This week was such a whirlwind of emotion. It started off really well - some nights I was able to get better sleeps than last week. On the weekend, we were able to go out and explore as well. But then after my scheduled regular 38 weeks appointment it turned out the entire vibe 180 degrees.
Starting with the good part of the week first. Since my sister is coming to the US to support me, I was hoping we can take her to visit some places before the confinement and new baby lockdown period starts. On the weekend we went to two different outdoor shopping areas nearby where we lived. Initially we wanted to try dining outside for Ippudo Ramen, but we learned too late that we had to make a reservation ahead of time through yelp (which actually make a lot of sense as they have limited outdoor seating). Thankfully, that area was full of other dining options so we ended up choosing a Thai place which has good Pad Thai and Tom Yum Goong.
After that we wanted to go somewhere else, since going out right now means you have to follow full "sanitizing" regiment once you get home anyways, and the day was still young. My sis mentioned how she wanted to go visit Stanford University since on her last visit she liked that place very much. We weren't sure if the University is open for visit but since there is an outdoor mall close-by we decided to just try. Worse come to worse, we can just head to the outdoor mall after. Turns out it was open and there were some "tourist" as well as locals visiting. It wasn't crowded at all though and everybody was wearing mask so we still feel very safe. We managed to snag some good pictures (my sis even took a couple "pregnancy" shots for us). Then we went to the outdoor mall as planned, did some shopping and had Pinkberry froyo before heading home. It was a great day.
The next place high on both my sis and I list of places to visit before baby was the beach. This was proven to be very challenging since my husband prefers not to travel far in case my labor starts on the way. But an opportunity came up as my husband was asked to pick up his work stuff from his office who is not too far from a local beach in the area. So off we went ... in addition to strolling at the beach for a good 30 mins, we were able to grab yummy lobster rolls from a popular restaurant there. One of my pregnancy cravings was satisfied.
The next day, we went to my regular pregnancy check up appointment. Due to COVID, I have to come alone to the appointment, but for the past few appointments my hubby and daughter usually came and waited in the car, today was no different. Since my hospital is close to downtown Mountain View, we planned to dine outdoor or pick up to go food for dinner after the afternoon appointment.
I was actually pretty nervous about the appointment since I knew the doctor would perform another pelvic check. I was also curious about what she would say in terms of the state of the baby (position) and pelvic dilation (if any). Surprise surprise, she said my pelvic is very soft (not sure what this means but maybe pretty effaced?) and it was 1 cm dilated. 1 cm dilated could means I can be in labor in a couple of days or week. But she touched my feet and check my tummy and right before she left the room she teased me - "I'll think you'll deliver the baby soon - it can be after dinner, midnight, or tomorrow." I froze because I was so not ready! It just felt very sudden!
On the appointment we also talked about how hospital / health care provider now wants pregnant women to just schedule induction as soon as they reach 39 weeks. I asked my doctor when we suggested that if it was due to mine or my baby's specific health condition, but she said this is just the general drill due to COVID. They think waiting for another week or two would increase the risk of the mom to contract COVID. She asked me if I had a date in mind, and again - my mind went blank because I really was not ready for labor. I told her then I want to wait until we pass the due date and decide then. Instead of getting induced early, I'm hoping for the labor to naturally start on its own.
So clearly I had a lot to think about after the appointment - also so many different emotions. After the check it was a bit painful for me to walk so we ended up buying food to go and dine at home. That night I could hardly sleep thinking about what the doctor said - she can come anytime! I told the baby to give me another weekend (so we can stock up for food etc)... but day after day since the appointment I kinda feel the pain gradually increasing when walking. It's getting very uncomfortable for me to sit for a long period of time - the same with standing and walking :( I also started experiencing a couple on and off contractions. At the end of my 38 weeks, I think I was actually anxious for the baby to come soon!
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