January 1, 2013

Good morning!  I hope your New Year's Eve was everything you wanted, whether it was a night like any other, a celebration at home, or you went out and partied with glitter, champagne, and midnight kisses.

I was semi-awake at midnight, a feat I did not manage in either 2010 or 2011, so my husband kissed me.  I was not too happy about that, since I wanted to sleep.  Nor did I understand the point of it, until I looked up "why do people kiss on New Year's" this morning.  My night was relatively peaceful, though, and that was all I wanted: peace with a side of sleep.

This morning brought clear skies and sunshine, and very, very little sleep, despite my intentions.  I tossed and turned, but it wasn't pregnancy discomfort this time.  It was my head. 

I'm a side-sleeper.  I've always been one to curl up in the fetal position and pull the covers up to my chin, if not over my head.  The problem with this is how one ear gets sore after a while, so I need to switch sides.  I also have a tendency to drool on my left (ew, sorry), and snore on my right (isn't that weird?).  I tend to favor the left side overall, however, because this is the side that is not only best in pregnancy, but the most comfortable for me in general.

So my ear was aching, I was drooling abominably, but I didn't feel "right" if I turned over to my right for whatever reason.  My head feels... heavy on my left side today.  It almost has the sensation of being stuffy, but not quite.  I suppose I will conk out early tonight, which is fine, since hubby goes back to work tomorrow after an 11-day holiday break.

By the way, sex may have "worked" to kick-start Gavin's birth (had sex with his dad before we fell asleep, and woke up 8 hours later in labor), but not Rowan's.  Well, it's been - *checks clock* - 5 hours since having it this morning, so we'll see if something changes tonight.  However, I doubt it.  It's alright.  I know it can help move things along, but that it's not guaranteed to do anything.

Tomorrow is my 38 week OB appointment, so we'll see how that goes.  Wow.  38 weeks and 5 days (well, if you ask the OB office, they will go with 38 weeks and 3 days; I'm going by ovulation and conception, since I was charting, while they are going by last menstrual period).  As uncomfortable as I am, I'll decline any offer by the OB to do a cervical sweep.  Things will happen in their own time.

One lucky lady did have her baby recently, however - Witchfire's son, Lycan, was born on the full moon night of December 28.  How appropriate! Lycan is her first child and she had quite an experience, from gestational diabetes to a long and exhausting labor.  In fact, it got pretty scary toward the end there, so I'm really glad she and Lycan are both healthy.

Of course, she had to deal with all the "well-meaning" people and websites trying to tell her to do this and do that.  You know how it is.  For example, one will try to scare you into getting an epidural; another will try to tell you that epidurals are horrible and natural is the only way to go.  I wish more people and informational sites would focus on the very simple message of "This is your birth experience.  Do it your way.  Be informed, have an idea of what you want, but also be open to change if the situation necessitates it." 

She's a first-time mom, and I think she did a great job wading through all the bullshit out there surrounding pregnancy and labor.  Now there's the challenge of doing that as a parent, but I know she's up for it.  ;)

This was totally not the direction this post was supposed to take, by the way - blathering about pregnancy.

No, the intention was to talk about school.  Homeschooling, to be specific.  So I think I need to write a second post, mmmkay?

Copyright (c) 2013 Wendy L. Callahan