Belated 38 Week Appt

I am a little late writing this update as I am about to go for my 39 week appt tomorrow. But as anyone can guess, I am still pregnant. I am very excited about having this baby and even labor at this point. As my Aunt said to me the other night, no one would want to go through labor if pregnancy was easy and comfortable. I think the end of pregnancy becomes so uncomfortable just so everyone is looking forward to the pain of labor. But I only have 2 more days of work after today and I can't wait. I am so tired during the day and unmotivated to work that everyday is grueling. I am still getting my work done, but everything seems a little harder these days. I am glad I made the decision to work up until my due date (or a couple days shy) as I know I will appreciate all the time I get with my little guy once he gets here. And if I go passed my due date as most first time moms do, I know I will be anxious and trying to keep busy while sitting at home. I don't think I would survive more than a week of nothing to do but wait.

So my 38 week appt went well. Before I went in I was expecting a lot of progress as I had been having a lot of contractions in the evenings and had lost some of my mucus plug. I was hoping that I was only a few short days away from labor. At the appt my blood pressure was good, baby's heart rate was good and he was measuring on time. So far the doctor's estimate is around 8lbs, but there really is no sure-fire way to tell how big (or small) a baby will be. When she did the internal check I was 70% effaced and a finger tip dilated. So there was progress in the right direction, but not as much as I had hoped. I know the progress at each appt does not really tell you how soon you will go into labor, but my hopes were up anyways.

So far this week I have contractions every evening and sporadically throughout the day. Those are also accompanied by pelvic pressure and cramping in my uterus. At this point I just expect them to lead no where so I try not to pay attention. I have my 39 week appt tomorrow and we will see if anything has changed. I really want to go into labor on my own and not be induced, so hopefully this baby will cooperate and get things started soon. We are now less than a week away from my due date - so anytime now!

36.5 week and 37 week Appt

I need to catch up on the last couple of appointments that we have had. We had the 36 week appt on Friday 1/30 so I was a few days past 36 weeks. All looked good with the baby, heart rate was great, blood pressure was great and he was measuring fine. I also had the chance to have my first cervix check and they did the group B strep test. I was really looking forward to the cervix check to see if there was any progress (even though I know it does not mean much as to when labor will start). I thought the baby had 'dropped' as I no longer had heart burn and he had been sitting a lot lower. When the doctor did the check we found out that his head was still high and my cervix was long and closed - no sign of anything. I was definitely disappointed although I know 36 weeks is still too early for a baby to come, I was anxious for everything to get under way.

Our next appt was the following Tuesday 2/3 at exactly 37 weeks. The night before the appt I woke up suddenly and had to puke. It was so out of the blue. I was up half the night because I was afraid to fall back asleep in case I suddenly had to throw up again. I ended up staying home from work due to the combination of not sleeping and not feeling well. Andrew and I still made it to the appt and everything looked great again, great heart rate for the baby, good blood pressure for me and he was measuring right on target. When it came time to see what the cervix was doing I figured it would be the same as last time since it had only been 4 days. I was surprised again, his head was starting to engage and was low, I was 50-60% effaced and starting to dilate. I had been having more Braxton hicks contractions so I guess they were actually doing something.

In a couple of days I will be 38 weeks and I am more anxious than ever for the baby to get here. I am definitely tired of work and need a break. My motivation is so hard to keep up while I am there and my focus is lost. I am also so uncomfortable at night; I don't fit into most of my maternity clothes anymore as my belly is starting to hang out the bottom. I am having more and more contractions throughout the day and at night, and I just don't feel right, totally out of it sometimes. I know that I probably have 2-3 more weeks of pregnancy, but sometimes it is hard not to get your hopes up that my babies birthday could be any day now.