My Uterus is Snuggly, Apparently

Today officially starts Week 39 of the pregnancy. I am 38 weeks and 1 day pregnant. At week 36, my OB appointments became weekly, and they begin checking to see if there has been any progress toward effacement and/or dilation. Now, labor is different for every woman, and can come on very quickly or can be a slow and gradual process. We have a friend that was 3cm dilated for three weeks, and still went to 41 weeks and several days, when her water broke. However, at my last two appointments, there has been absolutely no progress whatsoever. Zero. Zilch. This is not entirely unreasonable, and it's possible that things will happen as we get closer to my due date, but the closer we get to my due date (4/10) without any progress, the more likely it is that I'll require a late term induction at week 42. Now, if there's no effacement or dilation whatsoever before the induction, labor can be very painful due to the pitocin that induces contractions, labor can last for days since labor wasn't occurring naturally, and often results in a c-section anyway.

I guess my uterus is comfortable, and Jackson's all, "Hey lady. I'm comfy in here. I'm staying as long as I can." I actually leaned over the crib, putting my huge belly into it, and said "IN HERE, little man. This is where you belong." He's not listening. Typical man.

The worst part, is that I've developed a rash on the underside of the bump (considering how large I am, really should be called the mountain at this point), and the rash is directly related to the hormones of pregnancy and skin stretching and whatnot. I can take medications for it, but the medication of choice is an antihistamine. Antihistamines cause drowsiness. I've also been applying hydrocortisone to the rash, but that really doesn't help much. The only "cure" that I've found really works is freezing the rash out with ice packs. So I'm sitting here, with an ice pack between my lap and my stomach. It would be quite amusing, if the cold didn't piss Jack off. He'll squiggle and squirm around, all ticked off about the cold. I tell him if he doesn't like it, he's welcome to leave. I told Jesse that I was giving Jack his eviction notice. Jesse warned me against that, because with an eviction you get 30 days to leave.

Most pregnancy rashes go away within a week to two weeks after the baby's born, so the sooner he vacates the premises, the sooner I can get rid of the itchies, which feel like bugs crawling across my skin. And, the more I itch, the worse the itch gets. Sux big time. I am so ready to be done with this pregnancy, and have the little man on the other side of my body.