Pregnancy: Week 40

This Week:

Time is  up!  Come on baby!

Feeling:  So over it.  I'm tired of being pregnant and I'm ready to hold my sweet little baby!!

I've been:  A mess.  After my due date came and went, I had a day of contractions lasting hours that were approximate 6 minutes apart, and then.......fizzle......nothing.  It was such a let down! The next day  I was such an emotional wreck - crying over nothing, feeling depressed, tired, and just icky.  I guess my hormones were on a rampage.

I'm writing this at:  40 weeks and 5 days and really hoping that this will be my last pregnancy post.  If you see a week 41 picture, you may want to move to the other side of the road if you have to walk past me.

Cervical Progress:  Completely effaced (the midwife said my cervix was so soft, she could barely get a hold of it), and 5 cm.  She said there is a little inner ring that is still at 3cm though.  FINALLY!  Progress!  So I guess my day of contractions actually did do something.  I guess I'm having prodromal labor (where labor starts and stops over a long period of time, rather than starting and going hardcore for 20 hours or something).  Even though the waiting and not knowing totally stinks, I guess I'll take it that if this little one's head can put some pressure on that inner ring, I'll already be at 5 cm!

Baby's Position:  Head down, lying on his side, but on my left side (which is a great thing).  That means that when labor starts and he does his 90 degree turn, he should turn the right way make getting out the easiest. Phew!  He's also very low according to the midwife.

Really Hoping:  This baby comes before Halloween (which is when I hit week 41), but we'll see.

Ways to Help Bring on Labor:  At this week's appointment, the midwife broke out her arsenal of tricks to tell us things we can start trying to bring on labor.  I've got some homeopathic herbs to begin when I hit week 41.  I've also got evening primrose oil, ginger tea, walking, bouncing on a birthing ball, sex, and nipple stimulation all on my list of things to choose from.  It's funny, but now that I finally have a bag of tricks to choose from, I'm actually kind of nervous to try them!  I'm scared to force anything, but talk to me again when I hit week 41!