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Week 41
~ Getting Closer!
I'm actually getting a journal entry in early! I usually write toward the end of the week, but with time running out I decided to write my forty-one week entry today at forty-one weeks.
I went in for another NST at 2pm and was prepared to head to the hospital for prostaglandin gel if the test showed lower fluid levels or a baby in distress. I had read up even more on oligohydramnios (low fluid levels) and I found one study that showed that drinking 2 liters of water in the 2 hours before a test can raise a low level if the low level wasn't due to a real problem. I did drink a ton over the course of the day before that last test, but probably not a full 2 liters in the 2 hours before.
Well the test was great! My fluid level index went from a three to a nine! I had three large pockets of fluid that were very obvious without her having to search at all. Each one of these looked to be three times larger than the one teeny one we saw on Tuesday. The baby still looks great as well so we again skipped the NST. She then checked my cervix. I had told her I thought things had changed and indeed they had! I am now at -2 or -3 station (Tuesday the baby wasn't even at -4) and my cervix is thinner (forgot to ask what percentage effaced) and it is a full two centimeters dilated now. I also know from putting the EPO in that this morning my cervix is no longer posterior! She did a real good slow membrane stripping (she didn't do that Tuesday because she couldn't reach my cervix well). I had contractions from around 9pm last night until about 10:30 or 11 this morning. They were 3-5 minutes apart from 9pm to 11pm when I went to bed and some were strong enough to actually wake me during the night. When I told her this she decided to schedule me for 3pm tomorrow at the hospital for some prostaglandin gel instead of sending me in today. She wants to give me more of a chance to go into labor on my own and really thinks it will happen tonight! The scheduling for tomorrow was completely up to me, but she really won't let me go past the middle of next week and I think I'd rather have a gentle gel application than resort to pitocin in a few more days if nothing happens. I, too, really feel they are going to start back up tonight, don't know why, but I have a strong feeling I'll be in labor before that appointment tomorrow. It's now 11pm and I have been having irregular contractions since around 7pm, but some have been quite strong.
After the appointment I immediately used the restroom and got quite scared! I had three clots of blood on the paper about the size of large gum balls! And lots of deep red blood! No mucus at all. I got out and the doc was already with another patient, but the nurse assured me this was ok and due to a really good membrane stripping. I've had quite a bit of cramping and a few contractions since, but nothing consistent. I have continued to have a "bloody show" all evening though. The blood is now mixed in well with mucus.
I really can't say enough about my OB right now. She was incredibly relieved after the fluid level was so good. She was almost as giddy as I was! (She guessed I was just a little dehydrated from the cold combined with the baby curled around a pocket in a place she couldn't get at). I really hope our feelings that I will go into spontaneous labor are right, especially since my OB will be out of town for part of the day on Saturday and Sunday. I have never met her partner, but she assures me that she is along the same lines with her in birthing philosophy and assured me my birth plan would still be followed! I'm again feeling wonderful about my OB and am again very excited about this birth. I have a good feeling that it will happen soon and I will have a baby in my arms by Sunday night at the latest. As much as I want to have the baby sooner there is a part of me that hopes the baby holds out until Sunday as that is my birthday. My mother labored all day and birthed me at 11:35pm on Sunday, September 2, 1973. It would be like history repeating itself. Especially if this is a little girl!
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