39 Weeks and Any Day Now

I have been (im)patiently waiting Andrew's arrival! It's such a weird and beautiful and terrifying chapter in life, isn't it? There really aren't that many moments in our lives where things change so completely. Sometimes we don't even see the catalyst of the change, it simply comes upon us when we least expect it. A car accident (heaven forbid). Falling in love.

37 Weeks

Other times, we know the change is coming. We've been working toward it. Preparing for it. Like with high school graduation or moving to a new city to start a new job. Most of the time, though, we have a date set and we have some control of the time and place of the change.

When it comes to having a baby, though, these last few weeks are much tougher than I ever thought they would be. I mean, I've known this life-altering moment was coming. The second I saw that double line on the pregnancy test, I knew it was coming. But now that it's here, I feel like I'm just standing on the edge of some strange in-between world. Not quite a mother, but not quite NOT a mother. Every time a pressure wave (hypnobabies term for contraction) hits, I think, "Is this it?" I get excited and nervous, then I try to calm down and rest, but then I finally realize after hours of them only coming every 10 minutes and not getting stronger, that this is, in fact, NOT IT. Not yet.

As some of you may know, my doctors want very badly to induce. Their reasons are mainly the fact that I have gestational diabetes and that my blood pressure is creeping up and up. So far, their reasons have not been good enough for me to agree to pitocin and all its risks. A week ago Friday, I agreed to my first cervical check just to see how far along I was. To my surprise, I was already 3cms dilated and 60% effaced. Andrew was at -1 station, which means his head was pretty low. Everything was pointing toward me going into my birthing time without a medical induction, so I was pretty excited. Monday and Wednesday of last week, I had membranes stripped in an attempt to encourage a more natural, med-free induction. (Wed. I had progressed to 4cms dilated, 70% effaced and baby at 0 station) Basically, all that did was throw my body in pre-labor or false-labor where I had pressure waves every night for several hours that never turned into real labor.

39 Weeks! Look how low he's dropped!

All of this stop and start has been tough. Especially because now that I'm past 39 weeks, my doctors are becoming very anxious. I won't go into all my feelings on this because that would take too long and you probably really don't want to hear it all, but let's just say that I feel that I'm now on a ticking time clock to go into labor on my own. Of course, I want what's best for Andrew. That goes without saying. I just feel right now that induction with pitocin is more dangerous than letting him stay where he is a little longer. I'm just not sure at what point that flips around for me. When does pitocin and induction really become the safer route? I wish I knew the answer to that for sure!

Tomorrow morning, I go in to my acupuncturist for his first attempt to induce through natural acupuncture points. I am very hopeful that this will get things moving. Since the very beginning, my husband has said he feels June 12th will be Andrew's birthday. We went on a walk tonight and talked about how maybe between acupuncture and massage and chiropractor appointments tomorrow, my birthing time will begin and we will have baby Andrew in our arms sometime after midnight on the 12th. It's a beautiful thought! I honestly can't wait to meet my son!!! He's going to change our lives forever, and even though I know it won't be easy, it's going to be one of the most amazing parts of the rest of our lives.

I'm just ready for the rest of our lives to begin! Come on, baby Andrew!!! I'm ready!

Oh, and just as a quick update - other than the anxiety of waiting for him to arrive, I feel great. The chiropractor has really helped a lot with any aches and pains and I'm actually very comfortable. I've only gained 23 pounds total throughout this pregnancy (and have actually just lost 2 lbs in the past couple weeks, which I've heard is normal as you near labor), which is great since I started out a little over weight. I don't have much swelling except some in my feet at the end of the day and some in my face. Overall, I've been very lucky to feel so good over the last weeks.

Also, I didn't update my blog when my parents came, but they were here over Memorial Day weekend and look what my dad made for Andrew's room:

Beautiful, isn't it?? We had a wonderful weekend with my parents, and I can't wait to see them again when they come up in (hopefully) just a few days.

And in the interest of posting some good pics, here are pics of me with each of my parents right before we left for dinner at The Melting Pot. We were celebrating their 42nd wedding anniversary!! I'm so lucky to have parents that love each other so much and still have such a passion for each other. I know I will cherish these pictures forever!

Hopefully the next time I post, it'll be a photo-bomb of baby Andrew!!!

Quick Update - Dr. Appointment

I had a doctor's appointment today (moving to every 2 weeks now since I have gestational diabetes), and everything looks perfect! I am measuring exactly right at just under 29 weeks, so despite the GD, my baby is not measuring big at all. Whew! What a relief! My bloodsugar is being very well controlled, so hopefully Andrew's growth will stay normal from here on out.

She also checked his presentation. It's early, but I was curious, hehe. The little guy seems to be head down already! Good boy! He's very active and his heartbeat was great, indicating a healthy baby in there. I'm so happy that he's doing good. I feel so grateful that I was tested early for gestational diabetes and was able to get it all under control early before there could be any negative side effects from it.

The doctor did, however, say that she didn't want me to go past my due date. Yikes. I hate hearing this. I know that it will still be my decision, but I really don't want to be pushed into interventions like pitocin. I want Andrew to come when he is ready, but that might not be an option. I already have an appointment scheduled with my acupuncturist for 2 days after my due date to naturally induce if he can, but I contacted him today to see if he would push that up to the week before my due date. I haven't heard back yet, but I have my fingers crossed.

Does anyone out there have any other natural ways/ideas for inducing labor? I've heard evening primrose oil and red raspberry leaf tea. What else? Spicy foods? Long walks. I'm going to start trying anything and everything around week 38, I think. No pitocin or c-section for me, please!

For now, it's really too early to get worried about anything. The important news is that Andrew is measuring on target and everything looks good. I just scheduled a 3D/4D ultrasound for next week so we'll have some good pics to share after that I hope!!! Then, we'll have one final ultrasound around 36 just to check his growth at the doctor's office. After that, the next time we actually see him will be when he's born! Only 11 1/2 more weeks!!!