Are We There Yet?

Wilder showing off his best side -a profile view of our little man. **To explain this picture a bit, he's showing his left profile, facing up. His forehead is the large white area on the right followed by the deep black of the eye sockets, the upward slope to his nose, his parted little lips and finally his chin. The other large white area on the left is his chest and possibly a curled hand.** I am beside myself with glee being able to see the visage of the little mystery person inside of me. I have wondered if he will be the spitting image of his daddy or if he will be an equal mix of us both. His wide forehead and mouth remind me of Brian, but I can't help but feel I see a bit of me in him as well. The most telling, of course, will be when we see him in person. I can hardly wait!Now this he definitely gets from his father. My doctor just had to take a picture of his "masculine side." She says the white arrow is on his penis and his testes are the large circular formation just above to the right. Thought you all might like to see those clothes you sent are truly going to the correct gender.

Some exciting developments have occurred and I intend to give you a full report of this morning's visit to my OB/GYN. Last night around 11pm as I was lying in bed -on my left side- I began to have steady contractions that were 5 minutes apart. An ache in my lower back spread into my legs and the intensity of the contractions continued. I called the Maternity ward and shared my symptoms whereupon a nurse on duty told me to come on down and get checked out. After getting hooked up to the external fetal monitor the contractions came 2-4 minutes apart and continued to increase in intensity, though I never went beyond a "4" in a pain scale of 1 to 10. An internal exam proved that I hadn't dilated any more since Sunday and after 45 minutes being monitored for contractions and fetal activity, they sent me back home. The contractions continued through the night, though I finally was able to get some sleep.

This morning I was (and am) still contracting, but not at so close a frequency. The lower back pain is still there as well as pain similar to menstrual cramps, dull and unexciting. I went on a walk, as usual, but it didn't seem to change anything -except make me a bit more uncomfortable.

Here's the news from the doc. Baby weighs around 6 pounds already and she's guessing if he shows up on his expected date he'll be 7 to 7 1/2 pounds. Thank goodness I won't be delivering the Incredible Hulk or Andre the Giant. I am at 75% effacement, which means the cervix is super thin. Wilder head is in Stage 0 to +1, which means he is really, really ready to make an entrance at any time -his head is right at the opening (well, about 2 inches away from the exit.) Still, I am only dilated 1 1/2 cm right now. That's only 1/2 a cm since last week's appointment.

Doc said she has a suspicion that my water will break all of a sudden, because I'm so thinned out down there, and we'll have the baby then. She even seemed to think Wilder would be coming within the week, but, again, we really don't have any idea what will happen. I asked her when I should come back into the hospital if I was already regularly contracting. Her response was when the contractions get really painful. Or, of course, when my water breaks or I have bloody show. So for now I have to hang out feeling very uncomfortable with this lovely dull pain all around my middle until contractions start getting really bad. Fabulous...

You know what all this means, right? The baby's coming! I'll keep you posted on further exciting developments!