This is it! I have to make this very quick because I only have an hour before heading out but this will be my last post before having this baby!!! I'm heading to the hospital to start the induction process. I'm so nervous and excited and overwhelmed, etc! My fluid level was low and even though my cervix isn't really "ripe" yet, they felt it was time to move this along. I'm definitely concerned that this will end in a C-section as a result but in the end as long as I have a healthy baby, that's all that matters to me. Wish me luck!!!!
2008-08-09 (40 weeks)
Mission 08/08/08 Failed Well I did everything in my power to hit my date of 08/08/08 but nothing worked for me. I've continued walking almost daily, drove 45 minutes for eggplant parm and have had two acupuncture appointments this week but to no avail. I'll admit I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself right now. I really didn't think I'd make it to my due date and still be pregnant. Or I guess I should say I hoped I wouldn't make it this far. My biggest gripe about this baby's unwillingness to arrive is the fact that it's cutting into my maternity leave time with her. When I was given the extended maternity leave, I wasn't given a certain number of extra weeks. I have until the end of the year so every day that she doesn't arrive is one less day I get to spend with her before going back to work.
I had my weekly OB appointment on Thursday and there was a little progress but nothing really impressive. She was able to open things up a little with some effort on her part. So I'm at 1 cm and 25% effaced, not exactly earth shattering figures. The first thing she said when she started the internal exam was, "oh, this baby is so happy in here." *Sigh* So I'm scheduled to go back in on Wednesday if things haven't progressed. They'll do an ultrasound and non-stress test to see how the baby is doing and then make a decision on how to proceed. Hopefully it won't come to that and things will move forward before then but I'm not feeling very optimistic these days.
A few people have asked for a 40 week photo so perhaps when Jake gets back later I'll have him take one last picture before the big arrival. I assure you that this will be the last one...even if I do go two more weeks.
2008-08-02 (39 weeks)
Down to single digits I can't believe I'm due to have this baby one week from today! I'm starting to lose hope that I will deliver no later than the 9th but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. Now that it's less than a week away, I'm hoping to hit the 8/8/08 date that I have been talking about since I knew my original due date. I can wait a week if it means a very cool date like that.
I had my weekly OB appt on Thursday and there was little to report. She said my cervix is very soft and thinning but because there was no dilation, she couldn't really get in there to give me any kind of an effacement number. I know this isn't a true indication of when the birth will happen but it still would have been nice to leave with more to report. The good news that came out of the appointment was she wrote me a note to have me start working from home. So I did that on Friday which was a nice treat. I plan to go in on Monday and Tuesday to wrap everything up, get my things and say good-bye to everyone and then I'll work from home until Baby Girl decides she's ready to make her appearance. I'm hoping I won't need to do that for more than a week.
I've been keeping myself active in hopes that this might speed things along. It's been eight days in a row that I've gone on my 45 minute/3 mile walk and i'm hoping to continue that up until the end. Other items on the agenda that will hopefully improve my chances for an imminent delivery are daily doses of red raspberry leaf tea, an acupuncture appointment on Wed and eggplant parmesan on Thursday. Laugh all you want but there's an urban myth about this restaurant in Lexington that supposedly puts women into labor if they go in there around their due date and have the eggplant parm. So other than a few bucks in gas money, I figure I have nothing to lose and will definitely give it a whirl. Ok, signing off for now...please send any and all labor vibes my way!
2008-07-27 (38 weeks)
13 days and counting So I'm definitely in the home stretch now with less than two weeks to go until my due date. The good news is I will have this baby in just under a month no matter what. The bad news is I could be waiting almost a month until she arrives. A month still feels like a really long time. I'm still trying to be optimistic and I'm hoping for the best (translation: two weeks at most). I had my weekly OB appointment on Thursday and there actually was a bit of progress from the previous week. Not to get into too many gorey details but the feedback was that my cervix is now soft and thinning but not dilating yet. So things are at least moving in the right direction. I did ask her how long she lets people go since I wasn't sure if it would definitely be 42 weeks. She said that if I pass my due date, they'll bring me in for an ultrasound and a non-stress test the following week to see how Baby Girl is doing. If all is well, then they'll continue to let me go a little longer since it's always best to let these things occur on their own. As much as I want this over and for her to enter the world, I would prefer for it to happen without being induced as well. So I continue to wait.
On the work front, my "understudy" or temporary replacement started about a week and a half ago so it's nice to be wrapping things up there. She seems to be a deer in headlights most of the time which is a common reaction from new employees to Hasbro. The department moves at lightning speed and my manager talks faster than the man in the old Fedex commercials so you really are thrown into the fire there, to put it mildly. If I make it through at least this week I think she'll be in pretty good shape when I go. I'd like to have my last day in the office be a week from this coming Friday if I make it that far. From there on out, I'm planning on working from home if it's ok with my manager. The discomfort of the commute coupled with my paralzying fear of having my water break in a meeting full of my colleagues is making this a priority request so hopefully that will work out.
Well I know these posts are pretty uneventful these days as I just wait for the next big step. I'll be hoping that my body will kick things into gear very soon. Stay tuned...
I'm so nervous and excited and overwhelmed, etc! My fluid level was low and even though my cervix isn't really "ripe" yet, they felt it was time to move this along. I'm definitely concerned that this will end in a C-section as a result but in the end as long as I have a healthy baby, that's all that matters to me. Wish me luck!!!!
I really didn't think I'd make it to my due date and still be pregnant. Or I guess I should say I hoped I wouldn't make it this far. My biggest gripe about this baby's unwillingness to arrive is the fact that it's cutting into my maternity leave time with her. When I was given the extended maternity leave, I wasn't given a certain number of extra weeks. I have until the end of the year so every day that she doesn't arrive is one less day I get to spend with her before going back to work. 
So I'm scheduled to go back in on Wednesday if things haven't progressed. They'll do an ultrasound and non-stress test to see how the baby is doing and then make a decision on how to proceed. Hopefully it won't come to that and things will move forward before then but I'm not feeling very optimistic these days. 
So I did that on Friday which was a nice treat. I plan to go in on Monday and Tuesday to wrap everything up, get my things and say good-bye to everyone and then I'll work from home until Baby Girl decides she's ready to make her appearance. I'm hoping I won't need to do that for more than a week.