5:09 p.m. - 2006-09-20
Next to Godliness
I've heard from several sources who've been there -- and read in several pregnancy books -- that a very pregnant woman approaching her due date might very well get a sudden burst of energy and compulsion to do a lot of house cleaning.
Upon hearing this, I figured I might be pregnant forever, since, at no time in my life, has the urge to clean overtaken me with such force. Actually, it did -- once. When I was 21 and living in my first apartment, I excitedly called my mother to tell her all about the crapload of cleaning supplies I'd picked up at Target, and all the exhaustive cleaning I had just done around the place. She was not impressed, explaining that what I had just undertaken gets done EVERY WEEK by the majority of the population, who choose not to live in such squalor. Thanks for the buzzkill, Mom.
I'm not dirty, exactly. Messy is the word I'd use to best describe me. I like to pile things until they start to topple over. I'm extremely fortunate to have a husband who can't live in my conditions (e.g., what passes for clean), so every week, without any sort of prompting from me, he takes it upon himself to rid the hardwood floors of cat hair tumbleweeds and scrub off all the toothpaste splatters on the bathroom sink.
But this past Sunday, I really was struck by that urge. I pulled on the dishwashing gloves and hauled cleaning supplies upstairs to my bathroom and scrubbed the hell out of all surfaces. Then I did the same thing in the kitchen. Ginger sat at the top of the basement stairs and meowed, clearly disturbed by this never-before-seen act. Joe came home from running errands and thought he had stepped into the wrong house. I didn't do a lot, but it was enough to satisfy me.
But not enough to bring on labor. At yesterday's checkup, the OB told me I am making no progress on dilation or effacement (my cervix is lazy, like the rest of me). This is actually good, since Pumpkin's not full-term until next Thursday, and even then, it's best that she continue to cook for another three weeks or so.
Time to head home and figure out dinner. Only it can't be something I cook in the microwave, stove or oven, since I just cleaned.
