Dr. Appt: 38 Weeks

The stats:
Weight: gained 2 lbs (35.5 total)
BP: 112/80
James' heart rate: good


And the big news: 1cm dilated and 50% effaced!


Woohoo! I didn't make it that far for another two weeks last time. It doesn't mean we're headed to the hospital by any stretch, but at least this ol' reproductive system of mine is remembering what it's supposed to be doing.


Our discussion was pretty short with Dr. W. My only question was if there was anything we hadn't discussed regarding the birth plan that she might still need to know from me. She said she wasn't worried and felt she had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. She said we'd have time as things came up for me to express my wishes. She reiterated that her only requests are that I wear the hospital gown and have a hep lock in case of the need for an IV.


I asked again about the procedure once the baby is born, and we confirmed that yes, James will be placed on a towel on my stomach right after he's born. The nurses will do their Apgar scoring from afar while we get to hold our newborn! The umbilical cord will be cut when it stops pulsating (meaning it's pumped all the necessary blood into the baby), and then the nurses will take James for weighing, measuring, eye goo and shots. They'll hand him back to us, and then he's ours! I suppose at some point he'll go off for a bath, but I remember that being quite awhile after the fact with Caleb. So this is when I'll get the chance to nurse for the first time, and then the family will all be banging on the door to see the new baby. Hooray!


And then James will cry and I'll understand the true meaning of sleep-deprivation for the next two months...but I'm not thinking about that part!


Back to our appointment.... Dr. W said that if we hit 41 weeks like we did with Caleb, we'll do a non-stress test on James. If he's A-okay, then we'll just keep waiting. She said she didn't see any reason to induce except for the baby being in distress.

After we finished discussing with Dr. W, I was trying to form in my mind how to thank her for her openness to a natural birth and letting things happen on their own, when she beat me to the punch and thanked me for the same thing! She said most women are ready to induce before their due date and just get it done, and she said it was refreshing for someone to be willing to let nature take its course. I hadn't really expected that!


So that was our appointment. As patient as I want to be (and know I need to be), I get excited knowing that we'll have James soon!