38 Weeks

Well, I was planning to post this 5 days ago since now I am 2 days shy of 39 weeks, but a lot has happened since then. I'll start off by saying its a good thing I had Josh take this photo in the morning before work, because otherwise we probably would never have taken it.

On Thursday we had our 38 week appointment, as well as an ultrasound (due to the fact that I was measuring MUCH smaller than before). The ultrasound went well, we got to see all of her GINORMOUS body parts (so much for her being small...) and found out that she should be weighing approximately 6 pounds right now. Not shabby for our girl at 38 weeks, especially since the doctor predicted 7 pounds at full term. Granted, ultrasounds can be off, and as we were told later they have a 15-20% margin of error. Now its anybody's guess on how big (or small) she really will be. After that ultrasound we left feeling good and assumed we would have the doctor say "all is well" and send us off. Ha. Ha. Ha.

The beginning of our appointment went as usual, but I definitely started squirming off the exam table when I saw the nurse come back with an armload full of equipment. I was told how the "checks" would go from coworkers and friends and I didn't remember them saying they would need a bunch of instruments to tell me if I was dilated. Turns out they thought my water had already broken (which by the way it hadn't). So the check was disappointing for us all, I hadn't dilated or effaced. BOO. That was the least of my worries. My doctor then tells us quite simply that the amniotic fluid was quite low and we needed to head to the hospital immediately. If you have Josh tell the story, he will proceed to mention that I turned into a robot saying, "MALFUNCTION. MALFUNCTION." Honestly, he is right. My face turned white. This was not what was supposed to happen. Our doctor then explained that we needed to go to the hospital for monitoring and I would need to have an IV in me all night in order to see if we could raise the fluid levels. She also dropped the bomb that if it didn't work then we would be induced (which was no good since my body wasn't doing its job yet). So, off to the hospital we went.

I truly think that hospital stay was God's way of preparing us...okay preparing me. Yes, I have had 9 full months to prepare, but the idea of birthing a baby still frightens me to the core. The hospital stay actually went quite well. It was weird to be there and not be in pain though. The nurses kept asking me if my contractions were painful or if I needed anything, and I almost felt like I needed to start screaming and writhing around in order to feel like I was normal. We had an ultrasound immediately when we got there for them to monitor her. I was hooked up to my IV quite immediately upon arrival. Let me tell you, the pain from the IV is still there. I have had IV's before and it didn't even faze me, but having one in my WRIST BONE was absolutely excruciating. My arm is still sensitive to touch. Thanks nurse, thanks a lot. Okay enough ranting. Basically by the end of the stay my fluid levels were unchanged (despite the hours and hours of IV drip and water drinking), but they didn't feel like it was unsafe enough to induce so I was sent home on bed rest. Which is where I am now.

Oh, wait. There was one thing I absolutely despised about the hospital stay.  Lets just say it is a good thing I'll be distracted by a baby when I am in the hospital for an even longer period of time, because all I wanted was my puppy. Look at that sweet face...

Okay, back to business. We had another ultrasound (that makes seven this pregnancy) yesterday and fluid levels were unchanged and our baby girl was moving all over and even was doing her practice breathing. I had dilated to ONE centimeter and was 50% effaced. I may or may not have done a happy dance because this means we should have a better success rate at our induction. We also did a non-stress test and baby girl did her thing, kicking and rolling as always. So now we are scheduled for another ultrasound tomorrow and then an appointment with our doctor Thursday to decide on our game plan. So much for an uneventful end to the pregnancy. Either way our bags are perfectly packed (that hospital stay really taught us a thing or two) and now we just wait for the word to head to the hospital. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this time. We can't wait to meet our baby girl...and then show her off to all of you! :)