full moon?

Well, the labor cookies didn't work. Either they only work if you're overdue or if you eat a bagillion of them. All I got was a tummy ache. Sydney, our 3 year old lab, managed to eat about a dozen of them while Jordan and I were out running errands on Saturday. If she goes into labor, I'll be pretty peeved, especially considering since we had her fixed when she was 3 months old. ;)

Tonight is the full moon, so Jordan and I are eager to see if the change in tides or whatever else happens during a full moon has any effect on Baby Z's arrival. I truly thought I was going into labor twice this weekend.

The first time was while Jordan and I were out on a walk. Both of us agreed that some physical exertion might make the baby come, so we decided to enjoy the 70 degree weather and go for a nice long walk. We ended up walking 6 miles (!!!!) which is more than I've exercised in a LONG time. Well, at about the half-way point, I was starting to have a ton of Braxton-Hicks contractions and they seemed to be coming at regular intervals, so when we got home I decided to use my handy contraction timer to see if labor was starting. I timed them for 2 hours while Jordan and I watched a movie, and the contractions were lasting between 1-2 minutes and coming every 20 minutes, so the two of us became pretty hopeful. But, since they weren't painful, we didn't do anything about it and went to bed. Nothing happened overnight, and I wasn't having the contractions when I woke up the next morning, so we figured they had just been Braxton-Hicks contractions. But, the fact that they had been coming at regular intervals was encouraging.

The second time I thought I was going into labor was last night. I was awoken in the middle of the night with sharp pains in my abdomen, accompanied by my now ever-present back pain. I got up to go to the bathroom, thinking that maybe I just really had to pee, but it didn't make the pain go away. I also had incredible heartburn at the same time, so I sat up in bed for awhile, drank some water, and waited for the pain to subside. The pain decreased and then disappeared for a few minutes, but then came back with increasing intensity. I thought for sure these were contractions. But, since my heartburn was so bad, I ate a few Tums and tried to drift back off to sleep in a semi-sitting up position. Well, the pains must have gone away because I slept soundly until I woke up this morning. It probably was just a result of having eaten WAY too much Halloween candy before bed...

All we can really do at this point is wait and try to be patient- but, that would be a whole lot easier if I weren't so uncomfortable. The biggest bother is my back, which is throbbing, constantly. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who gives me a back rub every night when he comes home from work, and a heating pad to use when he's not around.

Our next appointment is on Wednesday, and our OB said she'd discuss induction options with us at that visit if Baby Z still hasn't arrived. But, when she followed that up with the fun fact that 1 in 4 inductions ends up in a C-section, Jordan and I had to think twice about being induced. We're really hoping we don't have to make that decision and that Baby Z gets bored of hanging out in his/her clubhouse and decides to come out this week.

Tonight I'm going to a breastfeeding seminar at the hospital. When I scheduled the appointment a few months ago, I never thought I'd actually make it to the class, since it was scheduled for two days before our due date... little did I know that it would actually turn out to be the highlight of my day!