Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I turned a year older. My fortieth blog post commemorates my birthday - I wonder what my fiftieth will commemorate. Oh, wait, it'll probably review the Jefferson reenactment... and preview my very first Mother's Day. How fun!

Well, with help from one of my brothers, D got the wall finished in the spare room, started the walls in the laundry room, and hauled the big washer & dryer inside. And they got the horses hay and shot some guns and had fun. We watched both "John Wick" movies - the first was rented from the RedBox on Friday, and the second was in a local theater, so we went Saturday.

On Monday morning, that brother left, and I was left to myself. It was a long day, because I was achy and sore with no energy to speak of. Nearly the entire day was spent in bed. Then, at 11pm, prodromal labor (commonly known as false labor) began. I was having strong contractions for three hours, and was unable to relieve the discomfort despite rolling over, trying to distract myself, sitting up, and attempting, unsuccessfully, to walk. Finally, I took an hour-long bath, and soon after the contractions subsided and I slept. Meanwhile, my sweet, worn out husband slept restlessly.

I spent Tuesday resting, but my energy level was a little higher once I stretched and I actually got a couple things done. My hips and tailbone still hurt, but it wasn't too bad, and the tension in the pelvic region came and went nearly unnoticed. Still, I was ready, more than ready, to go into labor and actually have this baby!

On Wednesday, I woke up tired, though I had slept soundly the night before. I ended up sleeping for three extra hours before getting up to do chores. The baby was quite active, rolling around and dragging legs and arms all over whatever space (s)he had left. In the meantime, I was exhausted. My body felt like jumping into action and doing this-and-this-and-this, but my brain was far too worn out to follow. As with the day before, I waited, paying close attention to see if my body was going into labor. It didn't.

Thursday rolled around, and Tana took me to see the midwife. She was very happy with the way we were progressing, and there were no worries. My body was declared to be "revving up", but still there was a possibility of waiting a week and a half to two weeks. Fun.

A year ago this evening
Back/left to front/right: Brother, Tana, Me, D (then fiance), and Rowdy (now father-in-law)

And then there's today. My birthday. So far I've taken a bath, stretched, baked a cake, and started cooking five pounds of ground beef so I can refreeze it without problems. Who knows - I may do dishes yet, and there is a lemon pie promised me by my grandmother-in-law, Ma Baker. And nobody knows what my sweetie has in mind for this evening when he gets home from work! A movie has been promised, but that is it. Maybe we'll just have a quiet evening, but then again, maybe not. Maybe the baby will even get excited about birthdays and decide it's time to join the family - though in the end that wouldn't happen until tomorrow!

I guess I'll try to update y'all again next week with pictures of the cake & pie, and telling what happened to celebrate my birthday. No guarantees, though. Depending on when this baby times itself, I may miss a post this month - and if that's the case, watch the Facebook page for pictures of the little Baker!