My due date is in one week and one day – Monday, December 8th. Anya was also due on a Monday and was born the Thursday before. Wouldn’t it be coincidental if I had the baby next Thursday? I’ve been thinking a lot about my due date as it approaches. With Anya, I was originally due on October 21st, but my doctor adjusted the due date to the 23rd based on my scan at 6 weeks. With this baby, I was originally due on December 12th, but the first trimester scans kept showing the estimated due date to be earlier and earlier. Since the scan I had at 12 weeks suggested the due date to be closer to the 5th, the doctor adjusted my due date to the 8th. I know every pregnancy is different and that due dates are estimates, but I can’t help but think that since Anya was born only two days before her original due date and that this time my due date was moved up, I’m more likely to go a little late. Bummer. I’ve been extremely uncomfortable today; I can’t imagine another half pound of baby growing in there over the next week – or more!

I’ve also been thinking about inductions. In my December 2008 online birth club, the majority of the babies are going to have scheduled births (c-sections or inductions) for a variety of reasons. In a way, I’m jealous of those moms – they know exactly when their babies are going to be born and they don’t have to cope with the anxiety of waiting. However, the second baby in our group was born (unscheduled) yesterday, and when his mom shared the birth story, I remembered how magical the moment was when my water broke with Anya and I realized she was on her way. I also know it’s probably best in my situation to let the baby decide when she should arrive. It’s hard to wait, to wake up every day and wonder if this is going to be the day, to go to sleep disappointed that it wasn’t…but I will try my best be patient. Baby Girl, I know you’ll come when you are ready, but make it soon if you can, okay?

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When Anya first began pretending in her play, it usually involved simple tasks, like using a pot and spoon to make soup or imitating what she saw others doing. As her language skills have developed over the past year, her fantasies have gotten much more elaborate, involving all sorts of characters and situations. Over the past few months, they began to include elements from her books and the limited TV she’s seen.

Yesterday after watching and episode of “Dora the Explorer” she spent a good half hour running around our living room engaged in very exciting pretend adventure. At least, she thought it was exciting. Lex and I thought it was hysterical. We caught a little of it on video. It incorporates elements of the episode she had seen, plus a few others and some things she added in herself. For those who aren’t fluent in Anya-ese, this video is subtitled:

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Talk about insomnia…grrrr.

I definitely shouldn’t be downstairs on the computer now, but I woke up about 40 minutes ago and just could not go to sleep. Even after getting up to use the bathroom and trying to settle myself back to sleep, I could not get comfortable, mostly because I felt like I was a million degrees. I glanced over at Lex and noticed that HE also had thrown the blankets off, which was weird. Because of the pregnancy, I’ve been having night sweats and things like that for the last few weeks, but he’s been sleeping with the blanket and sheet pulled up to his neck, plus and afghan thrown on top of everything. I’m usually really hot at night, but he’s always cold, and since he’s such a caring husband, he makes do with extra blankets instead of turning on the space heater in our room.

Then I realized the central heat was blasting, which was also weird, since we turn it WAY down at night. It stopped, and then was running again less than ten minutes later. I became aware that on top of everything else, I was really thirsty, so I came downstairs to get a drink. I decided to check the thermostat, and SOMEONE had told it to hold 72 degrees! No wonder it was so hot! When I find out who did that…well, I guess I’m not going to do much of anything other than complain, but that person owes me a foot massage and a nap, or something!

Hmmm, that wasn’t a very interesting story, but did you really expect much from a melting, 9 months pregnant woman at 4 am?

Lex adds: We have concluded it was the Krutzel babysitters who adjusted the thermostat.

Lauren adds: Grandma Esther claimed responsibility and sincerely apologized. It was an honest mistake, and all is forgiven, especially since Lex let me sleep in until 9:30!

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Happy Thanksgiving!  I had kind of hoped we’d be home with the baby by this point, but ah, well.  Dinner with my family beats being in the hospital.  I had an appointment yesterday morning – everything is great with the baby.  She’d head down and low, but there’s no progress to report otherwise.  The doctor, who is the head of the practice, does not want to induce even though she’s more than likely going to be big.  He feels that between the challenges that come with delivering a large baby and the risks associated with induction, especially in a VBAC, the safer option is to let things progress as naturally as possible.

Anya has said all sorts of cute things that have greatly amused me in the last few days.  One example – she was sitting in her high chair during dinner trying to sing ALL of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (I mean the full 7 or 8 verses) but was struggling since she’s only heard it a few times.  After getting stuck on one of the verses, she turns to me and says, “I don’t know the words.  You should tell them to me, Mommy!”

She really loves to sing and often surprises me by knowing the words to songs I didn’t know she knew.  I find it very funny when she tries to sing along when she doesn’t quite know the words, too.  She has this Big Sister Dora doll that sings a few songs in English and Spanish, and since Anya doesn’t know the Spanish words she has some interesting interpretations.  It’s similarly amusing when she “scats” along with her LeapFrog table (“Zappa dooba deeba dobba three up brow”).  Generally she wants to sing songs herself, but she does like when we sing to her some of the time, and she remembers songs she’s only heard a couple of times.  On Tuesday she said to me, “Sing the skabetti (spaghetti) song, Mommy.”  I asked, “Victor Vito?” and she replied, “No, the OTHER skabetti song!”  I finally figured out she meant the “On Top of Spaghetti” song, which had come up on my iTunes playlist the day before.

Monday night Lex had two late phone conference calls, so Anya and I were on our own for dinner.  We finished early and were hanging out in the living room.  I was reading something on the computer while she was having a grand time entertaining herself, when she comes over to me and exclaims, “I have a tiger in my pocket!”  Intrigued, I asked a few questions about her invisible tiger (in her non-existent pocket), and then it evolved into this very elaborate pretend play game involving a lot of animals and a trip to the zoo.  I wish I’d caught it on camera; it was so funny to watch.

Though I didn’t get to video the zoo game, I can share Anya’s comedic stylings.  Here is the first knock knock joke she’s learned:

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I’m 38 weeks today and no sign of labor yet I’m pretty uncomfortable and anxious about the baby’s size, so I’d really like to get the show on the road! Anya is eager for her sister to make an appearance as well. The other night she told Lex something to the effect of, “Baby Sister should come out.  I am going to help.  I will reach with my hands and get her out of Mommy’s belly.”  Sounds painful!

We took what I hope will be my last belly picture last week. Look how much the baby and I have grown:

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A scene from lunch today:

Lauren is eating leftover Chinese food out of the carton.  The dish is eggplant in a rather spicy sauce.  Anya notices.

Anya: I want some rice.

Lauren: This isn’t rice.  It’s eggplant.

Anya: I want some eggplant.  Please.

Lauren: I’m not sure that you will like it.  It’s very spicy.

Anya: I want a little bit.  You should share with me.

Lauren: Okay, you can have a taste.

Lauren cuts a small piece and gives it to Anya.  Anya gobbles it up, pauses, then takes a huge swig of her milk.

Anya: More!

Lauren: Did you like it?

Anya: MORE!

Lauren agrees to share a little more of her lunch with Anya, with the reminder that this is actually MOMMY’S lunch.  Anya takes a few more bites, each one followed by enormous gulps of milk.

Anya: My mouth is VERY hot.  [Big drink of milk].  MORE!

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I had a scan to estimate fetal size this morning – 7 lbs, 7 oz at only 37 weeks!  Yes, I know the estimates can be off a pound in either direction, but since a scan of Anya at the same gestation showed her to be the same size, and her birth weight confirmed that the estimate was probably right, I’m thinking Baby Girl is going to be another porker.  It just doesn’t seem fair.  How does 5’1″, 97 lbs pre-pregnancy me end up with such large babies?  I want to go into labor NOW.  I’m been trying some of the old wives’ suggestions for triggering labor, but let’s be honest, they don’t work.  Babies come when they are ready.  So maybe I just need to plead and beg with Baby Girl?  What if I promise you a pony, kid?  Will you come out, then?

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Family bathrooms have been popping up in more and more places lately.  I’m a big fan of the concept – there’s so much more room to maneuver than in a regular stall, plus it’s easier for Lex to take Anya into one of them than the men’s room (she’s WAY too curious about urinals).  Usually they’re just a small room with a toilet and sink, and sometimes a changing table.  However, recently I took Anya to the new family restrooms at our local mall, and boy, was she excited to discover that in addition to the regular toilet, there was a tiny child-sized toilet just for her!  It was like the DisneyWorld of public bathrooms.  She was still talking about it that evening.  I guess it’s the little things in life, you know?

I was very happy with how clean this particular bathroom was.  Taking Anya to certain public bathrooms is quite the ordeal, one that often leaves me feeling like I should take a shower.  There is certainly an upside to having a potty-trained two-year-old, namely avoiding the expense and grossness that comes with diapers.  However, those trips to most restrooms when we’re out and about are not always fun.  There’s also the constant fear of accidents and the need to know where the closest bathroom is at all times, although, come to think of it, that’s not really any different from having active ulcerative colitis…

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