Nine days overdue and counting...kind of frustrating, but at least I feel fine. Today we finally had some news, though. An ultrasound told us that my amniotic fluid level is low, which can lead to compression of the umbilical cord. Everything else seems to be ok; BL's heart rate is fine and she's not in distress or anything. So the doctor recommended we schedule an induction for 6am Monday morning...I guess that is the point of no return! I don't think Monday will end without our daughter having come into the world.
I'm not incredibly happy about being induced, though. There are no great ways to do it. Knowing that I wanted to avoid Pitocin and that moving around during labor was important to me, our doctor is planning on administering a different drug to ripen the cervix and stimulate labor. I agreed to this during our visit today, but after doing some research online I'm not so sure this drug is as safe as I'd like it to be. Of course, the internet is the best way to find horror stories if they exist. I just wish I knew how much to trust my doctor. I like her, she seems to respect my wishes, and she comes highly recommended, but of course I only know her in a professional capacity and in general I don't like the incentives that seem to govern health care procedures these days. Anyway, there is still time for BL to emerge on her own over the weekend, which I hope she does and then we can still try to have a natural birth. If not, we'll go to the hospital Monday morning, make it clear we absolutely want the safest induction method, and hope for the best! The whole pregnancy has been about as uneventful as you could get and I don't seem to have any condition or history whatsoever that should make anyone more cautious. So this weekend I'm just going to try to relax and try not to worry!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
40 weeks...and counting
Well, April 2nd has come and gone, and nothing really of interest is going on. It's kind of strange, but even though the probability of BL's arrival increases each day, we feel like the anticipation has kind of diminished a little bit, and we've been pretty laid back the past couple of days. It just totally makes you crazy to dwell every day for weeks on the fact that it could happen any time. So I'm just trying not to think about it too much, which is fine, because I'm as ready as I can be. Also it makes me a little nervous because I know it'll probably be the hardest thing I've ever done, and there is so much potential for things to go wrong or not the way we would hope, so I'm definitely just trying to relax and enjoy life as a non-mommy while I still can.
I am looking forward to not being pregnant anymore, though. I miss my flat stomach and being able to fit regular clothes, work out, sleep in any position I want, drink wine and beer, eat sushi and cold roast beef sandwiches, etc. I went shopping with Sara last week and saw all kinds of things I'd like to wear if only I were skinny again! Instead I just bought big comfy cotton pants and nursing bras. :(
At the last doctor's appointment, I was dilated to 1cm (same as the previous two weeks). Each day, I feel like I'm carrying her lower and lower, and Sara said she could see that I got bigger even in the few days she was visiting. I told BL she should just come out, and do her growing on the outside! But I know she just needs to wait until she's ready. In the meantime, John tells her a story every night and she seems to be doing fine in terms of size, position, movement, and heartbeat.
I am looking forward to not being pregnant anymore, though. I miss my flat stomach and being able to fit regular clothes, work out, sleep in any position I want, drink wine and beer, eat sushi and cold roast beef sandwiches, etc. I went shopping with Sara last week and saw all kinds of things I'd like to wear if only I were skinny again! Instead I just bought big comfy cotton pants and nursing bras. :(
At the last doctor's appointment, I was dilated to 1cm (same as the previous two weeks). Each day, I feel like I'm carrying her lower and lower, and Sara said she could see that I got bigger even in the few days she was visiting. I told BL she should just come out, and do her growing on the outside! But I know she just needs to wait until she's ready. In the meantime, John tells her a story every night and she seems to be doing fine in terms of size, position, movement, and heartbeat.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Only a week to go?
Well, hopefully this is the home stretch. And yet, nothing really seems that different! I don't feel like I'm about to become a mother. I don't feel like my life is about to change forever. I don't feel like this big belly is about to turn into a real live baby that I can hold and talk to. I suppose you just can't imagine until it happens.
We had a big scare the last couple of days...we found some bugs in our bed (yuck) and elsewhere that we really thought were bedbugs. I was so distraught to think we would have to bring our newborn daughter home to an infested apartment! So then we called the exterminator and if you want to get rid of bedbugs, you basically have to clean your apartment out completely, emptying all the drawers and closets and doing all the laundry. We felt a task of that magnitude would be simply impossible, with John needing to spend as much time as possible on his dissertation now and me possibly going into labor at any time (not to mention, I can no longer cart laundry baskets back and forth to the laundry room). But then the exterminators looked at a specimen of the bug we gave them, and decided that they WEREN'T bed bugs! YAY! I never would have thought I'd be so happy to have beetles in my house, and apparently they don't bite humans and you can get rid of them with store-bought insect spray. This is a HUGE relief!
Meanwhile, I think everything is ready for the baby to get here. All her clothes are washed and ready for me to dress her up, we have all our other supplies (diapers, bottles, etc), and I've been keeping on top of the clutter and cleaning so that when I do go into labor, it won't be too messy when we get back. We even just did most of our laundry, so I don't have to worry about that for a while. My girlfriends are coming later this week, and assuming I'm still pregnant we're going shopping so I can get some nursing bras (my old bras totally don't fit anymore), some really comfy clothes to wear post-partum, and some durable sandals I can wear on walks with my new little girl.
People are starting to make real guesses now about BL's birthday. Annie said March 30th (also her birthday). Sara says April 1st (conveniently the last day she will be here visiting me). I say April 16th, by induction (since they don't let the babies stay in past 42 weeks). John, of course, found data on when women give birth in relation to their due dates and used that info to calculate the probability that I will go into labor for each day from now on; he updates it pretty much every day. According to those calculations, as of today the probability of going into labor rises above 50% on April 4th. Oh, the anticipation!
We had a big scare the last couple of days...we found some bugs in our bed (yuck) and elsewhere that we really thought were bedbugs. I was so distraught to think we would have to bring our newborn daughter home to an infested apartment! So then we called the exterminator and if you want to get rid of bedbugs, you basically have to clean your apartment out completely, emptying all the drawers and closets and doing all the laundry. We felt a task of that magnitude would be simply impossible, with John needing to spend as much time as possible on his dissertation now and me possibly going into labor at any time (not to mention, I can no longer cart laundry baskets back and forth to the laundry room). But then the exterminators looked at a specimen of the bug we gave them, and decided that they WEREN'T bed bugs! YAY! I never would have thought I'd be so happy to have beetles in my house, and apparently they don't bite humans and you can get rid of them with store-bought insect spray. This is a HUGE relief!
Meanwhile, I think everything is ready for the baby to get here. All her clothes are washed and ready for me to dress her up, we have all our other supplies (diapers, bottles, etc), and I've been keeping on top of the clutter and cleaning so that when I do go into labor, it won't be too messy when we get back. We even just did most of our laundry, so I don't have to worry about that for a while. My girlfriends are coming later this week, and assuming I'm still pregnant we're going shopping so I can get some nursing bras (my old bras totally don't fit anymore), some really comfy clothes to wear post-partum, and some durable sandals I can wear on walks with my new little girl.
People are starting to make real guesses now about BL's birthday. Annie said March 30th (also her birthday). Sara says April 1st (conveniently the last day she will be here visiting me). I say April 16th, by induction (since they don't let the babies stay in past 42 weeks). John, of course, found data on when women give birth in relation to their due dates and used that info to calculate the probability that I will go into labor for each day from now on; he updates it pretty much every day. According to those calculations, as of today the probability of going into labor rises above 50% on April 4th. Oh, the anticipation!
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