Saturday, December 31, 2011

Update on Baby Harper's Upcoming Arrival

Well...here we are at the last day of the year, almost 36 weeks, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little one. Ironic since if you had asked me a month ago if I would be thinking about baby's delivery date today I would have told you no. Here's what happened this week.

We had a doctor appointment on Tuesday to check progress made from last week. Since the doctor was concerned last week that baby would be coming much earlier then it he or she should I scheduled an appointment for this week. At the appointment I was checked and was dilated to 1.5 cm and was 50% effaced. When I asked about how this could be since I was told 70% effaced last week, she said since she could feel inside of my cervix now, they could get a better picture of how effaced I really was. At this point the doctor told me we still needed to be careful, but there was still a good chance I could make it to 37 weeks or maybe even to 40 weeks. I left feeling fairly comfortable that baby would be born healthy.

Then on Tuesday night we had more activity. I started to see some color which indicated to me that I might be losing my plug. Tuesday night I had a bunch of contractions. They were strong enough that they woke me up from my sleep and they started to feel like they might be real labor contractions. They were starting in my lower back and sides of my uterus and then spreading. I had cramping in my back and stomach. I started timing them after they weren't letting up and they were 6-7 minutes apart. Cole was very concerned and was constantly checking on me and asking me how I was doing. Every time I would get close to falling back asleep I would have another contraction. Cole finally fell asleep and I decided I would get up and pack the diaper bag. Although I had packed my stuff, I hadn't packed the baby's stuff. I had been having contractions for almost two hours, was drinking water and lying down and they didn't seem like they were going to let up. So I figured I would pack, then wake Cole up and we would go. About the time I finished packing I noticed that they started to subside. So, I laid down again and was timing them until the point where I noticed they were going away and was able to fall asleep.

Wednesday I went to work. During the day I lost my plug. Or at least I am fairly certain I did from the way it looked and how it is described in books, I don't think it could be anything else. I called the doctor to make sure I didn't need to do anything differently since I am not to term yet. She said to continue what I was doing and that since the plug has come out, there is a good chance baby should be coming any time within the next two weeks!

Since then, things have been fairly uneventful. I worked from home on Thursday and Friday. I have had mild contractions and shooting pains, but nothing that has been constant or indicative that active labor is arriving. So, here we are just waiting. Cole and I are both anxious and hate the not knowing. I know it is something everyone experiences, but it is certainly hard. Cole has been great taking care of me and trying to keep me off of my feet. We are going to have a nice night with friends tonight at a house, so that it will be low key for me.

We are taking guesses as to when baby will come. Here are guesses so far:
Cole: late sometime today
Mom: tomorrow
Kay (Mother in law): January 10th
Brenda (Step mom): January 8th
Me: January 5th

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