No real news to speak of

Thank you for all the well wishes in my post below about being sick. I am doing a lot better. My energy level is still down and I'm dealing with phlegm and stuff, but my condition has greatly improved over what it was on Saturday. Such a relief!

This whole sickness experience has made me appreciate even more how amazing our bodies are. My body knew it was too sick to deal with birthing a baby and the lil guy has stayed in without a fuss. :) My midwife said today that she's only known of one ocassion where a mama was really sick and still went into labor, but generally speaking, the body knows how much it can handle and will put off labor until the mama is well enough. :)

So yes, I did see my midwife today and there's really not much to report. I'm still pregnant. ;) She did do an internal exam and there have been some changes to my cervix since my appointment last week, but not much. Basically, my cervix is soft (ripe) and I'm dilated to nearly 1 cm - but that's it. That doesn't mean I won't have the baby tomorrow, it's just where I am today. But all is going well. Other than the cold, I'm still feeling good (full of baby, but good). Everything is checking out just fine with both me and the baby too.

We did talk a bit about our options for the next two weeks (things that could get labor started and natural induction methods). If baby boy isn't born by Friday (11/24), I will see her again and she will sweep my membranes using a castor oil lubricant and I can use a belly balm (containing blue and black cohosh) a few times that evening. If he's not here by Monday (11/27), then we can try other things (castor oil cocktail - *gag*). Then we would move on to a biophysical profile (to check baby and the placenta) by mid-week, etc. But she doesn't think it will come to that and neither do I. I think things are going to start happening some time this week, it's just a question of when. ;)

My dad's birthday is Wednesday (11/22) and while it'd be cool for them to share a birthday, I'd really like the lil guy to have a day of his very own. Then, of course, Thanksgiving is Thursday and I'd hate for the midwives to have to spend the holiday here. And then there's the fact that my sister is really trying to get back to MI this week to spend some time with her boyfriend while she's on fall break from school, but yet patiently awaiting her nephew's birth so that she can help out with Ava while I'm in labor. All of this to say that it will happen when the time is right and it's totally out of our hands.

In the meantime, now that I'm feeling like I'm over the worst of this cold, I will resume activities to help get labor going - i.e. eating spicy foods (Jody bought some "Rooster sauce" tonight to put on our Vietnamese food), walking and (TMI) having sex. Although, I just found this online. Hmmm.

Well, after using the title "No real news to speak of," I sure did manage to type a whole lot. :oP All of it to say, no baby ... yet.

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Lastly, for those of you who've been following the recent case of breastfeeding in the news, I thought you may be interested in this...
"Nursing mothers and their supporters will be gathering for a call to action nurse-in on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 10 AM, local time, at Delta airport counters across the country to protest Delta's actions against Emily Gillette and her family and to demand rights for breastfeeding mothers and children."

Read more about nurse-in locations and an exclusive interview with Emily Gillette here.