Weekly Pregnancy Post

Thirty-seven (and a half) weeks.

I'm a little behind on the weekly pregnancy post. That's what happens when in a matter of a week you go from feeling alright to suddenly begging your daughter to vacate your body and enter the world because you're convinced that if you have to be pregnant one more day your body will just stop functioning. I am amazed at how in just a few short days things changed to drastically.

When we went to the doctor last Tuesday for our 36 week appointment my doctor informed me that I was already 2 centimeters dilated, baby girl had dropped into position, and that I had "the cervix of the day" (seriously, those were her words). I've neglected to read all those pregnancy books sitting on our bookshelves because they scare the crap out of me and I know better than to trust everything you read. So I wasn't really aware or even prepared for our doctor to inform us that I was already dilated with four weeks until my due date. Of course the logical question out of my mouth after she informed us of this was when baby girl was going to arrive. Our doctor informed us that it could be a matter of a few days or a few weeks - there really was no way to predict that. Dave tried asking again and she laughed. She plead the fifth and said she doesn't want to be held accountable for any wrong estimates. Fair enough. Either way, we were excited to know that everything was progressing perfectly and naturally so far and we have high hopes that in the next week or two (hopefully!) I'll go into labor the good old fashioned way and have a successful labor and delivery.

While my co-workers are convinced I'll have the baby on Friday (not sure how this date was picked!?), I've been told that women can walk around for weeks dilated and not make any more progress. I'm praying that after we go to the doctor on Thursday she'll tell me that I've dilated even further and that she's confident I'll be going into labor soon. Everyone also has advice on how to naturally induce labor and while I'm not sure I believe in any of these methods, I am walking like a mad woman at the gym and staying plenty hydrated. I'm including spicy foods in our weekly menu plans and enjoy a hot bath once in a while. I've been told that snowstorms can also induce labor and well, we've had one this week and we're in the middle of a blizzard right now but it's not looking promising.

While I am incredibly eager to start this labor process and welcome our baby girl into the world, I am also experiencing an overwhelming amount of anxiety around going into labor. I don't sleep because I can't stop dreaming terrible dreams about labor (think delivering on the side of the road during a blizzard) and I have this fear all night and day that my water is going to break in the most unsuspecting place. The amount of pelvic pressure and pain I am feeling was something I was not prepared for. It scared me at first, especially when coupled with the intense contractions I am beginning to feel. Each day they get stronger and last longer but I know that they are still just braxton hicks contractions and I'll know when the real ones actually arrive. I think I'll actually be much more relaxed and calm when my water finally breaks because that element of anticipation will finally disappear.

Despite how I may be feeling now and how awful these last few weeks could be for me physically, I know we're so close to finally holding our baby girl in our arms and that makes any amount of pain and discomfort worth it. I'm hoping this is my last weekly pregnancy post but you never know...afterall, we did learn early on that baby girl can be just a little bit stubborn :)