37 Week Dr Appt - 36w 5d

From The Belly Diaries, Wed, July 28, 2010
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I had my 37 week Prenatal Dr Appointment this morning.

This time, Will and Preston came with me. This was the first time Will had met my new doctor.

I had a pelvic exam today to see if anything was happening down there yet. These kind of exams are always both uncomfortable and invasive, but they are great because they help me to mentally know where I'm at.

Well she did mention that the baby's head was way down there, which is good.

He's at a -2 station and engaged in the pelvis - which would totally explain all my pelvic pressure, numb nerves, hard time walking, and waddling.

In fact, her exact reaction was "Whoa, his head is REALLY down there!". LOL

Okay I didn't know what -2 meant either so I had to ask. She said at this point they want me to be at a -2. Usually when you come into the hospital in labor you're at a 0, and when you're in labor you are at a +2 or +3.

She said because his head is down there so far, that he's been doing a good job of "thinning me out". I am 80% effaced, which is a good thing (you have to be 100% effaced for labor).

However, my cervix is still very high. It was pretty painful for her to check it. The cervix needs to be low in order to go into labor.I know it is still early so I'm not worried yet, but my cervix was part of the problem with Preston's birth. It stayed up and behind his head (which is where it's at right now). He was never able to drop, and he was also crooked, stuck, and shoulder first. At least this time, the baby is dropped really low and engaged in my pelvis. So that is a step in the right direction at least.

I'll go back again once a week until my due date to get checked - with the hope that each week more progress will have been made.

Again, I have until Aug 19th to go into labor on my own. Otherwise they have me scheduled for a Csection on Aug 19th at 12:15pm. It's kind of weird that they are already having me sign all the paperwork for the csection and giving me instructions for it. Mentally I am just keeping the faith (and assuming) that this baby is going to come early so that I can do a VBAC, so it's weird to plan for the csection already. But I understand why they have to get ready for it just in case.

I do hope that my cervix starts to get lower. My last doctor told me that I had an "uncooperative cervix" and she was pretty sure I would have the same problems this time that I had with Preston - which is why she didn't think I was a good candidate for a VBAC.

I think if it comes down to week 39 and my cervix still hasn't done diddly-squat, even if I did by some miracle go into labor, I would be very watchful and apprehensive about the VBAC. If after 8 hours nothing was still progressing, I would opt for the csection instead of putting myself through a long hard labor with nothing to show for it.

Anyway - baby is looking great. The little guy is such a fighter and a kicker. Just like the ultrasound last week, as soon as my doctor started putting the heartbeat monitor on my belly he started kicking like crazy. Babies' heartrates go WAY up when they are active in the womb so his heartbeat was racing like crazy! I was like "Whoa little dude, settle down, don't get so excited." She had to wait for him to settle down a bit to finally get a good heartbeat.

My blood pressure was higher than normal - 133/75. I'm not swollen though, so maybe it is due to stress LOL. I also haven't gained any weight in 4 weeks or so. So as of right now, I've gained a total of 37 pounds. (At this point with Preston I had already gained 56 lbs, so I am doing good even though i am at the same weight I was with him. I had started out higher).

Speaking of stress (and my last post), my Dad is actually stopping by today to pick up Preston. My parents are taking him a day earlier than scheduled so they will have him from today until Saturday morning. Three nights. This will be the longest Preston has been away from us. He's done 2 nights before, but not 3. I have to admit that it took me several hours to finally give them the green light to do this because I was feeling guilty about it, and also worrying that after 3.5 days at G&G's house he would forget me. Silly I know...but I really did think about that. But then realized, wow, yes I could really use the break so please take him :)

Also, my wonderful sister-in-law, Tessha (Will's older sister) is trying to find a flight out here to Seattle next week and if so, she'll be here all week long (possibly a little longer) to help out. I'm sooooo looking forward to that and appreciative of the help. :)