Week 38...where has the time gone?

From guest blogger, Shawn:

Lately, the question that has been thrown my way the most frequently is "are you ready?"

There are many different inflections given to this question. There's "Are you ready?" as in "Is the nursery set up? Your bags packed? Crib put together? Laundry done?" And then there's "Are you ready?" as in "Are you tired of all the aches, pains, and discomfort that come along with being 38 weeks pregnant?"

My answer is always different, depending on my frame of mind. Last weekend we were finally motivated to pack my bag, Reilly's bag and LaLa's bag, charge the cameras, and spend a fortune at Babies R Us on the "essentials." As for the other, “Are you ready,” I alternate between feeling total excitement about meeting our new addition and seeing how Reilly will interact with her, and then feeling anxiety about the birthing process and wondering if I'll be able to do it!

New This Time: I don't have any of the 3rd trimester pains that I recall from the first time around (being pregnant in the middle of a heat wave in NYC). My ankles are not swollen, my back is doing ok, I haven't been stricken with too much fatigue, and the baby doesn't feel as heavy as Reilly did. (The Beatles song, "She's so Heavy," was Reilly's song when I was carrying her.)

LaLa does feel bigger though, like she's taking up more space. Indigestion and heartburn continues to plague me! I'm up to sleeping on 3 pillows while I watch Brian sleep down below at my side. And I'm still not able to eat as much as I or my docs would like me to. I'm measuring small, but then I measured small with Rei, too.

At my doctor appointment last week, we found that I am 1cm dilated and 50% effaced, which means she can come any time between now and the next 4 weeks. Funny how that works, isn't it? Our friends in the medical community have been sharing stories of delivering babies in cars. When I reminded my doctor of my fast labor and high pain tolerance (read: sheer denial that I was in labor!), she offered to schedule an induction for me on April 2. I declined, as I want this baby to come on her own terms in her own time.

And I know the question on everyone's mind is have we named her? To be honest, we've become very comfortable calling her LaLa (or as Reilly would have you know, LaLa Isabella Overcast). We do have a list of a few other names, but we're keeping them as options until she presents herself. Stay tuned...any day now.