The nurses rolled their eyes...

...when I told them that the ffn test had been performed about 4 hours after DTD. They later told me that the ffn tests for protein, and that semen or blood *will* cause a false positive. Not maybe. Will. I didn't know. I had heard rumors on the internet, of course, and mentioned it to the doc office in the afternoon, not the morning, but I guess doc was CYAing.

So there were a couple of good contrax and a few very small ones. More of an irritable uterus. And the little guy had a nice heart rate that responded well to his kicking and the contrax. She said his tracing looked "beautiful". Another good thing was that I got to go scope out the parking situation. I haven't been down there for my official hospital tour yet, and I didn't want to have to walk a mile to L&D in full labor. They have these nice parking spots in front of the ER that are for maternity drop-off. I'm still a little perturbed to have to be going to a new hospital this time. The hospital I had delivered my 2 youngest boys at closed their maternity ward last year!!!! It was a 10 minute drive to that hospital. And so now I have to drive 35 minutes. Which may not seem like a lot, but in full labor, every block and bump while driving is agony. And my labors go so fast. I better get into the car a little earlier than I did for the last one. 6cm when I got into the car and 7cm when they checked me at the hospital. A longer drive would *definitely* have affected things.

Off to labor and delivery

It's not as dramatic as it sounds, lol. I tend to get preterm-ish bh contrax with every pregnancy, and never delivered before 9 days before the due date. I had been getting more this past week and complained to the doc about it at my checkup this am. I told him that they were coming sometimes every 3 minutes in the evening about every 3 days. Which is really typical for me. He did an ffn test to be safe, and told me my cervix palpated as long and closed. I just heard from the doc office that the ffn was positive and I need to report to l&d to get on the monitor. I asked if BD 4 hours before the test might cause a false positive. They said even if it is a false pos, I need to be monitored. I'm not too bothered, because I really have been worrying about the little guy. I'm a worrier, and the little one has been having a lot of hiccups, which I also told the doctor about. He assured me the hiccups were fine. So now I'm waiting 45 minutes for dh to get home from work. No way I'm dragging 3 boys to l&d, ages 8, 4 and 2. I'll bring my crocheting and a reading book and maybe get some shut-eye. ;-)

Ooops. There was a mild contraction. Maybe I shouldn't have vacuumed my car out just now. But I couldn't STAND the crumbs anymore. :-?

A belly pic and random updates

Here is my belly at 30 weeks. I barely fit into this dress, which is really a nursing dress. But with my wardrobe dwindling quickly, I need to squeeze into all the random clothes I can. Only 2 more months (or so) and I'll have a lot of my wardrobe back again. Or at least the pieces that are amenable to nursing an infant.

I'm feeling mostly good. I had a little tummy upset a couple of days ago. Not fun when the intestines are cramping and the little one is kicking right into the spot. 8O Otherwise I have not reached the completely miserable stage yet. I am able to bend over to pick up toys off the floor, but I prefer to make the boys do it as good training for them. I can still run errands, but if I overdo it I tend to get a lot of contractions afterwards. I'm not too worried about the contractions. Of course I'll run to the hospital to get checked if they come too close together, but the painless contrax prior to 38 weeks never led to anything with me in the past 5 pgs. I refer to it as my "cast iron cervix". Never birth a baby before it's time. :-D

I'm not looking forward to labor and delivery. I can handle most of it, except the the last 30 minutes. Eeeeeek! That is the point that I lose control and decide to run away. But there's no place to go. :-(

Potty training is going well finally. The youngest has graduated to level 3 potty training. Level 1 is the potty in the living room and he is undressed from the waist down. That lasted for 2 weeks. Level 2 was wearing loose pants with no underwear (underwear makes him think it is a diaper). Level 3 is wearing loose pants with no underwear and moving the potty into the bathroom. The next step will be levels 4 and 5, transitioning into underwear under his pants and then learning how to use the grownup toilet. But I really am content to take things slowly at this point. No rush. I am no longer perspiring and chasing after him. He rarely has accidents. He runs to the potty and handles things himself when he has to go. He only wears 2 diapers/pullups per day now, at nap and bedtime. And he went poo poo in the potty a couple of times last week, which is a big step for a boy his age.