Head's (Still) Up

Well, if you haven't heard by now, Friday's procedure did not result in any flippy floppys for this baby. Apparently she's already too big healthy and stubborn determined for any sneaky moves like that.

Here's how the day went down. We checked into the hospital, went up to Labor and Delivery, I got into my gown and laid down on the bed, got hooked up to the monitors and heard little lady's heartbeat, got an IV hook-up in place, signed a bunch of consent forms, had blood drawn, and then we waited.

Sound familiar? Eerily familiar. Both Matt and I contemplated just going ahead and having this baby... I mean, we were pretty much halfway there at that point! The room was so quiet, the lights were dim, it was nice.

Of course, then Dr. K rolled in, greased up my belly, and things were not quite so peaceful anymore. Let me tell you, we all tried our best to convince this child to flip. The doctor broke a sweat, I was gritting my teeth so hard I'm surprised they didn't break, but at the end of the day, we had to call it. We barely got her to make a quarter turn. So after a bit more monitoring (and some juice and crackers from the very sympathetic nurses who knew I was starving), we headed home.

The entire experience has put me way over this pregnancy. I'm ready. I'm done. It doesn't help that I'm still dealing with the worst case of crud. I haven't been able to breath through my nose in two days. My voice sounds like I've developed a two-pack-a-day smoking habit. I haven't slept decently in weeks. Instead of craving chocolate, I'm craving mucinex.

Not that giving birth will make things magically improve, of course. And the unknowns of a c-section have me a little freaked out as well. I'm concerned about the recovery. I'm not excited about the idea of major surgery. Even though I know it's 99.9 percent likely that I'll end up with a c-section, the unknowns are still causing some serious anxiety. And I'm not just talking the unknowns of the procedure itself. I'm talking the big stuff. How will Violet deal with not only a new baby in the house, but a mommy who is not quite herself? How will my students adapt to the substitute? How will the sub keep up with my kids and report cards and conferences and my file cabinets? (Did I mention our first field trip is scheduled on my due date? Awesome timing.)

Deep breath. (Rather, attempted deep breath through my 87 percent stuffed up nostrils.)