Settling Down

I know it's likely pure folly to wish for the early arrival of this kiddo, but wish I do. And I talk to him, too. He's actually a very good listener. I asked him to turn from breech to head-down at 32 weeks, and only did a handful of inversion poses to coax him along, and what do you know? Within two days he was head down. I am not going to take this as any sign that this kid will be compliant once he emerges from my womb; indeed, he has two of the most bullheaded, contrarian parents around, so it would be a miracle if he did listen to us.

Yesterday I had my first cervix ripening acupuncture appointment. My cervix is already pretty soft and low, and this was confirmed when my doula Nickie's mom Juli, who's a midwife, gave me an exam last night. Apparently I'm 1 cm dilated on the outer oss, and my cervix is low and centered, but not quite forward yet, and very soft. Julie asked me if my due date could possibly be off, since at 35 weeks I am already quite a bit ahead of the game as far as this goes. I don't think it could be, though, at least not by much . . . it could be that the little dude is just eager to get out into the world and go exploring with us, see what that barky puppy he's been hearing for the past many months actually looks like, get a glimpse of the East Bay Hills from an Ergo.

Juli also palpated my stomach again, and in her opinion, the babe isn't much more than 6 pounds. That's still big for his age, but not by much. And again, the mommies in my family all give birth to big old babies, so this isn't unexpected by any means. She also told me that I have a very open pelvis, which of course will help matters during labor.

Strangely, I've gotten another burst of endurance, and the belly, as big as it is, isn't bothering me too much. I've been taking long, brisk hikes, and though I haven't been swimming, I have been sewing and nesting like a right idiot. I've sewn two soft baby toys (one with jingle bells in it) and two portable, roll-up baby changing mats. I've also re-washed all of the baby clothes and all of the cloth diapers and organized them, gotten the babe's room together (though he will sleep with us for a long time, of course), and continued to try to get the house tidy and ready for his arrival.

We got good news from Nickie, our doula, last night, that Uli (the babe) is getting a limited edition vinyl copy of the new High on Fire record signed by Matt Pike, which made Peter nearly pee his pants with joy. I reminded him that the record was for Uli, not him, and Peter said that he would of course give Uli the record upon the occasion of his reaching adulthood. Pretty sweet. Due to this new news, we are considering an additional second middle name. But that's a top secret secret until we get the birth certificate signed!