37 Week Appt

Well I officially know now what a mucus plug looks like. Nasty stuff. But mine? Gone.

The 37 week appointment was a good one for the most part. The baby is still head down. I was given the choice whether I wanted Dr. M to check me or not and I decided maybe I was curious if those contractions have been doing anything at all. Baby is high - as usual, neither of my other two dropped until I was in active labor - but lo and behold I was dilated about a centimeter.

I wasn't "green as a gourd"! Those contractions ARE working!

Dr. M thinks I will probably make it to the next appointment, but maybe not. He thinks labor will happen in the next week or two - maybe week to 10 days. Prediction is an averaged size baby, about the same as Leif and Skadi (7 lbs 8 oz and 7 lbs 15 oz respectively).

A few mild concerns. 6 lbs of weight gain in a week, well that is obviously water weight as apparent by my feet and calves and the fact that no one gains 6 lbs in a week. But also my blood pressure was "borderline". My systolic was 140!! I have never in my entire life had high or even borderline blood pressure. That is high, but my diastolic was 70, so I was called borderline.

I have been having a lot of soreness and random contractions, so I bravely asked him to write me out of work. But give me two more days to finish wrapping things up. So as of the day I write this - 37 weeks 6 days, Friday the 22nd, I am officially off of work.

And THAT is what is freaking me out.

I can birth a baby. I can care for a newborn. No problem.

Not work for the next 8-10 weeks? Freaking the crap out of me. I have a few control issues.

And I have such varying responses from the people I work with it honestly doesn't help. One guy I have worked on the Navy project with for 5 years told me a few weeks ago:

KR: "seriously you are going to go out on leave and come back and we are all going to think 'you're back already'?"

His tune was only slightly changed yesterday.

KR: "I can call you, right? Cause I guarantee I am going to be calling you."

Then he made me promise to spend at least 15 minutes just sitting on my couch doing nothing for him. He has twin 2 year olds and an 8 week old at home and said he would pay money to just sit.

Then there is the other guy I work with a lot lately in multiple capacities, PM and co-PI. GE has been in denial about the pregnancy. Completely.

Yesterday I entertained multiple e-mail communications from him of a panicked sort. Him? Not so happy about my absence, but finally sent a note saying they would "muddle through".

I truly do trust everyone I work with and they are some incredibly intelligent people. I am lucky. I love my job right now, I have confidence in what I do, others have confidence in me and I see my career on a good trajectory. It is probably that the baby isn't here yet, but not flipping on my e-mail and responding is taking everything I have within me right now.