Yesterday was the beginning of the "real" doctor visits...where you find out what is going on with your body when you seem to be clueless like me. :-) We knew baby girl was getting bigger and the ultrasound confirmed she is still on the same growth curve--7lbs2oz is the current estimate which is completely in line with gaining half a pound a week since 29 weeks. Its really nice to know that even though my super-uterus gave us some problems in the beginning it still rocked out a nice, big healthy baby. Baby was doing very well on the non-stress test (NST) as well...she did want to sleep but I don't blame her (they did the ultrasound first and she had to fight the tech who was pushing on my belly). We did learn that baby girl doesn't like toothbrushes, electric to be exact, and even talking about them gets her in a tizzy. The only times she moved for the test, her parents and I were discussing how she wakes up every time I go to brush me teeth.
The NST also showed I was contracting every four minutes. Nice little hills visible on the paper to correspond with the firmness that I was feeling in my belly. It didn't ever hurt but I definitely knew they were happening. They had been happening for a few days, more often later at night as I was trying to get comfortable. I guess if I am not in pain, the doctors feel like they aren't really doing anything. And being 1cm and 50% effaced doesn't really mean much after two pregnancies, so I guess we just have to wait until next week to see if anything is progressing. Dr. G did want us to come back and see her next week, so we were happy to change our appointment from Monday to Wednesday to get her personal attention.
The baby has also dropped. This is completely new to me. I think Alex slowly descended over a few weeks before he was born as my legs got really sore but nothing like this. My hips hurt, my right calf hurts and my feet are swollen. My belly is measuring a lot smaller than last week so the doctor knew for sure that she was low in my pelvis and assured me everything I am feeling is typical after the baby drops. I know with first time moms, a baby can drop ages before you go into labor, but I have always heard that when you have had a baby before, you don't really drop until labor. Did my body forget that it has done this before? Am I going to be blessed with a labor that doesn't destroy my hips because they are going to spread slowly over the next few weeks? So many unknowns and for some reason I am still so excited.
The culmination of this journey is the birth and I have been looking forward to that for a while. Maybe part of it is selfish--I did make it to 8cm with Eleanor before my epidural and without that hip pain I probably could have endured the additional hour it took before she was born. I think I want to be able to get a gold star for having a baby with no epidural, sort of a personal goal (I am not crazy though and will have no problem asking for meds if things are just too much--I don't want to traumatize the parents or myself if the pain is overwhelming).
And of course, the big part, the moment a new family is made. I have spoken of it so often now but it still makes my eyes fill with tears. Two people have loved each other for so long and done so much with their lives, but having a child has been the one thing they couldn't do alone. I am so grateful that I can help someone have what I consider to be the greatest thing in the world...a child.
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