Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Looks like it'll be another week

Just got back from the doctor's office where I had a non-stress test and an ultrasound. They put a fetal monitor on me for 45 minutes to record the baby's heartbeat, and another monitor to measure my contractions. Yes, I'm actually having contractions, but I can't feel them. The heartbeat is fun. It took two nurses to chase him down and get the heart rate monitor in the right place though, because every time they'd place it, he'd move and they'd lose the heartbeat. And midway through, the doctor came in and put an electro-vibratory stimulator against my stomach to wake him up and make him all excited. It worked, because about a minute later, he was kicking all over the place.

After that, she did an ultrasound to measure the amount of amniotic fluid around him. If it's low, it's cause for concern and maybe even induction. But it was fine, between 7 and 11 mm. We saw the heart beating, and coolest of all, we saw him breathing. She showed us his diaphragm moving back and forth and his lungs expanding. That was cool. The doctor was very happy. She said that the first thing a baby in distress does is stop breathing, so he's doing just fine.

She checked me out, and I'm still nowhere near going into labor. I have another appointment on Thursday to see if I've progressed any, but she said she thought it wouldn't happen Friday. I told her my fear was that if we induced on Friday and my body wasn't ready, it would lead to a c-section. She's also on duty next Monday, so she said (depending on what I'm like on Thursday), if I don't go into labor on my own by this weekend, I'd go into the hospital Sunday night to start the induction. That's fine by me. At that point, I'll be well over 41 weeks, and it'll be time to get him out.

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