Seriously Silas: Only a month until my due date!

Today is April 6th. My due date is exactly one month from today.

Will Silas be a May baby or will he decide to come early and be an April baby?

I don't know... no one know except for Silas. He'll come when he is ready, although I secretly hope that he is hear before May 9th, which is mother's day.

I would love to be a mommy on mother's day. I know that I'm already a mommy even though he isn't here yet, but to hold my son on mother's day would be wonderful. It would also be nice if he were here before my birthday which is on the 12th of May.

If he isn't, that is o.k. too. When he decides to come will be the day he is suppose to be here.

I've been having a lot of discomfort though. I'm really swollen, and its not just at the end of the day. Sometimes I wake up swollen. I'm also having period-like cramping and pressure in my pelvis not to mention back pain.

I had an appointment with my midwife today... I'm now on weekly visits with her.

While she was checking Silas' heart rate she said I was contracting. I've noticed my stomach getting tight and hard, but I just thought it was Silas pushing against my belly because I feel no pain or discomfort with it... but apparently it's Braxton Hicks.

As for the cramps and pressure, she said that is normal and my body is preparing for the big show. I need to begin timing them. If they last for more than a minute, and occur every four minutes for an hour then I need to call and then head into L&D. However she also said that this could go on for weeks and try to relax and not stress out.

I talked to her about being so swollen and we talked about how much water I'm drinking in a day, which apparently might be too much... I own a 24oz Camelback bottle and drink 5-8 of them a day, which is 120-192oz a day. She said try to aim for 64-96oz and see if that helps. She also suggested warm baths and eating watermelon and asparagus (both which I love!)

Aside from that everything looks good. My blood pressure was 100/70, there was no protein in my urine, and that even though I've gained 5 pounds in the last two weeks, she thinks it has to do with my water retention. I'm not over eating, and I'm not over indulging. I'm eating small portions and they are generally very balanced.

I go back in a week and we'll see what happens.... but with my BP being so good and my urine tests fine she isn't very worried. She said Silas is going to be a healthy little guy and I need to focus on relaxing until he gets here.

Outside of talking about the now we talked about the labor. I spoke to her about the class we took and how it had me really worried because it was all about the worst case scenarios. She said that I need to write a birth plan, not focusing on what I don't want, but focusing on what I DO want. She also said that none of the midwives will use interventions unless it is absolutely necessary. I asked about cord clamping because I would like to wait for it to stop pulsing so that Silas receives as much iron and nutrients from the placenta as possible and she said non of the midwives clamp right after birth as long as there are no complications or signs of distress of the baby. Once he delivers they will place him on my chest, skin to skin, and then they will ask me if it's o.k. to clean him up. They will tend to him in the room and if they need to move him Josh will be able to go with him. I feel very comfortable with how things will go. She said that unless I tested positive for the Group B Step or have to have a Cesarean that I will only need to spend 24 hours in the hospital and then I can go home. We do however need to have a pediatrician and a car seat installed. We do not have a pediatrician yet, but will have one soon. We also already car seats, but they are not installed yet. I'm hoping my wonderful cousin, who is a firefighter and certified in car seats, will help us with that.

4-5 more weeks to go and he'll be there... things to do before then, in no particular order...