36 weeks....bed rest

I have finally reached the last month of pregnancy. I do not feel overly massive as I imagined I would, and my pelvic pain is a bit better since the babe's head has dropped this week. I felt the dropping in the midst of my sleep and between dreams. I could imagine him burrowing down into my pelvis and when I awoke the midwife confirmed that he had actually dropped. She also confirmed a few more things. The sensation of period cramps that were radiating towards my back were, in fact signs of early labour. She also listened to the fetal heart rate and upon auscultation told me that I was having a contraction. Painful: not in the slightest, in fact I had never even noticed them before she pointed them out. At first I could recognize the tightening of my entire belly by touching the belly, but I could not feel it inside. Now I am beginning to feel the tightenings without touching them from the outside. Perhaps, I am a bit unaware, but I expect that they will make themselves known when it really matters. To complete her check the midwife did a manual exam of my cervix and confirmed that I had slight dilation, softening and shortening and some bloody mucous. Her prescription: bed rest until 37 weeks. That was four days ago, and I am mighty bored of all this sitting.

You see there are certain things that they advise people to do when they are nearing their due date to naturally induce their pregnancy. Some of these are: sex, nipple stimulation, walking, other exercise, drinking red raspberry leaf tea, massage and accupressure. So now I am at home, I have canceled my massages, put my runners away and am sitting like a good girl. I must admit, my bed rest is probably more active than most, but frankly my back kills when I sit for too long and my mind goes crazy when I don't leave the house every few hours. So I do interrupt my bed rest regularly for quick trips outdoors. If anyone has any entertainment suggestions I would love to hear them. I've finished a couple books and have become quickly addicted to "Friday Night Lights", but not much more has caught my attention.

I will write about birth planning and home births, if we make it to the 37th week.