12/4/2007, 10:45pm. I. WANT. CHOCOLATE.

Ok, pain's getting worse, and kindof hanging on in a low-level way.

I want fentonal. And Reesus peanut-butter cups. And a Wendy's cheeseburger. And a LARGE order of salty, oily french fries.

Starting to get some slight cold sweats.

Chocolate ice cream would be good too. And chocolate milk shakes. And chocolate sodas. Oooooh... and about 3 coca colas. And some mac and cheese.

Why do I feel voracious???

12/4/2007 9pm Still being induced.

Well, 2 doses of something to soften the cervix have left it a little softer, but still at 1 cm. Or at least, at noon today, it was still 1cm.

Now on picotin (spelling?!?!?) to induce contractions and also open up the cervix. Started that around noon today. Have had some contractions... was almost getting repetitive, with ones every 6 minutes. But not quite happening right now.

They were ironically really low on the pain scale. Freaking me out. Was expecting to be pretty much speaking in blasphemous tongues, spinning my head 360 degrees around, and projectile vomiting green bile at this point, LOL! [And that's as much of the movie The Exorcist as I can even remotely stand to remember, LOL!] But they have been really nice and easy. It makes me feel like they are just making me a little too relaxed so they can jump me later! :)

But this is what IS hurting: the kid is trying to DIG his way out, I SWEAR!!! I keep looking down and going, "Ouch! Hey, cut it out! Let my cervix open up first!"

2 weeks being cooked extra... the little bugger has got nails, I know it. And he's definitely SCRATCHING. Yikes. OUCH.

They keep upping the picotin dosage every hour or so. And they will check my cervix at midnight, and if it's still closed, will give me some medication to open it up, while still keeping me on the picotin.

So, still preggers. And have a picotin drip and saline drip attached. And the baby monitor cables. Weeee.

Hubby setup an ad-hoc network that I can reach through his computer. His computer is hooked up to the internet via his phone. So as long as he's here, I have network access. Yea!!!! :) But don't count on it. Things may change.

It was funny, because he was asking me, "are you trying to access bleah"? Uh, no, I was trying to access something else... So then he password-protected his ad-hoc network, and we both started laughing as we realized the people out there who had briefly had Internet-Love, and were now DENIED, LOL!!!

Thank you all of you for all your words of encouragement. :) Can't believe all the VERY COOL friends I've made online. :) You guys ROCK. :)

12/3/2007 In the hospital

This morning, the doctor determined my water was a little low. So I was walked over to the hospital.

I looked at the nurse pathetically and asked if I could go home first and grab my bags, etc., LOL! Nope. Husband had to rescue my car. And bring my bags. I think there's a part of me that wanted to just go home and hide, and maybe they wouldn't drag me to the hospital until the original induction date of December 5th, LOL!

They've given me stuff to dilate my cervix. I'm here until Logan comes out. Been here since 10am-ish. Seen both sets of grandparents.

I won't often have internet access. There is no wi-fi... using husband's laptop to type this, and his laptop is using his cell phone for internet access. So my laptop is just going to be for playing movies.

I feel weirdly disconnected, LOL! I need my internet fix, damnit!

Anyway, whenever I'm able, will keep you guys informed. :)

I may be here a LONG while. Sigh.

doc appt, 11/30/2007 7 pm -- Still pregnant, induction 12/5/2007 6pm

Well, he's STILL IN THERE. ;)

Saw the ultrasound specialist again. Or rather, a nurse there. First she did the ultrasound. And he's still head down, which is good. ;) I forgot to ask, but I gather my amniotic fluid is still good. [Phew! Thank God.]

So, there's this mortality curve that is pretty high during the beginning of the pregnancy... then gets much lower to almost 100% chance of survival through like 30 weeks thru 42 weeks. Then after 42 weeks, it drops off DRASTICALLY. Hence, why doctor's worry about babies running late, and why they are willing to induce labor in order to tackle that scenario.

Which is why I'm having a doctor's appointment every 2 days now, LOL. And why, if I hit 42 weeks, that's when he's getting evicted. Here that, kiddo? Better pack it up in there. ;)

So, they then recorded his heart beat for a while. Then the nurse came in, took this rattling device, checked that it rattled, and then pressed it to my stomach and rattled it. I had a moment of apprehension before she pressed it to my stomach, not realizing it was just a noise-maker, and that it wasn't, say, going to give me an electric shock, LOL!

Basically, it's a pre-natal alarm clock. After using it, Logan was INDEED awake, LOL! And they recorded his awake heartbeat for a while. :)

So he's doing well. God is watching out for him. :)

Afterwards, I went to the hospital to re-pre-register, LOL. It's been almost a month since I originally pre-registered, so... All they said they needed was my new insurance card. My company, just for grins, is changing my insurance as of 12/1/2007. Just to spice things up and make me worry about what's still going to be covered, LOL. :)

Anyway, the hospital now has copies of the new insurance card. And assuming I don't go into labor before midnight tonight, it will be the CORRECT insurance card. ;)

Then went through McD's. Scarfed food. Went grocery shopping. Felt my left hip REALLY bugging me. Shuffled back to the car. Declined help in getting stuff to the car: if putting all this stuff into the trunk starts labor, it will be a GOOD THING, LOL! Except for all the frozen food that would thaw and melt while my hubby rushed me to the hospital, LOL.

Drove home. Hubby helped me unload. Put crap away. Dragged trash cans back in. Put laundry into the dryer. Took shower to get doctors-office/hospital germs off me. [OCD, OCD, OCD!!!!] Then crawled into bed and slept from about 2:30pm to 6pm, LOL.

While I was sleeping, hubby's best friend from childhood came over, and they played Guitar Hero. They are still at it. ;) I'm really glad hubby has this time off, and kinda glad therefore that Logan is running late. Hubby has seriously needed this. It's not the same as being able to run off to Vegas and have a REAL vacation, but still.

Oh, and hubby's best friend was able to come over and play XBox as he got laid off over a month ago. Yuck. Hoping he can get a job soon, but that at least he's also enjoying his mini-vacation as well. ;)

I kindof liken being laid off as getting that summer vacation we all miss from childhood, LOL. It's a little hard to think of it as that when you're in the middle of it, and scared about finding the next job. If you can treat it as a summer vacation with a little assigned summer reading, it will help you be fresh for the next job. The summer reading is writing your resume, sending it out to a few new companies every day, then enjoying the rest of the day, LOL. :)

Yesterday, did a little nesting. Had my niece and her 4 week-old son over. Got to hold him... that was REALLY cool. :) And hubby's best friend came over and played XBox too. ;) Can't remember what else happened... all fuzzy. Days are sorta running together.

So, that's what's happening. Doing some grocery-hoarding in preparation, like a squirrel stuffing more nuts into my tree. ;) Doing some nesting. Still have yet more nesting I could do. Weeeeee.

And of course sleeping, eating, peeing... basically, other than the nesting/preparation/doc appointments, living the life of a baby, LOL! Soon that will change.

Had doc visit. Still pregnant, 11/28/2007 7pm; induction Dec 5th 6pm if necessary

Had a 9am appointment with the specialist with the cool extra expensive ultrasound equipment. His nurse checked to ensure the amniotic fluid levels were good (they were), that he was still head down (he is), and then hooked up a heart monitor.

I got to lean back and rest in this recliner-like chair while wearing this monitor over my belly, listening to his heart beat.

Other than a few times when he squirmed and the monitor therefore lost his heart beat, his recorded heart beat was strong and steady. He's doing really well, thank God, in spite of being cooked an extra week, LOL!

I had only fallen asleep sometime after 4:30am, so after the appointment, I crawled back to my car, drove through McD's, ate breakfast on the drive home, hopped back into the shower*, then crawled back into bed at 10:30am. I slept until 4:30pm! "When the sun sets, the Vampire rises from the crypt", LOL!

* My OCD was firing, and the idea that my wet, clean hair had been up against the recliner-like chair that other women's hair had been up against, and that I'd had that goop on my stomach, was too much. The warm 2nd shower felt so good, anyway. :)

It's 7pm. Trying to decide if I'm going to go into more nesting tonight or not. The recliner at home is rather comfortable, LOL!

Induction date December 5th, 6pm

Talked to my ObGyn. She let me know that due to her schedule, she wouldn't be able to induce until December 5th, 6pm.

So, the original "induction date" of December 3rd is now December 5th. The kid's been given 2 more days to think about this, LOL!

If I am still pregnant all the way until December 5th, then Logan will be a total of 2 weeks late.

And yes, as of 11/27/2007 3pm I am STILL PREGNANT. ;)

Let me rephrase the "schedule" comment above. My ObGyn is already over-scheduled with patients those evenings. It's not like she's trying to take off those evenings or something.

Weee.... running late in your pregnancy is fun!

Last night (Sunday) I ran out of steam and took a nap from 5pm to 7pm. Got up, then had one of those nesting spurts. Ellie's crate top is now doubling as the baby's changing station, and the basinet is now also on my side of the bed. The baby diaper genie thing is setup. Weeee! Progress.

Still want to clean and place a bookcase on my side of the bedroom. The baby diaper genie and the trash can need to be on the top shelf. When you have German Shepherds, or any other LARGE dog, it's a good idea to put the trash cans high up out of doggie nose range.

That is, unless you like having things like bloody tampons and snot-filled crumpled kleenex's spread around the floor, vigorously chewed on. ;)

Got to midnight, and remembered I hadn't taken my prenatal meds yet. Ick. Have to be upright for at least a half hour after taking them. So, took them, then sat up.

Had an ObGyn appointment in the morning. Wanted hubby to come with me, as he's taking time off his job right now anyway. Otherwise, he wasn't going to get to see her (ObGyn) until the birth.

Told hubby I'd be in bed in a little bit. Then he came out of the bedroom a few minutes later, with stomach cramps. Poor guy was NOT feeling well. He sat up with me, played Guitar Hero, ran to the bathroom a few times. Then we both headed for bed by 1am-ish.

Of course, my pregger heartburn kicked in. And my sinuses kept closing up or bleeding due to the pregnancy and lack of moisture in the air. And yet, the post-nasal drip was in fine form, threatening to go down the wrong pipe and make me cough. Oh, and I was also a little stressed about waking up early enough to make it to the ObGyhn. Short story, barely slept all night long.

At around 5:30am, I got up to pee, and read a little. It was almost 6am. Realized if I tried to go back to sleep then, I wouldn't be able to get up by 7am to make it to the ObGyn. [Wanted to leave with breakfast having been eaten, dogs fed, fingers pricked... and wanted to have left the house by 8:30am-ish to make sure I made it in time to do the lovely peeing in a cup thing.] So gave up and go up, checked email, let dogs out, fed dogs, pricked fingers, fed me, checked more email, waiting 1 hour, pricked fingers, hit the shower, and left on time but dead tired. Left hubby in bed. He was wiped out from his food poisoning. Told him I had fed and watered the dogs. Got a mumbled response in the affirmative.

Made it before 9am for my 9:15am appointment with my ObGyn. Due to the long 4 day weekend, she was backed up with phone calls and other emergencies. So they got me into the exam room sometime around 10:40am. Yikes! Sat there, with no pants, and one of those flimsy paper-lap-covers to maintain my modesty. 10:45am... the nurse comes in. My ObGyn had to run to the hospital to supervise a C-section. She should be back in "15 minutes". I look at the nurse like she's on drugs... 15 minutes? Nah... 30 minimum to run over there, scrub up, get into smock etc., do the job, take all that stuff off, talk to the patient, and run back. Probably more like 45 minutes.

I kept thinking I should pee again while I had the chance, but was afraid of being in the bathroom when my ObGyn came back! I knew she was going to be horribly late all day, and didn't want to contribute to that, for her sake and the sake of the rest of her patients. Was given the chance to see a nurse practitioner instead, but considering I was running 5 days late on the due date, felt like I should talk to the doctor directly.

I asked the nurse to hand me my cell phone, and texted my husband about the delay. Didn't want to wake him, but if he was up, didn't want him worrying.

At 11:35am he called me as he was worrying and hadn't seen the text message, so was glad I'd asked the nurse to hand me the cell.

Sometime around 11:40am my ObGyn was back! Over the course of the hour I had sat there, I had figured out exactly how much out of synch my watch, my cell phone, and the clock on the exam room phone were. And I had discovered that, when you are pregnant and running on somewhere between 2 and 4 hours sleep, you CAN become mesmerized watching a clock slowly change. "Oh, wow... the minute changed again."

I would have just laid back on the exam table, but pregger heartburn doesn't do horizontal real well. And I was having it pretty badly that morning.

ObGyn was very apologetic when she got back. I was just very happy to finally see her, LOL! [And thinking that I maybe need to find a slightly less popular ObGyn, LOL!]

So, she found the baby's heart beat. Still good. And then she looked under the hood. And discovered I was 1 centimeter dilated. Could be tonight, could be a week from now. Water not broken.

Let me tell you something about having your cervix checked for dilation. If it's not dilated, no big deal. If it is, the person checking it is going to stick their finger (or more fingers) in it to guestimate how dilated you are.

I wasn't expecting the finger IN the cervix. Kindof like the Spanish Inquisition. Or at least, I wasn't expecting what it would feel like.

When she put that finger in there, I levitated off the exam table! If she wanted me to move to the left, or right, or to start revealing national secrets, I would have been all over it. I felt like a cow with a nose ring being led around! :) And I yiped.

It didn't exactly hurt that bad or anything... it was just REALLY unexpected, LOL! She held my hand with her free hand while she finished poking around. I didn't really need that, but I think in part it was so she could keep me from squirming away from her hand while she kept poking and prodding, LOL!

So, she told me the news. 1 centimeter. Water not broken. Today, tomorrow, a week from now. That everything was ok. I had told her about not sleeping well the night before, and that I had had heartburn. And that I had also had bad heartburn while sitting in the waiting room and exam room. Ick. Didn't think to bring Tums with me, and no-one in the office had any... normally don't get the heartburn in the AM.

My ObGyn told me that, if I felt like I was miserable enough, we could induce tonight!!!

I was SO tired. I way more wanted to sleep than to have the baby tonight, LOL! "Nope, not miserable enough yet." :) Anyway, still want to give the kid a chance to make it out in his own time.

I asked my husband when I got home if he thought he was miserable enough, LOL! I mean, this was affecting him too, although not on such a personally physical level. He said he was fine, it was up to me. :)

I have 3 doctors appointments with the dude with the sophisticated ultrasound equipment: Wednesday, Friday, and next Monday Dec 3rd. Basically to make sure that the kid still has enough amniotic fluid, and is doing ok while cooking extra long. And another appointment with my ObGyn next Monday, December 3rd. If the kid hasn't come out by then, induction will be the evening of December 3rd.

Hear that, kid? You have a deadline!!! :)

So, crawled out of there. Per ObGyn, picked up some Zantac for the heartburn. Forgot to get some Ocean nasal drops... apparently the drops work better than the spray for lubricating dry pregger noses, and I think what I have at home is the spray. Picked up a few more items. Drove through McD's. Drove home. Felt sorta... violated... LOL. Took shower. Then reheated McD's, ate lunch. Pricked fingers. Crawled into bed at 2:30pm-ish. Turned off phone. Husband fielded phone calls, and woke me up at 6pm. We went out to dinner with his parents at Outback. Had a terrible time trying to wake up, LOL! But finally did. Dinner was very nice. :)

And now, we're back home. And yes, I'm STILL PREGNANT, LOL!

Discovered this afternoon that husband hadn't really registered that I'd fed the dogs. When he crawled out of bed at 11:30am, the dogs were pushing their bowls around, and convinced him they were wasting away. Guess what, dogs? No dinner for you tonight, LOL!!! Little sneaks. ;)

Tomorrow I intend to sleep late, then do some nesting. Maybe, if I have energy, will try to tackle the thank you notes FINALLY. I am majorly overdue on those, and I don't know how much I'll feel up to doing them after Logan arrives. But definitely need to finish unpacking the last few items for Logan's room, and put some bedding away.

Anyway, if Logan doesn't arrive on his own, he should be here sometime around December 3rd or 4th. Weeeee..... :)

Oh, I forgot! Guys, thanks for your encouragement in your comments on my prior post. :) You guys rock. :)