39 week appointment

We have made forward progress toward getting this baby out into the real world. I am 1.5cm dilated (cervix opened), and about 75% effaced (cervix thinning). At this morning's appointment I'd actually lost a bit of weight (um, no complaints here) which is common toward the end of a pregnancy as women tend to carry less amniotic fluid since there's more baby in there. Her head is low in my pelvis (the doctor could feel her head when checking my cervix this morning), which is a good sign. She didn't mention the station she was at to us however.

The doctor offered to "strip the membranes" & I happily obliged. While it isn't the most comfortable thing in the world, it can stimulate labor IF (and it's a big if) your body is essentially ready to go into labor. If my body isn't ready, well it won't do a thing! We'll know if it helped to egg this thing on in 24 hours or so, and if not...well, we'll just be hanging tight until our next appointment in a week. I actually have 2 appointments scheduled for next week. The first is on Tuesday & the next is on Friday. Both appointments will consist of an NST (non stress test) for the baby where they just monitor her to make sure she's moving, and an ultrasound to check on her & my amniotic fluid levels. If any of the above indicates a problem they'd likely induce sooner than later. This is all of course assuming I don't go into labor on my own.

So that's all from our end...we're in a hurry up & wait mode here. We'll post any updates (should there be any) on the blog, so until then I'll go back to my incubator mode...