I am 37 weeks and 4 days, so little miss Harlow's due date is in 2 weeks and 3 days! so close! Monday we had our Dr appointment, and Wednesday I went back to the Dr because once again I was afraid I was leaking amniotic fluid. Turns out, I wasn't. I asked him how much to expect and he said between 1 and 1.5 liters will either 'gush' or 'trickle' out. I had no idea how much a liter was, so my mom just happened to have a 1 liter measuring cup and she filled it with water. that is a LOT of fluid!! So I at least know what to expect now. My parents are in Dallas for the weekend for a wedding (with my sister) so let's hope labor doesn't start anytime between now and late Sunday.

My swelling has turned into pitting edema! From my knees down, I have so much fluid you can literally press into my skin and the indentation will stay for a minute or so. my feet don't do that but they are very puffy too and hurt when you press on them as if you were pressing on a bruise. My hands are a little puffy but not too noticeable but I'm starting to get pain in my joints from the swelling. This is all normal and nothing to worry about, but now I have to stay off my feet and keep my feet propped up. Pitting Edema is a symptom of preeclampsia, but that is accompanied by high blood pressure (above 140/90) and my blood pressure has been consistent around 120/72, but I have no idea what those numbers mean. I was hoping I would be one of those women who have no problems with pregnancy and everything is wonderful the entire time...but I feel more like an old maid than ever. It makes me wonder how women who are older or out of shape even manage!

So the mold has been sucked out of the ducts and the carpets cleaned and sanitized! We are moving the crib to the opposite side of the room from the vent. We have furniture downstairs and in the garage from when the carpet cleaners were here, and I feel bad because I can't carry anything heavy up the stairs so Kevin has to do it all himself! I have been waiting for this 'nesting' instinct to kick in, because I have yet to develop the desire to vacuum or clean the house. I was reading about this to see if not everyone gets it, and while I never found a statistic, I did read that there are different kinds of 'nesting' - cleaning, cooking, decorating, etc. I think I have the decorating nesting instinct because it is driving me nuts to not be able to put her room together (as well as decorating the rest of the house) and maybe I have some cooking instinct. But the cleaning one is completely absent - sorry Kevin! I like things to be clean, but with a dog that sheds and runs through the mud, what's the point? It's like shoveling the sidewalk in the middle of a blizzard. I have literally vacuumed the downstairs before and when I go back into a room I have already done, there is dog hair EVERYWHERE. So I give up. Maybe that's why I don't have the cleaning nesting instinct.

I was talking to my dad and he just found out this week he has a kidney stone that is sitting in his kidney chillin for now. The Dr said instead of blasting it, he wanted to wait to see if he passes it. So I was saying how it's not so comforting knowing that you are going to have this incredible pain in the future (for both of us! me - birth, him - passing the stone) and he mentioned it's like sitting on top of a bomb not knowing when it will go off. That is the best analogy I can think of to describe how I feel right now. I'm so ready for her to come so my body can return to normal, but at the same time I'm not ready for the birth part. Being in a hospital in those gowns, getting an epidural (I'm not scared of needles, but thinking of putting a big one through my spine makes me queasy), having strangers crowded around your lower torso while you're completely naked trying to push this thing out...the pain, the bleeding, the other embarassing things that can happen....yeah, I'm not really excited for the labor part. I wish there was an easier way...

That's it for now! I will update this again Monday after my next Dr appointment. Hopefully I'm dilated and effaced a little more!!

Originally posted April 18, 2009