Thirty-Nine Weeks

Weeks along: 39 weeks 1 day

Weight: 218 I think I'm retaining water. If you don't believe me, check out the pontoons I call my feet.

Waist: 44"

Progress: As of Tuesday, still 1+ cm dilated and a little effaced. I think it will be better at my appointment tomorrow, as I have finally lost the mucus plug.

Symptoms: Sick and tired of being pregnant! I think that about covers it. Braxton-Hicks contractions are (I think) a bit more frequent, but still painless. They just make me reeeeeaaaaally uncomfortable. I suppose that's what anyone should expect when their watermelon-sized uterus decides it's time to clamp down. I also get backaches galore. Hmmm, didn't my symptoms used to be good things rather than a forum for complaining?

I mentioned losing the mucus plug. Ever since I was in a parenting class at BYU in early 2001 I have been waiting for this particular milestone. For some twisted reason I was fascinated with the idea of a barrier like that between my baby and the world. Now, at the end of pregnancy, the fascination is pretty much in knowing that this is the first sign of actual labor. Once my water breaks or I start having real contractions we can get this party started.

Here is the TMI part. Don't read any further if mucus plugs gross you out. You've been warned. I started to be suspicious that I was losing my mucus plug while we were at dinner at my parents' house last night. There were five or six trips to the bathroom and when I wiped at one of them I felt something different. What I saw did not have the pink, red or brownish tinge to it I had heard about, nor was it very big, but it was certainly mucus. The next two trips did not yield anything on the paper or in my underwear, but there was mucus in the bowl. I looked because I knew I had felt something. Neither had any color to them. That was it for the evening. This morning I woke up at 4:15 for a potty trip and could not go back to sleep because my hip was sore from sleeping on it. When the alarm went off at 5 I had still not slept, but I had felt something come out. I went to the bathroom again and, this time, found pinkish stuff in the bottom of the toilet. There was more of it than there had been at any time the night before and the color was right. Ta da! I am now without mucus plug. And there was much rejoicing.