I’m still having mild but noticeable contractions, 3 days and counting.  They are enough to keep me from sleeping very soundly at night, but I feel rested enough that it’s not really bothering me – just enough to get me psyched for labor and baby!

Today at one point they were as close as 10 minutes apart but not strong enough to convince me that the baby was going to be here any time soon.  Now they seem to have spread out again.  At this rate, I may be able to tell the baby someday that I was in labor for a week, though it hardly feels as dramatic as it will sound.

I still don’t realistically expect to have the baby before next weekend since weekend babies seem to be such a well-established pattern for us, but we’ll see.  It’s fun to finally feel the anticipation building!

On the bright side, nearly all of my checklist is done and I have a new toy that I hope to use a lot during labor: hubby, Lydia and Kaitlyn conspired to give me an iPod Nano!  It’s Lydia’s gently used one since she plans to upgrade soon.  I had intended to save my pocket money and buy it from her when she was ready, but she and hubby saw how much I’ve enjoyed borrowing it for my walks so they struck a quiet deal.  Kaitlyn added a pair of genuine Apple ear buds for me, and hubby also bought an arm band to make it easier for me to carry and use when I exercise.  I’m so tickled to have one of my own!  I spent some time today loading it with Max McLean’s Bible (love his voice and enunciation!), Dandelion Fire by Nathan Wilson
, and all my Jamie Soles albums, plus some other quiet, peaceful music that I hope will be good during labor.

Oh – and did I say in a previous post that there were less baby animals around here?  I forgot to mention the fact that we caught the tarantula in the very act of creating an egg case while our company was here on Saturday evening!  I don’t know if she got along with her old boyfriend better than we thought back in January or if it’s just wishful thinking on her part (apparently captive females will sometimes create a whole case of unfertilized eggs), but it was shocking to say the least.

And our 2nd broody hen, who I thought was expecting sometime after the weekend, is now the proud mother of between 7 and 10 fluffy baby chicks.  I can hear their happy peeping all the way up on our deck.  So sweet!  Can’t wait to hear my own sweet baby soon!

No changes.  Still having mild but noticeable contractions 2-3 times/hour, but this just doesn’t feel like labor and I don’t tend to dilate until the real stuff kicks in.  At this point, I can still walk through the contractions, though they are strong enough to make my legs feel weak and tingly so I have to slow down.

Since this 3 day weekend is nearly over, I’m pretty convinced that the baby won’t show up until next weekend in spite of the persistent false labor.

I guess we’re having another June baby.  I wonder how hubby feels about June as a middle name for a girl?

I just checked my statcounter and found that we’ve had more visitors to our blog today than we ever had on a Sunday, about 3 times as many as usual for a weekend even though holiday weekends tend to be slower than average.

It’s as if you all were watching us, waiting for something to happen.  I can hardly imagine what that might be.  ;)

For those who are wondering, I’ve had very noticeable contractions 20-30 minutes apart for most of the day.  They’re far from painful, but enough to make their presence known.  This doesn’t necessarily mean anything.  I often have that for 2 months before delivery, but this time I haven’t so maybe it’s different.

For the last couple of days, I feel like my body is gearing up for labor.  The question is, when? All the kids just headed to bed and I’m waiting to see what, if anything, happens once everyone is asleep.

But I’m not holding my breath.  As Freida pointed out, I just don’t feel desperate to deliver yet.  Eager, yes.  Desperate, no.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I tend to go into labor when I feel safe and relaxed – when all my ducks are in a row.

I know this is a very common phenomenon.  My various midwives over the years have agreed, and that has been my mom’s experience too.  Most of us simply don’t go into labor when we have too much hanging over us.  House guests, outside obligations, stress and fear, ovarian guilt…all seem to contribute to procrastination when it comes to labor and delivery.

When this weekend began, we still had 7 of our 8 Golden Retriever pups for sale.  I had really been hoping to sell more of them before the baby arrived.  We also had 2 social engagements for today, and one more invitation that we had to decline.

This morning, we said goodbye to 3 pups and we have received deposits on 2 more.  That leaves us with just 2 pups to sell!  Can you hear my huge sigh of relief?

After selling puppies all morning, we spent the afternoon with my extended family, and the evening catching up with friends from 20 years ago.  Our guests just left, and the house is nearly quiet.  I was looking forward to both events, but am also breathing another sigh of relief because my calendar is now cleared for the foreseeable future.

This was it.  I have nothing else but church and a tentative prenatal checkup a week from Monday – and that appointment is so tentative that we didn’t even choose a time.  My midwife and I really expect to see each other before then.

My whole point is…I’m holding out hope for a Memorial Day baby.  I really expect (or did expect) to wait until next weekend, but Monday is looking better and better.  My ducks are in a row.  My breathing is calm and relaxed.  There are far less puppies pooping on my deck, where I intend to give birth.   My false labor is picking up and slowly, gradually becoming more consistent.  If I don’t allow myself to get too tied up in the date and create a false sense of tension, I feel like it could happen that soon.

Then again, maybe it’s wishful thinking.  Maybe I will wait until next weekend and our pattern will be ruined.  That’s OK too.  No stress.  I’m relaxed.  I’m cool.

…it doesn’t feel like the real thing to me.  We all stayed up late watching a movie, and there’s something about slouching on the sofa that always seems to give me more intense contractions.  Maybe the position just makes it hard to relax properly so I feel them more.

I’m just assuming that false labor is beginning to pick up in preparation for a birth in the next several days or week.

But it was almost enough to make me wonder tonight…almost…

I think the baby is awake thinking about it too.  I feel hiccups.  :)

Unless crankiness is a sign.  I’ve been irritable and reclusive all week.  I just want peace and solitude.  Needless to say, that doesn’t work well with 9 children, 11 dogs, and 20-something chickens on the premises.  The chicken and child population is fairly stable, but I was hoping to have less dogs around here by this week.

Even the flies are driving me crazy, brought to us courtesy of the chickens who are so friendly they really would love to live in the house with us.  Maybe we should have gone with Leghorns or something else with less personality than our Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons.  Tell me again why we wanted tame, friendly chickens?

Since we don’t let them in, they spend their days right under the deck, sneaking up the stairs at every chance.  All my nesting energy today was channeled toward getting rid of the flies in the house, a losing battle with the chickens encamped around us.

But it’s Thursday, my traditional day to start labor, and there are 5 hours left in the day.  There’s also a full moon tonight.  I don’t subscribe to any type of astrology, but I’ve been told by many midwives over the years that for reasons they don’t claim to understand, births do tend to happen around that time.

Are you still procrastinating about entering our big baby giveaway?  Remember, if you wait until less than 72 hours before the baby’s birth, your entry won’t count, and the duedate is fast approaching.  Do you really want to miss out on one of 9 prizes worth a total of $475?
You took a chance by waiting so long, but if it’s not too late maybe you’ll gain an advantage from our insider information.

Dad:

• gender: hoping for a boy, but expecting a girl
• weight:
• length:
• date: June 3 or 4
• time:

Mom:

• gender:  girl
• weight: 7 lbs. 12 oz.
• length: 21″
• date: Saturday, June 5 (though I’m really hoping for Memorial Day)
• time: 8:53 AM

Deanna:

• gender: girl with dark hair
• weight: 7lbs. 9oz
• length: 19 1/2″
• date: May 31
• time: 7:00 PM

Kaitlyn:

• gender: girl
• weight: 8 lbs. 3 oz.
• length: 20.5″
• date:  June 4
• time:  7:30 AM

Lydia:

• gender:  boy
• weight: 6 lbs. 11 oz.
• length: 21″
• date:  May 29
• time: 12:00 PM

Megan:

• gender: boy
• weight: 7lbs. 6oz.
• length: 20 1/2″
• date: May 31
• time: 2:30 PM

Natalie:

• gender: girl
• weight: 9lbs.
• length: 19″
• date: May 21
• time: 7:30 AM

Becca:

• gender: girl
• weight: 7 lbs. 15 oz.
• length: 19 1/2″
• date:  June 1
• time:  8:30 AM

Rachael:

• gender:  boy
• weight:  10 lbs.
• length: 18″
• date:  May 29
• time:  8:00 AM

Perry IV

• gender: boy and girl.  He loves his baby sister and would like another, but really wants a brother.  Twins would be the obvious solution.
• weight: small
• date:  June 5th

For me, I mean.  We all know what the baby will be wearing when he/she shows up.  Moreover, that lucky little booger won’t be giving the matter a moment’s thought.

But I mentioned in my last post that I need to decide what to wear for a planned water birth, and it occurred to me that I’ve never asked or even wondered what others wear for the occasion.

I assume that if you give birth in a hospital you wear a hospital gown, right?  What do you wear for home births?  Do you plan ahead, or go with the timing?  And – here’s the big question -if you labor and/or birth in water, what do you wear for that?

REMINDER: Did you enter our baby giveaway yet?  Win one of 9 prizes from 6 sponsors worth a total of $475!

Quite honestly, I’m not ready.  I still have some mental and physical preparations ahead of me.  Physically, I feel better than I did for most of my pregnancy.  This is great, but it means I don’t have the typical 3rd trimester discomforts driving me to desperation to get it all over with.  I’m enjoying this pregnancy rather more than usual.  For the last few weeks I’ve been walking 2 miles/day, and it’s doing wonders for my energy and aches.  I’m really hoping the exercise will make for a better labor – hence, I’m hoping for a little more time to exercise before facing labor.

I have 6 days left until my duedate, but I have been 8 days late twice and am not entirely certain about my dates.  I’m hoping for a Memorial Day baby, but I feel that it’s entirely possible this baby could make his/her appearance the following weekend.  A weekday baby?  Hard for me to imagine.

I also don’t quite have all my ducks in a row yet when it comes to being ready for the baby’s arrival.  My midwife approved what I have left in the communal family birth kit – leftovers that are being passed back and forth among us sisters.   I don’t need to buy a birth kit this time, but I still have a lot to do before the baby comes.

I know some people like to do these things far ahead, but for me they’ve become a part of the psychological last-minute prep.  It helps the last week or 3 to pass more quickly when there’s still something left on the to-do list, and just doing these things helps get me in the mindset for labor.

So here’s my checklist.  There may be nothing of deep interest on here, but my blog is my brain so you’re used to hearing me think out loud, right?  This is what’s on my mind now.  I’ll probably add more items as I think of them.

• Determine how to fill the birth pool. Do we have the right fitting for the kitchen sink?  Can our hose reach the water heater?  Can we find the fitting, or should we buy another length of hose and use the washer connections like last time?
• Find and wash receiving blankets and newborn baby clothes.
• Buy at least one more package of disposable newborn diapers and wipes, since I’m not sure if our cloth diapers will fit and don’t have enough cloth diapers for 2 babies.
• Ack! Infant seat! Beg, buy or steal one.
• Dig the baby bed out of the shed for cleaning and setup.
• Clean and declutter my bedroom so we’ll actually have room for midwives in here.  Have a plan for all the stuff on the nightstand so she’ll have a place to set up her supplies.
• Make sure we have 2 sets of clean sheets for our bed.  I usually don’t do this until I”m in labor, but living without an electric dryer slows down last-minute laundry.
• Decide what to wear in the birth pool. I’m thinking of shortening the sleeveless cotton dress I ended up using the last 2 times, and calling it my official birthing gown.  It worked well enough but would be nice if it didn’t hold so much water.  Yes, I prefer to stay modest if possible.  Yet another reason I’d rather not give birth in a hospital.

Did you notice that choosing a name for this baby is not on the list?  I’m hoping to find some distraction during labor by perusing all your wonderful suggestions!  I’ve peeked at them as the comments come in, but I’m trying to resist actually jotting down my favorites until labor kicks in.  What better way to pass the hours and minutes of labor than choosing a baby name?