Seriously People? 40 Weeks + 2 Days

Last night Taki and I took Jeff and Sarah up on their babysitting offer and went out to eat at a great woodfire pizza place over by their house. Although it wasn't a steakhouse, we did have some red meat (prosciutto) on the pizza and it was delicious. I asked if any items on the menu had ever put anyone into labor and the waitress said not that she knew of. Of course, I think they have only been open for 3 months. I told her if the pizza did the trick I would make sure to let her know.

Here's a shot of us before dinner. 40 Weeks + 1 Day. For those keeping up, I am still wearing my non-maternity Lucky jeans. Whether they were actually buttoned or not after dinner will remain a mystery to you people.

Today I woke up with a plan to help this baby along. Nikos and I walked two miles up to Habitot and played for a few hours. The big hits of the visit this time were the train table (again) and the new ride-in cars.



Playing with trains is serious business. I think he is just baffled by the actual tunnel, since at home we make his trains go through the "tunnel" which is actually a book overturned and propped open. Ha!

Taking a break to paint.
And back on the road. There's obviously a traffic jam up ahead.

Ouch, this look came right after he mumbled something about it being too bad the other guy's car didn't come with a turn signal. Hmm, wonder where he got that from? I guess I should just feel happy there wasn't any cussing involved.

After Habitot we walked down the street and met up with Sarah and Marco at Jupiter for lunch. I asked for the spiciest pizza they had, preferably something that would make me go into labor. Hmph. Considering I am back home writing this entry you can see how well that turned out. After lunch I helped recover a stolen car -- or more specifically, I helped recover a misplaced car. If Sarah wants to deny it was hers then I will stick to that story too...uh, it was Jenn Martin's. (Ha, I blame Jenn for everything!)

After playing the hero-car-finder role, Nikos and I walk the two miles back to our house. Coincidentally, my four mile round trip trek does put me directly in front of the fire station, packed with young, buff, trainees that I am sure would be more than eager to help out a damsel in labor. Unfortunately, this damsel is not in the least bit of labor distress. In fact, I don't think I had one contraction the whole way back!

I Swear to Tell the Truth...(Fingers Crossed)

In response to Katie's latest post, I have this to say about my pregnancy.

This pregnancy is so great. I haven't spotted one stretch mark and I think I have barely gained 10lbs. There has been no pain whatsoever, and the contractions I have had for the last few weeks are no problem at all! In fact, if you followed me around you would think that I was a walking Tickle-Me-Elmo. Did I mention I am on maternity leave so I spend my day lounging around the house without a care in the world? And of course, Nikos is so excited about the new addition he has already created a pile of toys to share with the new baby and he hasn't cried once when I pick up another child. I am sure having two children will be a breeze and I expect to be back in my size 27 Joe's Jeans in a few weeks!

...okay Katie, you can stop reading now.

PS - I never fit into those jeans! Not even after my successful 10-day stint at South Beach or after I had the Cabo parasite. Ha!

+1 (Day, Not Child)

Well, nothing like spending a few hours in the middle of the night in Triage (symptoms of pre-eclampsia, but everything turned out fine) to make you realize, holy sh*t, I am not ready to go through the pain of labor again! Yes, ladies and gentleman, I may be willing to back off my statement of trying anything to pop this baby out! On second thought, I think I am going to just relax and enjoy the (relatively) pain-free ride.

Yes, I Said TODAY Was My Due Date

Back at home from my doctor's appointment...and no I do not have a newborn in tow. The appointment went well, baby looks great and they are happy with everything. Still only one centimeter dilated - boo.

My blood pressure was a little bit high - I told her it was because I had read Kelli's response to my blog post about the membrane stripping hurting like a b*tch and so it was causing me to stress out. She took it again after the appointment and it was lower but she had me run some labs just in case (since I had elevated bp with Nikos.) As for the membrane stripping, well, no one can call Kelli a liar, that is for sure. No results yet but I am still hopeful. We set up an induction date for next Wednesday, if I am still pregnant I will go in Wednesday night for an induction starting at 7pm. Sound familiar? Last time I was induced with Nikos it was at 6pm. The good news is that I had him at 5 the next morning, so the whole thing was fairly quick.

After perusing the blog comments I am planning on a meal chock full of red meat. Of course, this is not entirely different from my regular meals since I also agree with Kelli on this one - I mean, bacon could quite possibly be the perfect food. I am also down with Sara's suggestion to try the Bloomin' Onion (Outback's version of Chili's Awesome Blossom.) Of course, since my (mean) brother-in-law just recently informed me that this fabulous menu item contains about 2700 calories, yes TWENTY SEVEN HUNDRED, that may not be the best idea. Too bad we can't find a babysitter so we can take a last minute trip to House of Prime Rib. I mean, we would take Nikos but I don't think they have macaroni and cheese or yogurt on the menu and I am sure they would NOT be thrilled when he showed his disdain for their creamed spinach and tossed it to the floor. Of course, the more I blog about this the more I want to go. Hmm, drop Nikos off at Jeff and Sarah's tonight? They do owe us two babysitting nights...

In other news, I am pretty happy with my weight gain. "They" tell you to gain between 25-35 lbs and I am right at 35, which is only one lb more than I gained with Nikos. Of course, when I stop and think about it, I think the last time I talked to Mel she said Maile was pushing 39lbs, so that basically means I am lugging around a kindergartener -- strapped to my belly. Great. Maybe I should not have polished off the ENTIRE giant cookie a la mode when I had lunch with Sarah today. But I DID hear that exact dessert has caused some women to go into labor.*

**Disclaimer, this could be a total fabrication I just made up on the spot to make myself feel better about eating the whole thing.

Uno Mas (Margarita Por Favor)

Just when you think being 39 weeks and six days pregnant can not get any more brutal...your husband works from home and you get inundated by CNBC. UGH. I mean, people really watch this stuff? And how many shows can you watch where they just scream over the top of each other? I never thought I would say that I would rather watch golf on tv but...I think I would. I mean, I was actually missing Fox News. I heart(ed) Tony Snow.

So, we missed out on the baby being born on Dr. Seuss' birthday yesterday (which probably is a good thing since I may have then been totally convinced that I should buy the Dr. Seuss set for her crib sheets - which would SO not match the current room decor.) Today we have the chance to have her born on Square Root Day, which would be cool since her great grandpop was also born on Square Root Day (5-5-25.) Of course, times a tickin' so it is not looking likely. March 4th anyone? At this rate Shauna Stecher is going to beat me...with full-term twins!

We've tried all of the old wives' tales to induce labor and have struck out so far. Any new ideas people? Feel free to comment if you think you have something brilliant that will help out. I have my doctor's appointment tomorrow and I think I am going for the stripping of the membranes. I know, sounds awful and I am sure will hurt like a b*tch (since I was a wimp just during the exam last week!) but I think I am going to go for it.

And really, I should stop complaining. Good things about still being pregnant:

• Better chance for a healthy baby
• More time to get things done around the house
  
• Sleep while I can!
• Not screwing up my maternity leave
  
• Still eating like a little piggy
• No need to suck in stomach
• Still get offered a seat on bart

Alright, I guess I will sign off so that I can find out about the problems in the democratic party between Pelosi and Obama (WTF?!)

Choo Choo

Nikos is very into trains right now. He was lining up books, trucks, etc. on the floor and pushing them in a row saying "choo choo." We decided we needed to spring for a train for the poor kid. While at the zoo we picked up cute little train cars that spelled out NIKOS. Each little car came with an animal that started with the letter. Of course, they were out of the engine but I figured we could always pick one up later (season pass and all.) After breaking the cars out of their packaging we realize the design flaw - the letters are only on one side of the train cars, and of course the magnets attaching the cars will only work in certain configurations. Thus, you can not spell NIKOS correctly. Ha. Luckily the quick fix is to just put the letters on the other side of the cars as well and then it will work. We just haven't gotten around to it yet. So please enjoy this video of Nikos and his INOSK train.



After playing with his new train he amused himself with the "Romios Baby #2" container that I had just emptied.
Lastly, I am updating this blog on Monday night, still very pregnant. Mel and I went to the movies today to see Slumdog Millionaire (believe the hype) and, as good as the movie was, I was routing for a water break. Oh well, what can you do. Taki is out for a few drinks with a college friend in town for the night (I warned him to stick to one or two in case I go into labor) so I am killing time filling out online surveys to try to become a Berkeley Millionaire. Or at least a Berkeley thousandaire. Two down for Home Depot, two down for Target and now I am doing the one for Chili's. Fun stuff.

T Minus Two Days

Update - still no baby! I am huge and uncomfortable and really, anything that I drop is just lost forever. Dropped my wallet this weekend at Target and thought "I mean, what is really in there that I can't replace?" Luckily the guy behind me in line picked it up for me. Also, while I was in Target I made friends with the Target barista Daniel, who makes his own drinks. Dude, he has one called the Oreo Cookie and one called the Crunchberry. YUM! He gave me a taste of the Oreo Cookie and it was to die for. He is working on trying to add some caffeine to either of them so that I can order one next time I am in Target (which, since I go every week should be soon.)

Things that are great about being pregnant. Jeff just delivered me some homemade bacon focaccia right to my front door! I am super excited to try it but thought I should hold out and wait for Taki tonight. Wahoo!

Alright, off to the movies with Mel and maybe my mom. Yes, blowing off doing anything productive at the house to go to the movies.

Hopefully the next post will be authored by Taki and involve details of our new arrival! :)