All Systems Go

We are less than 2 weeks from our due date now! A year ago this time, I wouldn't have had any idea what this year would have brought. Linda & I were enjoying our life; making plans for the summer with concerts, two vacations and the four different weddings of some close friends. Two years ago today, Linda & I were relaxing on a sandy beach on St. Croix, in the Caribbean, to celebrate Linda's 30th birthday...again, with no idea that we would be expecting our first child in the here and now. In comparison, our St. Croix vacation doesn't feel like it was that long ago. Yet these last nine months have felt like an eternity, especially for Linda... And now we have to hurry up and wait. Linda's hospital bag is packed. The car seat bases are installed in both my car and hers. We have all the necessities. Evan's room is ready. His clothes are washed and ready. Diapers have been bought. Everything is "All Systems Go"...we just have to play this waiting game...hell, this last nine months haven't been anything else but a waiting game. And that's a game I don't do well with...

We now have started going to our OB every week. Last Friday, it was a quick visit. Everything looked great...Linda was dilated to a one...so there is light at the end of the tunnel! Evan's heart rate was about 135 beats per minute. Hopefully he'll be here sooner than later.

Linda's desperate to try anything to evict Evan from the womb... We've read different wive's tales about how to induce labor... I read somewhere that women claim the salad dressing at Olive Garden, and other salads, has sent them to the delivery room. Last Saturday, Linda dragged me out in the blizzard (yes, Kansas City got MORE snow!) and we ate at Olive Garden just for the salad. But...no luck. Obviously. We then decided to walk about 5 laps around Oak Park Mall, hearing that walking was good to get things moving. But alas, Evan is still in there. Also, Linda's eaten her share of spicy foods...still nothing. Some swear that Castor oil does the trick...however I've read that Castor oil can cause quite a mess in the delivery room...so I don't think Linda will want to try that trick. However, my buddy Chad, said that is what his sister did, and she had her son the next morning. I just think Evan will come when he's ready...and he's just not ready yet...no matter what we do to try and get things rolling.

I did rent two movies from Netflix, thinking they would be fun for us to watch since they had a pregnancy theme..."Look Who's Talking" and "She's Having a Baby". But Linda doesn't want to watch either. When I told her what we had gotten, she replied, "Oh, those are old movies." I rebutted they weren't and had been made in the 1980s. (My opinion of old movies are those made before I was born... Linda & I both were born in the 1970s.) Apparently she refuses to watch movies more than 10 years old. I told her that there were tons of great old (by her terms) movies out there, but she refuses to watch them because they were released prior to 1999. Hmmm...just when I thought I couldn't learn anything else about this woman...I learn something new still, after the 16+ years knowing each other.

Not many changes now in the 38th week of pregnancy. All of Evan's body functions and systems are matured enough for him to make his grand appearance. His lungs are continuing to produce surfactant, which helps prevent the air sacs from sticking together when he begins to breathe air. All he is doing now is putting on more weight. He should weigh about 6.8 lbs., and would be over 19½ inches in length, which is about the same as a leek. The last bits of vernix caseosa and lanugo are shedding off into the amniotic fluid. He has a firm grasp now, which I can't wait for him to grab ahold of my pinky finger... I love when babies do this...one of the best feelings... I don't know why...