mum came over around noon, still worried. showed her the blood, which she’s never seen before in pregnancies. her own pregnancies went by uneventfully, she said.

meanwhile, the contractions HAVE begun. i think. from early this morning, even before izad has woken up for work.

what do they feel like?

exactly like menstrual cramps, or segugut, just like the doc, mum, and everybody else has described it. how amazing that this biological phenomenon is so… universal.

it comes like an intense, sharp cramp at the lower part of the abdomen and around the back of the waist… then passes by, fading away.

my last recorded time sequence:

2.12 pm
2.20 pm
2.31 pm
2.42 pm
2.52 pm
3.01 pm
3.12 pm
3.20 pm
3.38 pm
3.49 pm

so… that’s an average of ten minutes apart, yes?

i’m just waiting it out. it’s pretty bearable for now. don’t want to be staying at the hospital too early.

meanwhile, he bought me something to drink. “they” say it’s for the baby to come out cleaner, or with lesser vernix, the waxy white substance that covers a baby’s skin at birth.

macam-macam air saya minum.

been having slight brownish tinges on the panty liner since yesterday, and this evening, i noticed blood mixed with mucus when i wiped myself with toilet paper after bathing.

“izad…” i called, so very calmly that he hardly bothered to respond. finally he showed up, and i showed it to him.

so *that’s* the bloody show. how bloody exciting!

we were getting ready to have my birthday meal out, so we stuffed the rest of my “important” bits in the hospital bag and brought it along with us.

it was like a fire drill, but with less drama. you can call it a labour drill.

we were scarily calm coz i knew the real action wasn’t going to take place just yet. i was still having only braxton-hicks, not the cry-out-loud-in-pain contractions. in any case, we called the doc for advice. he said it could still take some time for labour to begin since i wasn’t having contractions yet, and if still in doubt, i could drop by the clinic tomorrow. as long as the baby is still moving, i’ve nothing to be worried about.

the birthday meal went by, with my mum looking very worried that i wasn’t looking worried.

when we got home (with our hospital bag in tow haha), i checked again.

looked kinda familiar. you know, like light menses on the first day?

sms-ed a reliable source of info who assured me that hers *was* like menses, and true contractions may happen only 36 hours later, or even a week.

a quick google check confirmed it:

Bloody show: Loss of mucus plug

Losing the mucus plug is a sign that labor may begin soon, but it’s not a guarantee. Labor may still be a week or more away.

MORE waiting! hah.

the plug itself hasn’t come out, this was just a preview. i think.

meanwhile, the space between my boobies and abdomen is now TWO handspan wide. googling is very useful, coz i now know this is called ‘lightening’. and i can literally feel peanut wiggling his way further down.

let’s make 10th or 12th our target dates, ok boy-boy?

they’re nice even numbers, see…

the bag’s all ready… but not the baby! :D

see, i stuffed in so many maternity pads, it’s taking up half the space.

so kiasu.

so what did the trip to the doc reveal this morning?

i’ve officially hit the 12 kg mark.
peanut is 3.03 kg.
the head is STILL down there, with the spine on my right.
AND it’s “pushing on my bladder and very near the cervix”, meaning it’s almost engaged, but not quite yet.

it’s taking it’s time. relek macam bapak dia. (and mak dia, actually.)

doc made a guess that by next week, he should be out. he likened the baby to a mango that’s already ripe. (yes, one of his quirky analogies again.)

peanut is now jeruk.

he also said that we could choose when we want to deliver, but… nahhh. i like surprises.

let’s see, what other things did i badger the doc about?

ah yes. cord cutting.

i asked his opinion on the significance of the father cutting the cord. he said there isn’t any. but i insist there SHOULD be one! it’s like… cutting off the physical lifeline between the mother and the baby, the source of nutrients and all things good that made it possible for him to survive for nine months inside a cramped environment! it HAS to be significant. i’d do it myself, but i’d probably have passed out by then.

so i asked if it were possible for the father (who has heroicly declared he is not queasy at the sight of pools of blood) to cut the umbilical cord. doc said “cannnn…. for $11″.

huh? must pay one meh??
for sterile gloves, masks, gown, etc, said he.

but.. but.. can’t he just hand over a pair of scissors?
ah, tu free.

buat suspen aje ni doctor.

so he noted it down in my antenatal card. “H to cut cord.”

he also recounted his marathon experience. not the running part, but the patient-in-labour-calling-him-up-while-running part. an experienced mother had unwittingly given birth at home, so doc had to give calm instructions over the phone (“wrap baby in a towel, don’t cut the cord, just tie it with a strong string, etc.”)… and then proceeded to scold her for not calling him earlier when she had labour pains. heh. well, it was funnier when he tells it.

i also asked (yes i ask a lot of questions) if hospitals allow various birth methods, like standing and squatting and water births. he said “cannnn” (and when he says “cannn” like that, i know there’s a “but” coming right up), but if anything happens like the baby drops on the floor or an infection takes place, the mother is responsible for it. as for those documentaries we see of women standing up to give birth, he says “it’s all a show! they’re paid for it!”

so clever, my doctor.

ok lah, lie on the bed it is.

so he said to come again next week.

that’s when that Fingering Session will finally happen. ngahaha.

finally got round to meeting muhd naufal after… a month? tsk.

i was totally amazed by the amount of hair on his head. PHEW! macam elvis, ok. look at that jambul.

his mother said she made very frequent visits to the toilet during the last leg of her pregnancy. and i’m convinced it has everything to do with the little one’s hair, tickling his mother’s bladder as he squirms about. hee. what a cutie.

which brings me to another theory.

peanut will be a Very Bald Baby (VBB). because i don’t frequent the toilet that drastically much more than usual. plus, his parents (ie. izad and i) aren’t exactly abundant in the foliccle department.

yup, a VBB. that’s what we’re having.

they then looked at my feet and said hmm, they are swelling somewhat. so it got me scrutinising me feet more closely…

by golly, since they mentioned it, i think they’re right! they’re even feeling more, er, swellish.

i’m normal after all!

anyway, speaking to a very new mother of one month with the experience still fresh in her mind was truly helpful and reaffirms a lot of things i’ve been hearing and anticipating. brilliant stuff.

now i must get her to demonstrate again that lovely burping technique that was so successfully executed on lil naufal after his milky-wilky.

and i forgot to take up her boya offer. :D

***

on another note…

i think little boys are scary.

i mean, have you SEEN ‘lord of the flies’?? (i just did, on channel 58.)

gah.

dear peanut,

mommy’s been a bad bad girl.

she went to a *gasp* rock concert.

mommy should have gone to a nice, soothing m nasir or nasyid concert, but nooo, she had to see a fake uncle bono prance around the stage in tight leather pants singing his heart out to “sunday bloody sunday”.

but you’ll be happy to know mommy had a nice time outdoors.

she also hopes to see the real uncle bono in march. how does a little trip to ozzieland sound to you? you’re never too young to travel at three months old, you know.

ok, nevermind that now. we’ll discuss it later when you’re… out.

love,
mommy dearest

ps: see, mommy’s being good by feeding you bbq lamb.

quick check.

yup, 100cm in circumference, all of it.

the tummy, not the boobs. (which are STILL not happening.)

so they weren’t glamour shots, no sponsored clothes, no makeup artists… just us looking like… us. yes, the husband had a shot too, haha, role-playing as the caring husband massaging the back of his pleasantly pregnant wife having pleasant contractions. very realistic.

mostly, they wanted my fat tummy.

pretending that this is the bed i crawl out of every morning.

pretending to browse a baby journal i had so diligently compiled.

pretending to be a health-conscious mother-to-be by eating an apple.

pretending to look very blissful while looking at my fat tummy.

wait, that last part’s no pretending. that’s a real smile, right there. :)

more here.

we’re blessed to have friends. :)

we’re about to pop!

it was the first baby shower we’ve attended, but it won’t be the last! who’s up next? ;)

thank you for the party, the food, the laughter, the gifts, and most of all, the do’as and well-wishes.

can’t wait to get pregnant again, you know.

LOL!

nesting instinct is in full full swing. cot has been lowered, sheets are tucked in…

can’t wait to go on leave on the 1st! the nesting instinct has extended to not just the baby room, but also to other parts of the house. the first week of leave will be dedicated to supervising a minor reno on the balcony. a bit of extra space for peanut when he’s ready to roam around.

i got worried about child safety as i looked around the house (an occupational hazard):

that hot water pipe in the bathroom he could grab during bathtime…

the doorless and gateless kitchen he could crawl to…

the low-level powerpoints he could poke things in…

etc.

but let’s wait till he learns to crawl and walk first. :D

meanwhile, he’s descending lower.. and lower…

can you visualise a little human being inside that, all squashed up? masya-allah!

the top part of the stomach is now ‘empty’, about the span of one hand. there are even dents under my boobies, outlining the oval shape of my expanded uterus.

the pubic bone area is starting to ache when i walk. all that pressure from peanut’s weight, plus carrying things around (office files, household items, shopping bags haha), makes me limp slightly. very not glam ok.

turning from one side to another while lying down is completely hopeless.

and am also very clumsy, always bumping and spilling things on the tummy.

heh. i know someday i’ll look back and find these little discomforts somewhat endearing.

the belly isn’t ALWAYS perfectly round. when he’s dancing around inside, the belly will go berserk and all bumpy, hollow at one place (usually near the belly button) and jutting out at another (usually on my left side). senget-benget dibuatnya.

my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps…

***

from SIL!

*strikes item from wishlist*

***

gained YET another kg in two weeks, no thanks to the hari raya gorge-fests. luckily, half of it is peanut.

he’s 2.7kg now!

i’m in week 37, give or take. which technically means i’m in my ninth month. i’m aiming for 40 weeks. which technically means a ten-month pregnancy. hmm, maybe subconsciously i want to keep him in as long as possible to delay labour and taking care of a real baby…

doc’s going to enter a marathon on the 4th of dec, and told us to CALL him up immediately as soon as i get labour pains on that day, even if it’s at 2am, so he can prepare his things in advance. let’s hope we don’t disrupt his marathon, ok baby?

i asked doc about episiotomy, the pros and cons. most of the western medical literature i read discouraged episiotomies, but he practically advocates it. as usual, he came up with some analogy, likening it to controlling where a tsunami will head. err, or something along that line (i sometimes get befuddled by his strange analogies). furthermore, he explained that if we insist on natural tearing or have badly-done episiotomies, our womb might drop out in old age. eeks.

in any case, we still have a choice to say no, but episiotomies are like surgeries that will “ketatkan” the vagina and provide pleasure for both husband and wife after birth. case in point, his wife and himself. thus the seven kids, he says. he also wished us women to be reincarnated as men so we can appreciate the whole “ketat” concept.

“OKAAAAAAAAY…” i said. *chuckle*

wanna see the different ways of cutting us up down there?
http://www.childbirth.org/articles/episview.html

very yikes, right? a lot of women say they don’t even feel it when the cut occurs, the labour pain overwhelming all other pains, but the healing of the stitches, that’s a bitch.

i also asked how a contraction would and should feel like. he asked if i’ve ever felt “segugut” or menstrual cramps, but i said mine have never been too debilitating. so he asked me to stand up and felt my stomach. then he told izad to touch it too – “ah, you feel that? very hard and tight right? after a while it will relax. ah tu contraction lah… now it’s just practising for labour.” i was having one right then – braxton-hicks.

i have it all the time!

so he described that the real thing will feel really really painful, and when it’s 10-15 minutes apart, i’ll have to give him a call.

my plan is to grab my bag when it’s half an hour apart, have a drive down to the hospital, sit at coffee bean or banquet, and just… wait some more.

PROVIDED IT DOESN’T HAPPEN AT 2AM. coffee bean and banquet not 24-hours ok.

now where’s that stopwatch…

ps: still no vaginal checkup this time round (not that i look forward to it hurhur).