Week 40: Let's get this party started

Where were we? Right, I was 39 weeks pregnant....

I spent the majority of that last week working on getting the little lady out so I thought I should let you know what I did.

Starting at Day 2, Week 39: Friday, I went to acupuncture for the first time. My doctor highly recommended it. If it didn't get labor started, it would at least would get my body ready for labor so I thought it was worth a shot. Through my insurance, I was able to find someone who had great yelp reviews and gave me 30% off through Kaiser.

Since it was my first time at acupuncture, she was pretty gentle on me.

I was expecting something to happen, but nothing.

Saturday night I went to a Holiday party at my Sister's house. I tried jumping up and down and dancing with my Niece, but that just made me super tired.

What really made things worse- that damn cold that I had. I canceled all plans that next week, except for another acupuncture appointment on Tuesday. I told the nice lady that I was ready to have this baby and not to be gentle. While nothing was ever painful, she was not so gentle.

She did something called cupping on my back, which didn't hurt, but left some nice round bruises on my back for the next week. She also uped the anti and did some electronic stimulation.

I left and nothing.
 
That night- I was up for hours. I just couldn't sleep any more.

On Wednesday, I was off to my weekly doctor's appointment. The whole way there I was determined to get an induction date. I was desperate to get this baby out and I did not want to be in the hospital over Christmas. For some reason, I just really didn't want a Christmas baby.

My Doctor checked me- I was 1 cm dialated- which is nothing- but the baby was sitting really low. One thing the doctor did do- strip my membranes.

Of course, my Doctor would not set an early induction date. I had to be at least 41 weeks- which meant December 23rd. Of course, the 23rd was full, so she set my induction for December 24th.

URRRG. I left the doctors office; called Mr. Spice and my Mom and just cried. I couldn't imagine going another 9 days!!

After I got home and took a nap, I realized that I would need to create a plan to get through the next week. I was convinced that this baby was not going to come out on her own. That afternoon, I finished my last sewing project, the bunting banner. And that night Mr. Spice helped me hang it up:

That evening, in a desperate attempt to get the baby out-- I decided to rely on the old wives tails. I did them all- even the ones no one had heard of.

Spicy food. Check. Raspberry Tea. Check. Pineapple. Check. Long walk. Check. And one last one- you know, the one that got us into this mess in the first place.

Side Note: During our evening walk, I told Mr. Spice that he was probably going to see some pretty gross things during labor and I didn't want that to change how he looked at me. He promised that he wouldn't look in that general direction, so not to worry. Now I laugh at the naivete of that statement- during labor there was no looking away. Nothing could be avoided.

Right before I went to bed, I think I lost my mucus plug. Again, I knew that really meant nothing. It could mean labor was going to start, or I could regrow my mucus plug and it could still be weeks.

That night I couldn't sleep again, but this time for a whole new reason.....