I've Been Jinxed... Or Have I?

So, about this whole jinxing thing... how does it work, exactly? I mean, did I jinx myself, as my sister-in-law mentioned, by saying I was the only one in the family to not be sick? Or, perhaps, did she do the jinxing by mentioning that I may have jinxed myself? Or, maybe, as I've always suspected, jinxing doesn't really even happen, and it's all a huge coincidence that I happened to get sick very, very soon after having possibly jinxed myself. Who knows? Not I, but I've certainly been mulling such issues over quite a bit in the past few days. There wasn't much else I could do, given the bizarre lack of energy and the fact that I spent most of my time lying down to combat it.

It all started with some nausea and other gastrointestinal problems I'll spare you the gory details of. Let's just sum it up by saying I wasn't able to eat properly or keep the fluids and foods I did eat in long enough to do me much good. After a full day of that, my body was worn out, and I started to experience faintness and overall weakness. Standing up for even a few minutes was too much for me. Naturally, given the fact that I'm due to give birth any time now, and energy is a must for that, I was pretty freaked out. I was worried enough about the weakness to attempt calling the local doctor on call one evening but never reached him (so much for being on call, huh?). Turns out, everything was starting to improve, and the next day, I had a little more energy.

What really freaked me out, though, was the hours before I tried to call him. I had been feeling a bit stronger and decided to take the kids out. Nothing strenuous. Just a little stroll at a local carnival. They had a blast, but I scared my friends with my paleness and general half-dead appearance. I realized the next day that my problem was low blood pressure. This is not very new to me. Mine's always low, which is usually not a bad thing, but if I don't eat or drink enough during pregnancy, that can mean trouble. What was strange is that I had taken the precaution of eating before leaving the house, in order to avoid a drop in blood pressure. So why the sudden weakness at the carnival? I figured it out after having the same weak feeling after another meal. Seems that all the blood concentrating on digesting my food left too little for my head. Nice, huh? Probably killed a few brain cells on that one (I didn't even get an alcoholic buzz for my troubles, either). Hope it wasn't anything important I might need later. Anyway, a couple of days later, I'm able to eat and drink much better and am feeling much stronger for it. I'm still taking it easy, though...

which brings us to some new knitting I've started. Since I am not allowing myself to get up and do too many things, I limit myself to little spurts of housework, some sitting and lying down when I feel tired. The sitting thing is great for knitting, as we all know, and I actually have my husband's approval to do all the sitting I want. How cool is that? Actually permission to do nothing but knit, if I so desire. All without the little looks or comments that tell me I may have neglected other duties a bit. Despite my desire to do a little nesting, I could get used to the free knitting time. And, of course, since I can't actually convince myself it's a good idea to finish up that baby shawl (some day, I swear), I started out simple. I've got some leftover sock yarn from my Go With the Flow Socks, so I'm making some baby sockies. Cute, cute, cute. No progress shot for now, but it looks pretty boring at the moment, anyway. I also need to take a picture or two of the scarf I made my midwife before I actually give it to her. It turned out pretty well, and everyone who saw it liked the way it looked. Good sign, I think. So, we can be looking forward to actual knitting pictures in the very near future. Not bad for a knitting blog, eh?

And, for those following along on the baby thing, I'm obviously still pregnant, but I am dilated to 1 cm. Not much, but I'm all for doing a little bit of the work without really realizing it. How about you? In fact, if I could pop this little bundle out in my sleep, I'd sign up for that right now. I've heard of women giving birth in comas, and, though I'm not really keen on the coma thing.... No, I'm only joking. I wouldn't want to miss this experience. Despite the pain (which, for me, is actually manageable with my wonderful midwife's help), the moment when the baby comes out is like nothing else I could ever imagine. With Lambchop #2, where I gave birth without an epidural, it was even better than I'd imagined, because it felt like my entire body breathed a huge sigh of relief. Didn't get that with the epidural with Lambchop #1, and though, it was wonderful to hold her in my arms, the birthing itself wasn't as nice.

Anyone want to lay any bets as to when this baby will decide to grace us with its presence? The way I was feeling several days ago, I hear my sister-in-law didn't even think I'd last the weekend. Ha! Fooled you. I'd have been alright with a weekend birth, though, really. Now that the nausea is gone, though, and I'm starting to get used to the low position the baby is in, I can handle a couple more weeks just fine. I sure am excited to get a chance to hold my new sweetie, though. I can hardly wait!