Yesterday Ben and I traipsed into the city for the latest set of appointments. The NST (non-stress test, where they monitor baby's movements and heartbeat) went beautifully. Lots of movement and peaks over a solid baseline, with baby kicking at the monitor.
Next over to the doctor's office where we discovered some exciting news. Those contractions last weekend paid off, and the doc says that more important than my 2 centimeters dilation is a 75% effacement of the cervix! How cool is that! (Dilation is the cervix opening, which needs to reach 10 cm to get baby thru, while effacement refers to the cervix thinning, and can take a lot of work to acheive. You can Google "effacement" if you want to see more of a description. Effacement and dilation work together on the cervix, thinning and retracting until you get a lip of cervix they call the "ring of fire.") The baby has also dropped much further.
Dr. Arof kept saying how really pleased he was with the effacement, and seemed actually excited about it. Which was neat to see. He had a kind of happy buzz of energy about him. I really hope we get him for delivery, but we might get an associate on call because he's on vacation next week thru up to my due date, and he really thinks I could go anytime now. He said he wouldn't be surprised if the next time I see him I have a baby in my arms.
Can you imagine? A baby in my arms!
My cervix and uterus are sore, and my pelvis feels like a loose bag of rattling, sliding bones. I am all full of baby, and I am getting kicked in the ribs. She stretches and wriggles against her tight quarters. I always have to pee, and sleep raised up on pillows to prevent heartburn. I'm terribly, terribly fatigued, and constantly want to just sit down. I'm trying to enjoy Tyler and, as my Grandma would say, "give him sugar" as much as I can now while it's just us. These are precious few days.
A baby in my arms!
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