I'm almost 4 cm dilated!!!!!

This was originally written on Tuesday, April 15, 2008:

OMG--this might be my last blog before I go into labor! I really thought I was going to go into labor yesterday, as it was my worst day of the third trimester (I couldn’t stand, walk, or lay down without a lot of pain), but I am still pregnant, three-and-a-half weeks before my due date. However I was notified today that there's no way L.J. is waiting until then to come. . .in fact, this week is looking really good!!!! (UPDATE: I went into labor 2.5 days later--click here for my son's birth story.) I’ll back up and bring you up-to-date.

Last Thursday it was fun for me to read my birth story. I’d read it in high school and college but it obviously meant even more to me now. This time I was surprised at how fast my mom’s labor seemed! I was born at 2:15 pm on December 21st, weighing 4 lbs, 2 oz. Fortunately, I didn’t suffer any problems (aside from jaundice) and I was able to go home five weeks later.

I also hadn’t realized that my mom had back labor - she had no contractions! And, I pointed out to her that they must not have told women back then not to take aspirin or use heating pads, LOL. My pregnancy experience has been nothing like my mom's. That's a good thing. . .except I have been really emotional lately because I don't feel I can make it another day. On Friday I spent all day pushing myself to clean the house for Joe’s mom’s visit, hoping to induce labor, but it didn’t work. :-( Instead, I just felt even more disabled that night, unable to walk normally because my body was in so much pain. Aside from my bed, I also slept on our futon and couch—it was not a pleasant night.

On Saturday I woke up unable to feel my hands and feet, as I previously mentioned had sort of been happening lately. (Update: I now know this was de Quervain's disease, which I blogged about here: Part One. Part Two.) When I looked at my feet they were purple and huge! I stepped on the scale and broke down in tears: I had gained seven pounds in seven days! I didn’t even know that was possible! The last time I'd weighed myself I'd been at 33 lbs gained which is fine (doctors say an average-sized woman should gain between 25-35 lbs). Instead, I somehow skyrocketed to 40 already--even though I've been eating less lately because I'm so full of baby that my stomach feels full pretty much all of the time! (Although I admit I never gave up my ice cream, so maybe eating that every day. . .)

Our immediate thought was that maybe I had high blood pressure now. It was apparent that my body was retaining water and increasing in blood volume. But, since my doctor’s office is closed on the weekends, I waited until Monday morning to go in and have my blood pressure checked. The good news was that it wasn’t high. The bad news is that I prefer explanations and solutions to why I’m feeling a certain way and so I started crying when I got out to my car and called Joe. I’m obviously experiencing symptoms of high blood pressure without technically having it (must just be the common swelling), and so that adds to my discomfort. Since I didn't actually have it, there was nothing they could do to relieve my pain (if I did have it, they would have immediately scheduled an induction).

Anyway, Joe’s mom arrived around 11:30 on Saturday and so we ate lunch and then showed her L.J.’s nursery and all of his things. Around 3 pm we went to Motherhood Maternity (store) because Sandi wanted to buy me a top for breastfeeding after the baby is here. She also bought me a gift card so that was super nice. (By the way, remember how a month ago I stopped being able to wear my first pair of maternity pants? Well I wore one of my shirts for the last time now because it's too tight, too.)

Afterwards, we went out to La Mesa (Mexican restaurant) for supper, hoping the spicy food would induce labor for me, LOL. No such luck.

We spent the rest of the evening watching a DVD that Sandi had brought. It was a fun weekend, but I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as I normally would have because I just never had any relief from my discomforts. I even took a break for an hour to lay in bed and listen to my relaxation CD which helped somewhat during the time, but not after I re-joined the land of the living.

On Sunday morning we went out to breakfast at I-Hop and I could only take two bites of my food because I was having contraction-like-thingies and L.J. was kicking at the same time (plus, I was sitting which always makes me more miserable).

A couple of hours later we took the dogs to the dog park again, so I was able to stand which was a little better.

After that Sandi headed back home, and I put on my pjs and vegged out the rest of the day/night. Monday was pretty much the same, as I was physically unable to do anything—even just walking to the bathroom made me cry in pain. I've barely slept at all the past two nights, once again having to sleep in three different areas of our house because every position is so uncomfortable. At first I thought maybe all of this was preparing me better able to handle the pain of childbirth, but now it appears it’s just wearing me out before I even get there!

Soooo I received the best news ever today when I went to my doctor's for my weekly check-up (the first for her checking my cervix if you don't count my pre-term labor scare in Feb.) and she told me that I was over 3 cm dilated! That means labor could start any minute! Also, she could see his head--I forgot how much he was stationed but it was a good amount--and my cervix was really soft/effaced, the bag of water ideal for breaking soon, etc.

Before she'd checked me, she had admitted that for some women these last three weeks actually aren't healthy--sometimes serious problems come up, so an induction might end up being necessary. But, thankfully, after she saw how far along I was, she was confident I will not have to be induced--this baby is going to come on its own. YEAY!!!!!! She seemed as happy as I was not to have to schedule an induction (because pitocin also leads to c-sections), however, she was concerned about L.J.'s size--he's measuring over 40 weeks now so she scheduled an ultrasound for 2:30 this afternoon to make sure that he is not too big. She thinks it could be that my body is retaining all of my fluids (thus the symptoms I've been having despite my blood pressure being fine) and it is just making it appear that he's bigger than normal. But we need to get it checked out just to make sure. Joe is going to meet me there.

Ever since I left my appt, I've been having menstural-like cramps non-stop. (I went to get my hair cut so my hair's all ready, LOL.) I'm hoping maybe she got things started :-) I'm just so happy that it's not going to be much longer, I have never felt such relief in my life! It should only be a matter of days before I get to meet my son!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: I just wanted to type a quick note after my earlier blog to say that the ultrasound went well--the reason for my big belly (haha) is that I have more than average amniotic fluid (a condition called polyhydramnios which I would find out two months later was caused by L.J.s inability to swallow amniotic fluid like most babies, due to a bracial cleft); the technician said it's probably a sign that I'm going to deliver soon. For size, he's measuring approximately 7 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long. Whew (that's considered fine)!!! The technician was amazed that I've been able to move at all; she said that it's no wonder I'm in such pain, he's taking up every bit of space! (Normally at this stage women have some room up top because the baby has dropped--but even though he's dropped, I don't.) She said the same thing as my doctor about his head being far down so this was the best pic she could get for me (his face is smashed, hehe). He was sucking his thumb and playing with his feet, isn't that adorable? We kept laughing every time she went to his face because his cheeks were so chubby, hehe! It was really fun to see him again now at this stage compared to four months ago. His heartbeat was 140 and his head was small - good for a natural labor, although she said that his tummy was on the chunky size :p We were glad to see he was still a boy, haha. As I'm sure you can tell, even though I'm still in pain, I'm so much happier :-)