every two weeks

welcome to a fellow blogger.

I’d like to formally welcome J. Kenneth Blackwell to theteet.com.

I received a Facebook message from the former Ohio gubernatorial candidate earlier today. It said, and I’m quoting only partially here, “I enjoy your blog.”

I’ll give you a moment to let this sink in.

For my non-political friends, Mr. Blackwell is best known for becoming the first African-American to be the candidate for governor of a major party in Ohio. He is also a blogger. Just like me.

I think this is the most appropriate time to tell you about the second-most exciting thing that happened to me today in a new segment we’ll call CERVIX WATCH 2009.

My doctor was out again today, so Molly Mae and I had another pinch-hitter. She was a little aggressive. But her name was Molly, and she was tiny and adorable, so we let it slide.

For the record, I am 37 weeks pregnant.  ETA: Dec. 4.

However, according to Dr. Molly, I am 1 cm dilated and 70 percent effaced. For those keeping track at home, we need to get to 10 cm and 100 percent, respectively, to push out a baby. Active labor begins around 4 cm.

Fancy CERVIX WATCH 2009 graphic

My family has reacted to this news with something along the lines of “you’re having a baby this weekend!” or “OMG! HERE COMES THE HEAD!” I’d like to remind everyone that women can be effaced and dilated for a long time before labor begins. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. Molly Mae and I could really use a couple more weeks to get ready.

We need to find a pediatrician.

Anyway, the doctor said all was looking good for the both of us. She said something along the lines of, “You don’t have a very big baby in there,” which I loved, and she speculated that we’d have a 6-pounder when the precious time came. Seven at most.

Molly is doing everything that I asked her to. Well done, little girl.

We had a couple heart-pounding moments a few hours after the exam, but I don’t think we’re all ready to talk about mucus plugs or bloody shows yet. I’ll save that lesson for another post.

There’s a lot to take in here.