I haven’t had my period since October. That means I haven’t had cramps for that long as well, and sometimes my cramps were very bad. Not having to go through that every 28 days has been one of the better parts about being pregnant. But the 9th month makes up for all the time spent without the annoying cramps. Because the 9th month (commonly referred to as “the labor month”) has been filled with period like cramping. A day hasn’t gone by that I haven’t experienced at least an hour worth of cramping. I’m basically having a month long period.

Thank you, 9th month. Thank you for reminding me of what I’ve been missing for 8 months.

I had my weekly checkup on Friday. I was lectured pretty severely by both my husband and my doctor because I didn’t call in on Thursday to report the dizziness, the headache, or the white fireflies I saw a couple of times. Tobyjoe insisted I call but I didn’t listen to him.

“I didn’t think anything was wrong.” I said to my doctor.

“And you know this from your years spent at medical school?” She asked. “You were going to wait until you had a seizure?”

“Point taken. From now on, I’ll listen to my husband.”

He looked at me with that “I told you so!” face.

She took blood to check for Preeclampsia. I checked out normal, thank goodness.

My cervix was 1 centimeter dilated and slightly more effaced that it was the week before. The baby has dropped but he hasn’t become engaged yet. (Engagement is the term used to describe it when the baby’s head moves into the pelvic bone.) I used to think that he’d be here early, now I’m not so sure. I don’t sleep anymore. I don’t sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. And I wake up at 5 AM almost every day and it takes me at least an hour to get back to sleep. At that point, I toss and turn until 7. So I’m ready whenever baby’s ready. I’m prepared for sleepless nights. At least I’ll be able to lie on my back and tummy again.

WARNING: GRAPHIC SECTION

(Best to skip this if you’re not into reading about the female reproductive system.)

A couple of weeks ago, I thought I might have lost my mucous plug. I wrote about it. But now I’m thinking I may have been wrong. On Saturday I saw some blood and that blood has continued. There hasn’t been much of it, but there was enough that I called the on call physician just to make sure it was normal. And it is. Of course the Internet leads me to believe that this is what is commonly referred to as the “Bloody Show.” After reading more, I’m having a bit of trouble discerning between the mucous plug and the “bloody show.” Some explanations combine the two into one of the same. But it’s my understanding is that the mucous plug protects all the good stuff throughout a pregnancy and that once the cervix begins to dilate it falls out. Whereas the “bloody show” is something that takes place once the cervix starts to thin (efface) and the blood vessels start to rupture. But I’m not sure. I also read that “the bloody show” can mean labor is right around the corner; I also read that it could mean labor is weeks off.

Last night I looked at Tobyjoe and said, “You know, penises may be considered ugly, but vaginas do some really weird stuff.”