Maternity Leave

Friday was my final doctor's appointment. Baby and I both got a good report and I had not progressed any further from the week before. This was also the appointment where we were making our final decision about being induced. After confirming with Doc that the baby is fully 'baked' and that my body is showing the proper signs of being delivery-ready, we decided on February 22nd. ....at 4am! I did ask him if he remembered that I live an hour away from the hospital, and he just laughed! So early, EARLY Wednesday morning it shall be. Unless Crumb has other plans for us between now and then...

My only other concern at this appointment was that I hadn't felt the baby move all morning, and this is a very active baby. Doc decided to do an ultrasound to check things out and to help ease my mind. However, at 38 weeks, everything is so crammed in there that I couldn't even tell that we were looking at a baby...its really just one lumpy blob. He pointed out the chest cavity, which was making breathing movements, and I could tell what it was. How cool that the baby is practicing breathing even though there's no air in there?! Doc says that was a great sign of a healthy baby and that the lack of movement was due to the fact that it was probably just resting. So, he stuck a stimulation machine to the side of my stomach, and woke him/her up! Crumb was not a fan of this machine and began kicking like crazy, which made me feel much better! About that time, a nurse came in so Doc handed Husband the ultrasound wand and told him to drive for a little bit while he talked to her. I think he liked moving the wand all around my (humongous) belly and guessing at what we were looking at...because neither of us could tell!

Going back to work after just scheduling an induction date was insane. I was so excited and nervous and every other emotion in between that I was too distracted to really focus on anything. With that in mind, I knew that the next week would be way worse! So, I talked to the powers that be and we went ahead and scheduled my temporary replacement and, just like that, I was about to be off for the next 12 weeks! I didn't go in that morning with the intentions of it being my last day, so Friday afternoon was another flurry of emotions. I wrapped everything up and left a zillion post-its for my temp and was off! I'm so thankful for the time that I'll get to take off with Crumb and I know it is going to fly by. I'm going to do my best to cherish this time off...even when I'm too tired to see straight and can't remember the last time I brushed my teeth. As soon as we get settled back at home, I'll do my best to keep you posted here too. Thanks for the prayers and well wishes. I'll be back soon with a Crumb!