Eviction Date: Set

Hoo boy, have I been slacking! Okay, so last Monday – September 15 my appointment was done solo – Mum and Dad are understandably saving up their respective leave times for when Nugget actually gets here. Nothing to report at that appointment; Dr. Colorful didn’t want to do a lot of cervical checks because it could cause early membrane rupture and expose Nugget to Group B strep. While it’s not a giant issue, waiting until baby has reached FULL, full term, decreases the risk of the baby being affected even a little bit by GBS. After my appointment, I scurried downtown and picked up the best falafel ever for a late lunch. I don’t often get to Ahli Baba’s Kebab Shop because of scheduling, traffic, etc., so when I do it’s a real treat.

Friday of last week, Hubs had surgery to repair some bone issues in his right foot. A triangular piece of one bone in each foot never grew together in utero or after birth. He had his left foot repaired a couple years ago, and just recently the right one started to bother him so we opted for surgery sooner rather than later. This involved a synthetic bone graft that requires a bit of the recipient’s bone marrow in order to activate it. Or at least, that’s what the doctor said.

Hubs was doing fairly well until this past Saturday night, when he reported a severe burning sensation in the top of his foot. A five-hour visit to the ER Sunday morning (into the afternoon) revealed that something about the cast the podiatrist had put on him had compressed a pressure point, which affected blood flow and caused a nasty raw spot across the top of Hubs’ foot. The ensuing podiatrist appointment Monday morning has him in a splint with petroleum jelly and antibiotic ointment pads on the sore spot as well as the incision and marrow-draw sites. As soon as the patch was put on the sore spot, Hubs said it felt better. It still pains him to put his foot down, but he is reporting each day that the pain isn’t as bad as it was the previous day, so that’s progress.

Yesterday afternoon Mum, Dad and I had our 39-week OB appointment. I got lots of belly rubs in the waiting room. I love belly rubs, especially when my belly is Buddha-sized. And Mum scolded Nugget a little, telling him/her to “GET OUT!”

Dr. Colorful brought a student in with him, and agreed to schedule us for induction “just in case” I haven’t gone into spontaneous labor before Monday. Our induction date is October 6. So at least if Nugget doesn’t make his/her appearance before then, we DO have a decisive end-date. Mum and Dad weren’t too excited about the date just because it feels like forever to them, but agreed that at least by that point there won’t be any more guessing or hoping; we’ll KNOW that that’s it.

I did get a cervical check this week, and I’m a definitive three centimeters dilated and am still hovering at a healthy 50% effacement. Nugget still isn’t engaged, but Dr. Colorful says that this is normal for someone who’s had three babies already, and that full dilation, effacement and engagement can all happen very quickly during labor. In short: everything looks good and he’s not worried.

He did repeat that he doesn’t think I’ll make it to my due date before going into labor. I told him that he’s been saying that since 36 weeks, and nothing has changed. He also gave me a fairly rough exam, which could theoretically, possibly, “accidentally” encourage membrane rupture and therefore labor. We’ll see. I’ve lost two noticeable pieces of mucus plug this morning, some of it streaked with blood (which is normal and good), so perhaps Pooka was right on Friday when she said I wouldn’t finish another four full days before I went into labor.