35+4 (If it be not now, yet it will come)

[oloriel]

I've really letting the pregnancy post thing slide this time, and already we're getting close to the end. (With "close" meaning anything between one and six weeks, of course.)

The sad truth is, of course, that a second pregnancy isn't nearly as exciting as a first pregnancy is, unless something exceptional happens, which nobody hopes for. Or maybe unless it feels completely different, which is not the case in my case: Baby II behaves pretty much exactly in the womb as Felix did (frequent, occasionally violent movement; regular hiccups; head down early).
And then, of course, you just don't pay as much attention or have so much time for journalling when you've got a kid already...

Well, as far as the gynaecologist can tell, all is in good order. Because I had serious back problems this time and I remembered the backache as the worst part of labour, she prescribed physiotherapy. I had the last session the day before yesterday and I really think it helped. Didn't make the backache go away, but I didn't expect that - after all, only Baby II's birth will remove the cause - but it taught me a few drills that help ease it, it definitely made my pelvis more flexible (which is surely going to be helpful?) and it also made me realise just how badly I've been treating my upper back and shoulders. Ahem.

For about a week, I've been feeling Braxton-Hicks contractions; yesterday, they came particularly regularly (every five minutes for about an hour around noon and later on in the evening) so I took them a bit more seriously. Also, until yesterday, they were completely painless (in a "take my breath away" way), but yesterday they came accompanied by a certain unpleasantness, nothing serious but like the pain I get a day or two before my period. I surmised that some serious preparation was taking place down below, which today's gyn appointment (routine) confirmed: Baby II's head is now firmly in birth position. "If your waters break now, you needn't worry about lying down; you'll loose squirts of fluid but the umbilical cord can't slide anywhere it doesn't belong." Oh good! Cervix is, as yet, closed, but apparently one can already push a finger through (says my gyn). So all is indeed ready for birth. "Doesn't mean it's going to happen tomorrow, it can in fact take a few more weeks - but all is ready." (I managed to bite back the Hamlet line that jumped to my mind. I feel reasonably confident that my gynaecologist can handle most of my intellectual snobbery, but randomly quoting Shakespeare in English would have been a bit much.)

I expect it will take a few more weeks. Before Felix' birth, the gynaecologist announced that everything was "ripe" and would probably start soon... 17 days before the induction. :P Granted, today is 31 days before due date, so maybe that means I won't need an induction? That would be nice. In contrast, the mother-in-law has been doing her "I bet he comes out soon" spiel for a couple of weeks now. This confirms me in my conviction that it'll take a while yet. After all, up to now this pregnancy has been exactly like the first! (Mother-in-law has been predicting Felix' imminent birth as early as five weeks before his due date, too, and we all know how reliable that was.)

If Baby II waits till Saturday at the very least, he will no longer be considered "premature". He is now - mathematically - roughly 45 cm tall and weighs roughly 2.5 kg, which is on the small and light end of the scale but already touching the average, so nothing to worry about. (My narrow pelvis will in fact be grateful if he's a bit smaller than Felix was! :P)

I guess it's funny that when I learned Baby II's due date (May 3rd), I worried a bit that he might choose my birthday (May 1st) instead. Not for a second did I entertain the thought that he might be closer to Jörg's birthday (tomorrow)!
But then, he probably won't be. I'm not honestly expecting anything to happen for another two weeks. Of course, I might be wrong there. Just in case, I've started packing my bag for the hospital. The readiness, after all, is all. Other than that, there is very little that I can prepare in advance. Whenever it happens, it will be inconvenient in some way or other. So we'll just wait and see!

Comments

[barbardin.livejournal.com]

Ach! Mensch, ich hatte gar nicht auf dem Schirm, dass der Wurm schon so weit ist! Ich drücke die Daumen, dass alles wie gewünscht verläuft. :) Ich finde, du hast dir eine total unkomplizierte Bilderbuchgeburt redlich verdient. Möge das Universum gefälligst danach handeln. Danke sehr. *streng schau*

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Wie auch, ich hab ja kaum drüber geredet!

Hm, ich fürchte ja, nach der Bilderbuchschwangerschaft krieg ich wieder keine Bilderbuchgeburt. Trotzdem danke. :)

[ellynn-ithilwen.livejournal.com]

we're getting close to the end

What?! I have a feeling it was just a month ago that you had started to tell us about your pregnancy!
Best wishes! I hope everything will go as smoothly as possible.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Time flies! I'm surprised, too...

Thank you for your kind wishes!

[maglor-20.livejournal.com]

Good luck! I hope everything goes well with you and your family. :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

Was, das WIP #2 is schon fast fertig? O_O

Ich finde übrigens, das Hamlet-Zitat hätte super gepasst. Du könntest den Kleinen ja Horatio nennen... :P

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Es hätte absolut gepasst, aber wenn sie's nicht verstanden hätte, hätte ich's lang erklären müssen und das wäre dann für uns beide peinlich gewesen. ;)

Horatio ist viel zu lang für unseren Nachnamen! XD

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Wishing you and baby all the very best. I love hearing about Felix and am thrilled he has a little brother on the way.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! We're very curious to find out how Felix handles becoming a big brother. So far, he's reasonably understanding of my limitations and mildly enthusiastic about Brüderchen, but of course it's still quite abstract for him.

[satismagic.livejournal.com]

Best of luck!!!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[chili-das-schaf.livejournal.com]

My good, time flies by. All the best and I hope he stays in just a bit more so he's not premature but not too long so he'll be lighter than Felix :D

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

That sums it up! Thank you. :D

[chili-das-schaf.livejournal.com]

Ich weiß ja, man will's irgendwann nicht mehr hören, aber gibt's schon was Neues?

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Jein. Am Freitag hatte ich zweieinhalb Stunden lang relativ überzeugende Wehen (fühlte sich so an wie am Vorabend von Felix' Geburt, als wir endlich die richtige Dosis für die Einleitung gefunden hatten) - aber die haben dann kurz vor der Fahrt ins Krankenhaus wieder aufgehört, kamen 24 Stunden später nochmal für eine Stunde vorbei und das war's seither. Die Befunde bei der Frauenärztin heute waren genau wie vor zwei Wochen. Alles noch zu. Baby hängt in Startposition, aber mehr auch nicht. Wann es losgeht, ist nach wie vor unbekannt. Ich hoffe, nicht gerade jetzt am Osterwochenende :P

ETA: Ich hatte also mit meinem "In den nächsten zwei Wochen passiert es sicher noch nicht" schonmal Recht! Hah!

[chili-das-schaf.livejournal.com]

Hihi. Ja, dass man da selbst meistens eher recht hat, als irgendwelche Verwandten, glaubt einem auch nie einer ;)

Ich drücke weiter die Daumen!

[http://users.livejournal.com/macalla_/]

Hihi :) Ich hab mich grade an deine Einträge während der Schwangerschaft mit Felix erinnert.
Du klingst so viel gelassener und entspannter. Das ist schön :)

Ich wünsch euch beiden eine schnelle, einfache Geburt.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Tu ich das? Das hält bestimmt nur noch an, bis die echten Wehen einsetzen, dann verfalle ich wieder in den AAAH! PANIK! MEIN KÖRPER, DAS UNKONTROLLIERBARE WESEN! Modus...
Aber ich bin jetzt natürlich schon entspannter, was das Abwarten angeht. Weil, darin hab ich ja schon Übung ;)

Vielen Dank! Schön wär's ja.

[hhimring]

With all those stories of the Flixster's progress and your being so active with the SWG re-read, it had escaped me completely that so much time had passed.
I'm glad the signs are good so far and I do hope things will be much easier for you this time!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Well, the SWG re-read is only possible because I put all fannish time and energy into it. As a result, I'm ignoring pretty much everything else - fanfic, fanart, B2MeM. That's how that works. As for the Flixster's progress, there are way more stories I didn't tell than stories I managed to blog about...

Thank you - I certainly hope so, too!