at Bryn Mawr church
Monday, October 18 - last day teaching in a Minneapolis classroom
Tuesday, October 19 - last day of volleyball

Friday, October 22 - baby's due date according to my doctor
Monday, October 25 - baby's due date according to me

As far as I'm concerned, baby needs to stay where she is for one more week, but anytime on or after the 20th is fine by me. Is it too much to hope for just one more week of pregnancy? I'm ready to be done being pregnant!

To be fair, this trimester has been much easier than my 3rd trimester with Romelie. Last time around, I had horrible heartburn and acid reflux, carpal tunnel to the extreme so that I had to wear wrist guards, back and hip pain so bad I had to sleep on the couch...this time around, I feel more tired than I remember feeling with Rom (though the fact that Rom is here this time around could have something to do with it!) and I still get pretty nauseated in the morning. I don't throw up but feel like I could some days, so I have to lie down after eating breakfast until that feeling goes away. But comparatively, not too bad. All in all, I'm feeling healthy, and I feel lucky for that.

By the way, since I work with kids for all three of my jobs, here are some sound bites I've heard lately:

4th grade girl - Are you going to have a baby?
Me - I am.
4th grade girl - Is it a girl?
Me - She is.
All 4th grade boys in the class - Awww!!!! (As in "boo," not as in "aww fer cute!")

Random boy walking past me in the hallway at a school - Let me guess. You're pregnant.
Me - Yup.
Random boy to his friend - Knew it. (Like I'm trying to hide it?)

Random boy on a field trip to the museum - You look pregnant.
Me - I am. (Uh...thank you?)

Also, all of my volleyball players call me Waffles. Why? Because everyone got nicknames. I'm preggo. Like leggo my Eggo. Like Eggo waffles. Hence...waffles. And because I'm pregnant, the baby also gets a name - Chicken. Together we are Chicken and Waffles. Seriously, no one calls me Danni or Coach Dancer or just Coach...they call me Waffles. I kind of like it.

While we're on sound bites, here's one from Romelie that made me giggle recently:

Rom, pointing to a scratch on her face: I got an owie.
Me: How did that happen?
Rom: Pointer did it.

Translation - she accidently scratched herself with her pointer finger. Hence, it's Pointer's fault.

Romelie is a pretty funny kid. She has a memory like you wouldn't believe and she becomes fixated on the strangest things, so we really have to watch what we say to her. For example, one time I put on her coat and I said I wasn't going to button the top button because I didn't want it to pinch her neck. Now every single time we put on that coat - Mom, don't button the top button; I don't want it to pinch my neck. She also learned somewhere that green means go, yellow means slow down, and red means stop. Now I hear it at every single stoplight. Mom, the light's red - you have to stop. Green means go, yellow means--yeah, Rom, I get it. Thank you.

I've also started using the proper names for body parts, so she knows the words butt and vagina. I was using the phrase "girl parts" because of course she's only 2, but when we were potty training, I felt like I needed a real word to use with her to talk about wiping and stuff like that, so there it is. On the one hand, they're just words, and I have no problem with her knowing them. On the other hand, it was pretty embarrassing at church on Sunday when she returned from using the toilet and promptly told our adult volunteer, "Poop comes out of my butt, and potty comes out of my 'gina."

Yup. That's what she said.

Ah, almost three years old. Bring on the "kids say the darndest things" moments. I'm ready.

I did find my camera, but I've been slacking on the photo taking. I got a few pics this past Saturday, though. It's been unseasonably warm and gorgeous in Minnesota, so we've been able to spend time outside without having to get too bundled up. I got a few pictures of Rom playing in the backyard (see above and note the adorable hat/shirt ensemble - thanks again Nanny and Papa!), and then we headed to the MN Zoo. The animals were unusually active, so I got a few pictures of Romelie hanging with the beasts. My favorite moments were of Romelie and this little girl laughing at this leopard. The animal was pacing back and forth in front of the glass looking for all the world like it wanted to attack and eat these two adorable toddlers, and they're just laughing hysterically like it's the funniest thing ever. Totally brought me back to this moment from just over a year ago: http://dannidancer.blogspot.com/2009/09/busy-busy-busy.html - the picture of Romelie mocking the enormous tiger. Good to see some things don't change.

Three more weeks..

...in theory. Anyone want to take bets? I'm predicting I'll be late again, and I'll give good odds to anyone who wants to challenge me on that...

So starting with some great news: apparently baby is going to be a gymnast. Or a diver. Or a politican. Why?

She flipped. (Got all those brilliantly punny references now?)

I went in for my doctor's appointment last Tuesday (once a week appointments now, woo-hoo!). Dr. McEvoy did the belly pushing routine and was hopeful that she was feeling baby's butt up...but couldn't tell where the head was, so it was still possible that she was transverse breech (aka sideways, which I'm pretty sure she was for a while at least, based on the movements I was feeling). Went in for the ultrasound early Wednesday morning and was told - yay! She's head down. Just where she needs to be.

This means no version, which is great cause I hear they can be pretty uncomfortable, but so much better than that, it means no scheduled c-section. This is not to say that something couldn't go wrong that leads to a c-section...but I get to at least start this thing the way I want to - naturally. As I have pretty much refused to be induced this time around unless I'm more than two weeks late (in which case they'll do it anyway because a whole bunch of complications/concerns come up at that point), I get to actually find out what it's like to just go into labor. Like you're supposed to.

Could always lead to an embarrassing moment (in the middle of teaching, at the grocery store, at an away game for volleyball, or any number of other awkward scenarios), but I'm not concerned about any of those. I'm just looking forward to going into labor. Is that weird? Probably.

In other news...very very busy with work these days. Between The Bakken and volleyball (not to mention my Sunday nursery job!), I'm on my feet a lot and I'm working very long hours, which means I'm super tired by the time I get home. Luckily my husband is a rockstar and keeps Romelie entertained when I need to crash at 7:30 pm, which happens more than I like to admit.

Also, I misplaced my camera for a few weeks (Hey, remember last pregnancy when I misplaced my wedding ring for a year and a half? This is better.), so I only have a few older photos of Romelie to share. But she's still cute even if there really isn't any context for them.

Speaking of whom, Romelie plans to be Tinkerbell for Halloween this year. To be fair, I offered the suggestion, but she seemed enthusiastic about it. She loves Tinkerbell. I've never seen it, and we don't have any Tinkerbell toys at the house (though there is one currently sitting in the trunk of my car - baby's gift to Romelie at the hospital), so I guess it's a daycare thing. I've tried to buy the costume at Target twice and they've been sold out both times, so apparently it's not just my almost-3-year-old who loves that rude little fairy.

Finally, speaking of presents for Romelie...yesterday I asked her what she wanted for her birthday. Here's what she said (I kid you not): I want to play with my sister.

If I put that in a Hallmark movie, people would think it was too cheesy to be real. Sometimes being a parent really, really rocks.