39 Weeks and Counting

So another doctors visit and another disappointing report. There are still no significant changes in my cervix which means we are still playing the waiting game. It is not looking like he will be coming out anytime soon, but we can always hope. I go back next Wednesday for another check (thats 2 days past my due date). The absolute latest he will come is October 16 (she will induce me on or before then if he doesn't come on his own). So it will go like this (assuming I don't go into labor on my own): get checked on Wednesday (Oct. 3). If no changes, then I will get checked on Monday Oct. 8 and have a non-stress test done to make sure the baby isn't in distress. If all looks good, then I will come back on Thursday Oct. 11 for another check and another non-stress test. If all looks good, then we induce on Monday or Tuesday Oct. 15 or 16. If my cervix begins to dilate at all on its own before that time, then we will most likely schedule an induction. So that means that if I go in on Wednesday next week and I am a centimeter dilated she will induce me the next day (most likely). Lets all hope for that....

I am so ready to be done being pregnant. I have really enjoyed it for the most part, but now it is just annoying. Everyone told me I would reach a point when I felt like I was done and I didn't think I would, but I have. I am swollen all over and can't feel my hands for most of the day. I can't sleep at night. I pee all the time. I can't concentrate. I can't breathe. I get heartburn all the time. He doesn't really move anymore which was fun for me. I can't bend over. And I can never get comfortable. I am ready to start getting my normal body back, but even more than that, I am ready to meet my son! I want to hold him and hug him and kiss him. I want to see what he looks like and hear what he sounds like and see what his personality is like. Will he look like me or like Jason? I am ready to watch how amazing of a dad Jason is going to be. I am tired of waiting for him! I want him here! I am ready to start giving him all of my love. My journey has been so long, and yet it is just beginning...

Another Doctor's Visit

Well I saw the doctor again yesterday and there have been some changes. The first and most exciting (to me) is that I am now 50% effaced (that means my cervix is starting to thin out). Although being effaced isn't anything to get excited about, at least SOMETHING is happening. My cervix is still closed and very high - if one of those two things change, then we can get excited.

I have to go back on Friday because my doctor is becoming concerned about pre-eclampsia. (It is the most common, dangerous complication of pregnancy and it may affect both the mother and the fetus.) My swelling is pretty bad and has now started to affect my face and my hands are constantly numb from entrapment of the nerves. The second concerning sign of pre-eclampsia is that my blood pressure has slowly started to creep up. It has been around 100/60 my whole pregnancy and yesterday it was 140/80. Although 140/80 is still in the normal range, since it is high for me my doctor is a little worried. I will go in on Friday and get my blood pressure checked again. If it is any higher than what it was yesterday we will probably begin discussing inducing labor to avoid developing full blown pre-eclampsia. (The only cure for pre-eclampsia is to have the baby.) I am going to have a friend at school take my blood pressure again today just to see what it is. I will update Friday after I see the doctor.

Well..

I went to the doctor again today. No changes - cervix is still as hard as a rock which for those of you who don't know, means I am nowhere close to going into active labor. He's full term and things could change at anytime, but I haven't been having any "practice" contractions or feelings like he is moving down into the birth canal. Hopefully he will change his mind and decide he is ready to come out soon. I am so ready...

Doctor Appointment

Well I went to doctor yesterday and she did my first vaginal exam. She said that my cervix has not changed at all - it is still as hard as a rock and that she would not expect the baby to come anytime before his due date. I was a little disappointed, but hey what can you do right? I go back in a week and get another exam so maybe I will get lucky and something will change before then. I doubt it. I am giving up on him arriving before or on October 1st. This will be interesting...