Still Here, Still Pregnant

Okay, so that wasn't exactly what I was hoping the title to my next post would be, but at my appointment today there were more signs of progress. I'm now 2-3 cm dilated, 80% effaced, and her head is in a much better position than it was on Friday. I saw the on call doctor today (Dr. W), and she went ahead and stripped my membranes again...if pain is any indicator she was much more thorough with that than Dr. C was last week. I've been having mild contractions about 10 minutes apart since about 2am, and immediately following the appointment they got much stronger. Dr. W said she thought I probably would not make it to my next appointment on Thursday.

What welcome news after a frustrating weekend of contractions that came and went. I've definitely been getting quite testy, as anybody who has called me for an update on whether or not I'd had the baby could attest!

So hopefully this really will be my last post before Jillian is born. My sister or hubby will be sure to update you guys!

Getting Anxious

I feel like I've been pretty patient so far, but after a week of being at home without a baby I'm starting to get pretty antsy. Today with the rain setting in outside, I was feeling rather depressed and claustrophobic and wondering if this baby would ever decide to arrive on her own. I have been feeling crampy for the past 24 hours, and then around noon I lost some of the mucous plug. This is probably TMI but I haven't been so excited over a vaginal discharge since first seeing egg-white cervical mucous after going off the pill. I immediately called Jeramy, who informed me that labor often starts within 1 to 3 days after losing the plug. Apparently he read that in a magazine. Let's just say that masculine-oriented reading material is severely lacking at the OB's office, and there is a whole lot of time to kill during those non-stress tests. So maybe we'll have a baby this weekend. I'd cross my fingers if they weren't so swollen.

Earlier in the day, I spent some time looking at old baby photos of Jeramy and myself and getting excited over who Jillian might look like. Here are some of the photos of each of us to serve as reference for after she arrives (they really scream the late 70's don't they!).

Me at 1/2 hour old...nice conehead, huh?

Me at 10 months old and still a bit of a baldy

Jeramy as a little baby. I think we look kind of similar, except his head is much nicer shaped (he was a c-section baby)

Jeramy a little bit older. He had some seriously gorgeous, thick locks.

Not Much Progress

Today brought the second doctor appointment of the week. Everything is looking good. BP is fine. Amniotic fluid levels are fine. The heartbeat is fine. Unfortunately there wasn't much for progress towards actually delivering this little girl. No contractions. Still dilated at 1cm. Dr. C did say my cervix seemed softer and that Jillian moved into a better position. She stripped my membranes so we'll see if that helps at all. If the baby hasn't arrived by next Thursday's appointment, then she'll schedule an induction.

Oh and we got the u/s tech to measure the head size, which has been a tremendous source of nervousness for me given the size of Jeramy's. Luckily she proclaimed it to be completely average. Phew!

We're getting anxious for Jillian to arrive, although I'm trying to remain patient. Jeramy is especially antsy. He keeps tapping my belly and instructing her to come out. Unfortunately it seems like she's like her mom...stubborn and running late!

I did get some u/s pictures, but it is difficult to make much out at this stage of the game. You can kind of make out a ghostly image of her face in this picture. Do you think she looks like Jeramy or me? (Either answer would probably be correct given that we look an awful lot alike).

Because I know she'll be here by Halloween...

I made this hat for Jillian. I still have to weave in the ends, but I've got 31 more days.

40 Weeks

Today marks 40 weeks. Jillian's due date. And despite what my ticker says there are 0 days to go. My doctor's appointment today went well. It seems that Miss Jillian is quite cozy in my ute with plenty of amniotic fluid, a healthy heart rate and no signs of stress. The other good news is that I'm starting to make some progress as I'm 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. This doesn't necessary tell me that much about when I'll go into labor...maybe next week, maybe this week, maybe tomorrow. But it is nice to hear that my body is actually preparing for this momentous event. My next appointment with another u/s and NST is Thursday morning, so we'll see what that brings.

In the meantime, I'm just trying to relax and get the house a little cleaner bit by bit. Jeramy on the other hand has been quite anxious, and I'm pretty sure he wants this little girl out of me more than I do! Oh and here is the 40 week belly pic. I think this explains why my back (hell, my entire body) is so sore these days.

Slobberfest

We took Cujo to Slobberfest 2008 this afternoon. Just what the heck is Slobberfest, you ask? Well it is an annual meet-up of over 100 bulldogs in the Seattle area. Hence the word slobber, and there was plenty of that to be had with so many panting, grunting, and snorting bulldogs. There was a Bar-B-Que, vendor booths, and contests. Cujo even won a prize for being the tallest bulldog! Jeramy and I had a good time scoping out all of the bullies. Cujo had a good time convincing all the humans to pet him (he's more of a people dog) and peeing on everything in sight.

It was nice to take Cujo on an outing before Jillian arrives. He definitely knows that something is up. He frequently wanders into the nursery and just looks around trying to figure out what the crazy humans are doing. It will be a tough transition for him given that he's been our baby for nearly seven years now. He is a calm dog and good with babies and little kids, but those ones always went home. It will be interesting to see how he handles it when one moves in for good.

Speaking of dogs, a co-worker asked me if I would donate my placenta to train search and rescue dogs. It is a bit morbid, but apparently that is the best way for them to learn how to find cadavers. Of course I agreed as it is a good cause, and it wasn't as if I was planning on doing anything else with it. I'm also in an autoimmune disease study at my work (many autoimmune diseases go into remission in pregnant women), so I need to get them to draw my blood and take a sample of the cord blood. I'm sure the nursing staff is just going to love me and all my demands.

Anyhow, tomorrow is my due date and my first appointment for an u/s and NST. So maybe I'll know more tomorrow about whether I'll be making all these donations sooner rather than later.

Appointment Update

My 39 week appointment was this afternoon, and there has not been much change on the cervical front. It's still high and close, so we are still on track for that October baby. I find it fascinating that people keep saying "I'm sorry". I'm definitely anxious to meet Jillian, but at the same time I'm enjoying these last few quiet days around the house too. I am sure she'll be here soon enough...no later than October 13th to be sure. I am sore, swollen, and waddling, but I can certainly tolerate all of these things in the short term. Honestly, I'm more afraid about postpartum recovery, because what that is like remains an unknown to me, and I'll have a newborn to handle when dealing with that.

Speaking of the overdue prospect, I often spend some time on the WebMD pregnancy boards. Can I just ask what the deal is with all the gals being induced these days? I'm not talking about medical reasons for induction like pre-eclampsia or high blood pressure or going well past your due date, etc. I'm talking about inductions for convenience reasons. For example, I read about gals who are so uncomfortable at 38, 37 or even 36 weeks that they whine to their doctors for inductions...and sometimes doctors will do it! Or inducing because the doctor thinks the baby might be big when measurement technologies are not exactly precise. It's as if people don't realize that induction comes with risks like more difficult contractions and increased risk of c section. Also, while it might be convenient to have something planned, I feel like part of the anticipation of having a new baby is that you never know when labor will start, and I'd rather not be robbed of that excitement.

Okay, I'll step off my soap box now...

I forgot to mention in my last post that Jeramy gave me an unexpected gift...diamond earrings! When I was getting ready for Jessie's wedding on Saturday, Jeramy noticed I was wearing my hair back. When I asked if it looked okay, he commented that it would look better with earrings. Now I don't own a lot of jewelry, and I didn't really have any earrings (well pairs of earrings at least) that would go well with my dress. So when I said that, Jeramy pulled out a box with 1 carat diamond studs. I was so surprised! Of course I wore them, and I've hardly had them out since. He was going to wait to give them to me until we had the baby, but the wedding presented the perfect opportunity. Plus I'd rather not think of them as a "push present" which I'm firmly against (did you ever see that NY Times article with those demanding, selfish women?).