Any time now...

Week 38...and Mummy is 1.5cm dilated! oooohhhh....means anytime now!!

Baby Louisa, please stay inside for at least another 11 days...Mummy and Daddy are not quite ready yet. We haven't quite gotten the Christmas tree up. Your baby cot / cradle is ready, your clothes are ready, your bottles (well, you're not allowed to use bottles till 2nd month) are ready, just that the home is not quite ready to welcome you yet. It's still a bit messy...

The contractions are becoming stronger. It's not painful...just uncomfortable. How does the "uterine massage" (aka contractions) feel on you?

During my last gynae visit, I was strapped to the CTG machine to monitor heartbeat and contractions. Woah, Baby Louisa kept moving during that whole session. Could hear her move. Gynae did an internal check (yucks!! I hate that!! It's painful....aiyoh!) and found that I'm 1.5cm dilated. Almost cried when gynae did that check. I can't imagine having to be checked a few times druing labour, to see if it's time to push...oh my. Couldn't stop shivering/shaking after the check was over. Guess I really need the epidural. What was I thinking of, when I first planned to deliver without epidural. I must be crazy.

On top of the low threshold for pain (all my life, I thought my threshold was rather high...), Baby Louisa is estimated to be 3.2kg at 38 weeks. She seems big. How to deliver naturally without epidural? I must really be mad. hahaha...That's it. It'll be epidural for me.

As the date draws nearer, as it starts to sink in - Baby Louisa will be out soon...., I find myself getting more and more nervous. I'm actually nervous about the whole labour process, something which I've been reading up on. I guess no amount of reading can prepare you enough for it. I afraid of the pain that might come with it! And any complications that might arise....

Oh dear, I need to go back to this and pray...

The past few days / weeks have been extremely hot. It's so hot that I feel like I'm melting. I have to stand in front of the fan when I'm at home. Otherwise, the air-con has to be turned on, regardless rain or shine. Whereas Daddy is complaining it's too cold. Hahaha...So I ended up eating the 2 tubs of ice-cream in the freezer to keep cool ( and also trying to finish them up before confinement, so that the ice-cream won't be around to tempt me during confinement period...)

And...my feet started to swell again!! On Sunday. This is the 2nd time the feet swelled. The first time it swelled, the swelling lasted 1 day. It was gone the next day after I kept drinking water. So, it could be due to the saltier diet I had the day before (salt retains water...). However, the 1st time it swelled, the swelling was much lesser than this time round. This time, my ankles are really fat! And I cannot fit into my shoes!! Fifrst time in the whole pregnancy, feet cannot fit into shoes...hahaha. The ankles ache when press on them. The knuckles on my hands are also aching, especially in the morning. It is as if someone had bashed my fingers while I was asleep. Owwww.....

However, all these experiences showed me how amazing our body is. The body is preparing itself for labour, hence the water retention. During labour, there's hardly any chance of a drink. Besides, you wouldn't want to embarass yourself by relieving yourself at the inappropriate time (not that one can help oneself, during labour. Baby will be pushing against the bladder!). Therefore, the body begins to store water to allow it to function normally during the long labour hours.

Amazing, isn't it? This mechanism created by God...