Friday, March 09, 2007

'Nother Update

On Friday the husband and I tried to get a maximum of things done, and we mostly succeeded. First things first -- the anesthesiologist. We had the mandatory 1-hour wait in the morning with a bunch of other pregnant women, but when I got called in things went pretty fast. Apparently I'm A-OK for the epidural, if/when I decide I need it. He put me in the epi position and gave me a pinch to show "how much it won't hurt," but didn't push it on me. No problems there. I'm definitely not against an epidural, and given how much drama occurred when I had a leg cramp recently, I'm going to guess that I'll probably ask for one at some point. I just want to see how it goes at first before I decide/start begging for drugs.

Then we drove to the prefecture to try and get my carte de sejour renewed (2nd trip so far this year) -- the expiration date couldn't be more poorly timed, but conception happens when it happens so there isn't much we can do about that. I need to go back one more time, and I'm hoping that I'll walk out of there with a paper that will at least keep the CAF and social security office off my back. Wish me luck. I have to say that as much as I have complained about the evil interns in the past, people have been rather understanding this time around. No one snarkily suggested that I get in line at 5:00 a.m. for the annual ticket race (for the nth time, which is my main objection to this policy -- first year here, I understand...each consecutive year, I don't), which was a big relief. And I'm hoping against hope that I correctly interpreted the poster I saw last time saying that parents of a French citizen could have a renewed CdS mailed to them.

After then picking up what I needed to make thank-you cards, we raced back home to be on time for the 9th month check-up. Everything looks okay...I really like my doctor because he looks at the whole picture and tells me what my limits are (meaning that he didn't give me too much grief about my weight gain). I will be perfectly honest in that I was hoping he would tell me things were moving right along and I might have the baby a little sooner rather than later, but at this point, things are looking like later. She's still in the right position, she's moving on down, and -- how can I put this delicately -- while he noticed the normal signs that my body is getting ready to give birth, the door to the exit is still locked. So now you know. Anyway, he seemed perfectly content with what he saw and said, "Okay, I'm not going to see you until after the birth! Bonne continuation!" Plus, he made sure I knew that I should expect a midwife to be there for the delivery instead of a doctor unless there was a problem. He has my back covered, this man.

After that, we went to the Secu to see what is happening with my maternity leave (assuming they haven't misplaced my file...again), but they were exceptionally closed for the day. That's another long story, but I'm optimistic that something will happen at some point if I'm persistent enough.

It's strange how biology works, but labor seems nowhere near as daunting as it was. I'm still scared if I spend too much time thinking about what will and could happen, but my main state of mind at the moment goes something like this:

bring. it. ON.

There's not much room left and while I still mentally feel great, physically I think the fun part is over, if ever there were a fun part. If she moves even a little bit, she hits an organ or a rib or something, and I won't go into detail about why I'm afraid to cough or sneeze in public. I'm glad to keep her as long as she's happy inside, but I really hope she'll be ready to arrive in a couple of weeks. I put the cheesy pregnancy calendar at the top of my blog for my own benefit...it makes me feel better seeing that I am almost there, although I chose to use the US date rather than the French date because it's more convenient.

I am ready. I can't wait to see her and hold her.

3 comments:

PutYourFlareOn said...

The fear of sneezing or coughing, I know what you mean. I have to pee like every five minutes. It's horrible, at night I get up every 30 minutes to empty my bladder only to be so thirsty again that I drink and then the cycle starts again. I feel like I should be living on the toilet or something.

Are your feet swollen? I can't believe how swollen my feet are. It's insanely scary. I can make dents in my feet and they STAY! For a long time! haha.

You're close. We seriously are on the same time line here... our boy will be here in 9 days.

Just me said...

An epidural can definitely be a good thing! I actually felt real labor pains without the epi, and it's not fun.

Sorry to hear about the trips to the prefecture. I had the same issue. Right after our little one was born, we had to go to renew my carte de sejour. And mine will only last until August because that is when my 10yr passport expires (something else I have to renew!).

The big day is getting closer for you. Stay positive and good luck!

the fabulous adventures of sarah said...

Oh 'PMF', you are SO BRAVE!!!!

I'm thinking of you and wishing you and your little one well!

My love to you, your hubby, your cat and hopefully your beautiful baby very soon!

Big Hugs from Maine {it's not that cold}!!
Love you!
-Sarah