Babywatch 2010
Do I need to remind anyone that this is the point in pregnancy where pretty much every post will contain TMI and if they don’t want to hear words like “mucus plug” they should stop reading? Did I not do enough to scare those people off with the first baby?
Ok then: IF YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT WHERE BABIES COME FROM, COME BACK AFTER JANUARY 1ST. Or never. Because once this baby is born you’re guaranteed about six months of constant boob talk followed by another six months of “OMG I cannot lose this baby weight” talk and then before you know it I’ll be knocked up AGAIN and thus begins the circle of mommy blogging again. *cue Elton John song*
I had my 38-ish week check-up at the OB this afternoon and it was pants-off, complete with one of the most uncomfortable cervical checks EVER including the kind you get when you’re not pregnant than involve things that look like torture devices. But it was fairly pointless as no signs point to imminent baby arrival (sorry early guessers in the baby pool!) so I’m waiting another week before I let them even talk to me about Things That Might Help Induce Labor.
Or at least that was my plan.
Unfortunately, my blood pressure was a little high (130/80-ish)(which is only borderline high for a normal person but extra high for someone like me whose numbers are usually closer to 90/60) and since I had all those issues with my kidneys, high blood pressure can be a Very Bad Thing and unexplained high blood pressure might be any number of things that could potentially lead to more problems. So my midwife sent me down to the lab for bloodwork and orders to come back tomorrow for another blood pressure check at which point we may begin talking about Things That Might Help Induce Labor or even DO one of the Things That Might Help Induce Labor*. Which suddenly makes this “I’m having a second baby” thing WAY WAY too real. Definitely not good for my blood pressure.
In the meantime, I’m going to do a little happy dance over the SEVEN POUNDS I’ve lost since my last check-up (almost certainly just water weight due to the IV fluids I was full of thanks to hospitalization but still pretty good – losing a few pounds is often a sign labor is imminent)(Also, I am 11 lbs lighter than my 39 week pregnant weight with Baby Evan which means 11 lbs less to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancies weight). I think I’ll also try to make it to Stroller Strides tomorrow, since walking and/or stair climbing might be just what my body needs to get things moving and I would MUCH prefer to let this baby come on her own than start down the road to induction.
But like my midwife said, the full moon is on the 23rd 21st anyways. That’s ONE WEEK until I’m pretty much guaranteed a baby.
*My midwife actually offered to strip my membranes today but a) I wasn’t dilated enough for her to do it b) I wasn’t sure I WANTED her to do it and c) my mom doesn’t come back until Saturday so I CAN’T go into labor until then. Does anyone have experience with membrane stripping working/not working? Google assures me it’s harmless unless labor is already close but sometimes I’m not so sure Google is the most reliable medical source. WHY EVER WOULD I THINK THAT?!
Tags: baby 2, baby girl, baby sandy, babywatch 2010, hospital, labor, OB
Dr. Google is correct. It won’t affect anything unless you are ready to go, but can provide the extra motivation to get things moving. I’m rooting for the 19th, so go baby go! Good luck.:)
I my membranes stripped twice and it did nothing. I was in your exact shoes with the BP bordlerline high for an average person, extremely high for me. I ended up getting induced at 39 weeks and it was a great delivery. I also walked a couple of miles a day for the last 2 weeks. Good luck :)
Whoa, nelly. 90/60? Is that enough for a person to live? Why is it so low? I mean obviously that’s healthy, but dang, girl. I’m impressed. I was happy last year when I got checked at the doctor (had sinus infection) and it was 120/82 or something.
Good luck inducing yourself. And if it comes to the point where they have to induce you, fingers crossed that all goes well and you get the delivery you want. I bet you will. But I have a feeling no way is Caroline going to wait until the 26th or even Christmas Eve. How exciting that you’re so close to another little tax deduction of joy! Ahh, I mean bundle. Of course.
I predicted the 22nd for your birth so I’m gonna say, full moon starts labor, little Caroline makes her debut sometime after midnight. Good luck mama!
I’m excited for Baby Girl’s babywatch! Evan’s was my first bloggy babywatch. Go baby! Go mama! Yay birthing!
Dude, babies coming out of vaginas is one of my favorite blog subjects. It’s super interesting to me. I find it so odd that NO ONE, not even medical scientific geniuses can figure out what actually gets labor started.
A woman can try to start up labor til she’s blue in the face but it’s just nature. One of life’s great mysteries.
I have NO idea why my labor started at 38 weeks, 2 days. I hadn’t done anything differently. I was at 3 cm but I was at 4 cm for two weeks with my first and I still had to have my water broken to get things moving. Hmmmm.
I still say the 19th. Even though I might be wrong I’m standing firm.
No No Not yet!
For no selfish reason am I still rooting for caroline to come on the 27th. (My birthday) cough.cough….
Love ya and good luck
I only know one person who had the membranes stripped and 1) it hurt a lot, and 2) she had the baby the next day. If it were me, I wouldn’t do A THING until my mom was here!
I had my membranes stripped around 37 weeks and my baby didn’t come for another 2 weeks. So although it was painful, it didn’t speed things up for me!
My OB stripped mine twice (well, she tried a second time but I think she’d pretty well stripped it the first time) and, as you know, no behbeh came of it. Just a little bleeding, which is normal. It was uncomfortable but not horribly so. For me. I’ve read BBC posts where girls swear it should be included in forbidden torture tactics in the Geneva Convention. :D
Now I’m starting to wonder if THAT is why my cervical check was so uncomfortable – she was trying to see if she could strip my membranes even after she said she couldn’t because things weren’t open enough & I was uncertain about the procedure. I’ve had a little spotting this afternoon too. Although she is my favorite midwife so I hate to think she’d be so…dishonest about it. And she specifically said “you probably think that’s what I was doing but I wasn’t” afterward.
So excited for your little girl! I had my membranes stripped at 39 weeks and went into labor a few hours later. I was about 3cm at the time. Hope you have a baby soon.
its almost baby time!! i had my membranes stripped 2 twice. one at 38 weeks and one at almost 40, and no…that didnt help a bit. just agitated my already contracting ute and made me bleed a lot. Ev was born at 40w4d.
cant wait to see her!!
Oh! So exciting! I didn’t have my membranes stripped as I unexpectedly went into labor at 36 weeks 5 days. At the OB appointment I had 4 days earlier I was a fingertip dilated; so you never know what is going to happen. AND it was a full moon the weekend she was born…YAY! Christmas baby!! Can’t wait!
I’m pretty sure my OB stripped my membranes without telling me, even though i specifically had it in my birth plan that i did not want it done without consultation.
when he checked my cervix it was much more uncomfortable than usual (i had been checked pretty much every other day for a while), it took longer than usual, and i had spotting afterwards. the nurse at the hospital later told me that he has a habit of doing that. i think that was the last check before i went into labor though…but i was already a few days late, so i don’t really know if it helped or was a coincidence.
isnt’ high blood pressure pretty normal in late pregnancy? mine was high the last two months, and i ended up on bed rest the lat month.