10 Days and counting

Yes I am actually overdue by 10 days! Apparently there was a neighborhood “pool” as to whether I would have the baby on Halloween or All Saint’s Day. I guess the joke is on me. Not even election day. Blue Collar Daughter our friend and neighbor even felt the situation worthy of mention on her blog. Maybe it will drum up a bunch more prayers for me.

Yesterday we went in for a “biophysical profile,” a special kind of ultrasound that looks at the baby’s breathing and swallowing reflexes, placenta health and umbilical cord blood flow. The verdict is the fetal health is “just dandy,” and I will simply have to wait a bit longer. Based on the size of the baby (8 lbs 13 oz, approximately) the profile gave me a new due date of November 1st. So I am still over due but only by 2 days versus 10 according to last period.

At my last prenatal yesterday it seemed like things were finally changing. For those in the know dialated to 4-5 versus 3. The midwife said that once you get to this point it moves relatively quickly, whereas you can sit at 3 for several weeks. Don’t I know it, try 9 weeks. So hopefully soon, like today would be good.

Meanwhile the list of things that I was planning on starting once the baby comes continues to grow, like a reading program for Two, organizing and putting away our greenhouses and other farm equipment, analyzing our season and recording output from our field, and cooking on a regular basis again. Today I finally made bread again, for the first time in at least 9 weeks. I had run out of the homemade bread my grandmother gave me while on bedrest and grown oh so tried of “boughten bread” as my grandmother would say.

This weekend we tried a few more home remedies to start labor including
-caulophyllum 200X (a homeopathic treatment)
-labor tincture with blue and black cohash and wild ginger from Minnesota Herbalist
-hiking up and down the hills of Battle Creek Regional Park
-and taking the children on a marathon trick or treat session. Avril started saying her bucket was too heavy and I knew it was time to go home.

For those interested here are my little blessings in full regalia for the day.

We had a lion, spider man, and Chinese princess. Proeun did all the face painting. I thought for sure this year would be a “baby’s first Halloween” but no luck. And so we wait a bit more. On a side note looks like we have another “feisty,” strong-willed female joinging the family. During the ultrasound she kept kicking away the instrument and obviously she has a mind of her own. I wonder where all these girls get it?