April 26 2013 (April 2013)

April 2013:

40 weeks. Dang. I was really hoping that I wouldn't actually get to 40 weeks... At my 40-week appointment, my doctor and I came to the decision that we would try to strip my membranes, which sounds a lot more painful than it actually is. It was more uncomfortable than anything. My doctor let me know that 50% of women will go into labor within the first three days afterward. The rest of the day after having that happen, I had stronger contractions than I had ever had before, but they weren't getting progressively stronger or anything, so it wasn't time for his arrival.

Because his arrival didn't happen that week, I had to schedule an ultrasound to check him out (a BPP). The purpose of this ultrasound was to make sure that everything with my little one was going well. They checked out his heart, lungs, umbilical cord, placenta, etc. Everything looked good! Phew. No reason for an emergency induction or C-section.

Once again, we tried stripping my membranes. I really wanted to try to have my baby as naturally as possible. As had happened before, I got stronger contractions afterward, but nothing progressive. It sucked. We were so ready for his arrival, but baby had a mind of his own. He was making it clearer and clearer that no matter how prepared you were, you can never plan the arrival of a baby... Sorta.

Because of everything that had happened so far, my doctor and I decided that it would be a good idea to schedule an induction. Even if it turned out that I didn't need it, we wanted it on the books just in case. We scheduled it for when I would be exactly 41 weeks.

Then came the waiting game.. Would he be here before my induction?

With love,
Kjerstin L.

April 26 2013 (March 2013)

March 2013:

32 & 36 weeks. My measurements for how big my belly is and my weight are all good! My doc even made a comment about how she is happy with my weight gain, but that she would have been okay if I had even gained double :D

This month has been filled with lots of random stuff going on... I did maternity pictures, and the lady that did them is absolutely fantastic so I know that the pictures are going to be amazing!

My LO has been moving like crazy. You can literally watch my abdomen and see him flipping and turning. Sometimes he'll even push out with his elbow or knee (not really sure what body party it is) and you can see it! Its so crazy yet cool to watch. He gets hiccups too.. When he gets them, my whole abdomen jumps each time he hiccups :D

I have been having contractions A LOT. Mid-March was when they started happening quite a bit more than the sporadic ones here and there. They were happening pretty consistently every ten minutes one night so I called the OBGYN to see what he had to say (the on-call OBGYN always happens to be the male doctor at my hospital lol). He said that as long as they weren't getting more intense to just relax and try to get some sleep. He also added that when I am more active during the day, that can lead to more contractions when I finally do start to relax.

My mom and I's convo...

Mom: "Lets hope the contractions are actually doing something."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Mom: "Lets hope that when you go see your doctor that you're actually dialated or something..."

Me: "Mom, I really don't want to get my hopes up."

Lol. Turns out that at my 36 week check-up, I was dialated to almost 2 cm! So the contractions were actually doing something lol Also, at my check-up, my doc said that he is head-down, which is always good! Lets just hope that he stays that way.



Just for those of you that don't know much about dialating and such, a mama-to-be can sit at 2 cm for WEEKS. It doesn't necessarily mean that I am going to go into labor anytime soon, it just means that my body is preparing for when the time comes.



Fetal Development at 36 weeks



Also, they say that if you have contractions and dialation (like what I have), there is a chance of a shorter labor because your body will be ready to go the day that you do go into labor. One lady even said that her labor was only 2 hours long! How awesome would that be? ... BUT like I said before, I don't want to get my hopes up. I would much rather arrive at the hospital thinking that I am going to have a terrible labor that lasts 24+ hours! If you go in prepared for the worst, it typically makes everything seem not as bad lol

Once again, my contractions became consistent. They started around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, but we didn't start counting until 3:30. From that point until we stopped counting two hours later, I was getting a contraction every 4-5 minutes and the contraction itself was going on from anywhere to 30 seconds to a minute. All of us started getting nervous the longer these contrations went on, so we got everything together and ready to go just in case I needed to go to the hospital... AND, once again, I found myself calling the OB, and like he said last time, if they weren't getting more intense then it probably wasn't active labor. That night I had a couple of more intense ones, but nothing that I couldn't sleep through. My doc told me that if you could sleep through them then you aren't in active labor yet.

And you know what? I'm okay with that! This little guy is still considered premature until I hit 37 weeks (which will be the beginning of April), so I would much rather keep this 'bun in the oven' for a while longer than have him come to early :)

Appointments from 36 weeks on are every week! So if I thought I was going to get to know my OBGYN and nurse better because of having appointments every 2 weeks, now I am definitely going to get to know them!

More to come....

With love,

Kjerstin L.