Well, we've made it to term! I am feeling pretty excellent today.
This most may be a little "tmi" for those that don't want to read about blood, mucous and the like, so this is your warning :)
This last week was hit or miss. Some days were good, some days were not so good. I do know that working full time is really, really getting hard. I think the stress from my job is making my blood pressure raise through the day causing contractions. There were some days this week where I felt as though that was it and had to be my last day of work. I called on Thursday as my body just couldn't take it anymore.
On Wednesday I was leaving work and had to go to the bathroom and when I was done, realized that I likely lost part of my plug. Thursday I spent the day home and felt pretty good in the evening after having relaxed all day. Friday my contractions came back and we had our appointment that afternoon.
Since I had been having a lot of cramping and contracting I asked whether or not they do cervical checks. At my last appointment they checked me after doing my strep B test and I was just about 1cm dilated and 0% effaced - still long and hard. So, she agreed to check me and boy was it pretty painful! She said that I was about 2cm dilated and about 60% effaced and very soft. After my exam she said that I had was having a bit of a bloody show and Morgan noticed the same on her glove. She couldn't tell whether or not the baby was head down (although she was pretty sure she could feel a head) so she wanted to do an ultrasound to be 150% sure that he hadn't flipped since my last appointment. I got pretty worried at that point and warned Morgan that if he had flipped, I was going to get emotional about it. But, we lucked out and he is still head down. She said that he is down in the pelvis and is at a -1 station at this point and 0 is fully engaged in the pelvis, so he is almost there. I asked to make sure that he was in there the right way so that we wouldn't have to worry about a sunny side up baby. She confirmed. She said that I may be in early labor and that we would see what happens over the next couple of days.
I was cramping pretty bad after the appointment. I was having some pretty intense contractions that were very regular at about every 3-4 minutes apart. I will be honest and say that I thought that was going to be my last meal before labor so I wanted to make it hearty! When we got to dinner I went into the bathroom and realized that I had bled through my pants. I was still having active and new bleeding as it was still red. I really did think that was it. I woke up in pain around 1am and then woke up again around 3:30 and had absolutely no cramping or pain and wondered what the heck!? False alarm.
I felt pretty alright yesterday. It was kind of off and on throughout the day. I was continuing to have some discharge, sometimes bloody, sometimes not, and assume it was likely more of my plug. I called the midwife to make sure this was ok and she said it was so I felt better going about my day. I didn't really have much for contractions yesterday, just very hit or miss, which is pretty uncommon for how I have been feeling over the last 4 weeks or so.
Today, I have been feeling really great. We went grocery shopping this morning, cleaned the house a bit, watched football (go Packers!), I organized the pantry (nesting much?) and we finished more of the nursery. Up until this evening I don't think I had more than a handful of contractions and very mild cramping if at all. I even felt mobile and wasn't feeling like I had been riding a horse for the last month. I was able to bend over and do what I needed to do. This evening I am starting to cramp a bit and having some very mild contractions (compared to what I am used to). I am still having some blood/discharge but it is pink and pretty minimal. Who knows, this may be the calm before the storm, or maybe I am on a good streak and will be making it to 42 weeks. I don't really know what to think at this point! Part of me feels like it will be this week, and part of me feels like I could very likely go to 42 weeks and end up being induced, although I really hope not.
We talked at our appointment whether or not we wanted to do the water birth. I decided that I want to keep it as an option so we will be putting our deposit down so that it is an option if we want one. It will all depend on how I am feeling when I get to the hospital and what I feel like I want and need at the moment. She said that she often has patients get into the bathtub to see if they even like the water and if so, suggests the birthing tub.
Morgan finished painting and priming the shelves for the nursery so he put those up today. At this point he just has to finish his art for the nursery and it will be close to complete. We don't have much for one of the shelves but are sure that it will be filled with pictures of him once he comes. I like how it is coming together.. it has been a long process. We added our expenses up and only ended up spending about $1000 on the nursery which includes the artwork, wall decor, bookshelf, crib, changing table, rocking chair, lighting, etc, which I think is excellent considering we pretty much started with nothing and I have expensive "modern" taste. Enjoy the sneak peek at the nursery.
I bought some raspberry leaf tea today and had my first cup of it. I will likely have another cup before bed. I do believe that if your body is not ready for labor then it doesn't really matter what you do to it (natural inducement, anyway), it's not going to make a difference. As I have mentioned, I really wanted a 01/11/11 birthday but am not really feeling like that's likely at this point with how I am feeling today.. but who knows, I could wake up in the middle of the night with my water breaking tonight or tomorrow night.
Well, I think that is about it. We'll see if I am still pregnant to make a 38 week preggo post. It could go either way!
See you next week.
xo, mommy to be.
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