Today's baby progress, as stupid as it seems to me, fits well with what I was going to talk about today. Strange.
Baby Progress:
Watch your body for signs of labor.
What kind of baby progress is that?
Anyway... I had another appointment with my midwife yesterday and now I start the weekly appointments. It's just crazy for me to think that my due date is only 4.5 weeks away (and even crazier to think that if I go into labor 1 week from not, they won't try to stop it)! It really makes me realize how much stuff I have to do at work before I go, but that's not the topic of this post.
The good news is that my baby still seems to be small. The midwife guessed that her current weight is 4 or 4.5 pounds and so if I make it to 40 weeks, that will bring her up to 6.5 or 7 pounds. The midwife also guesses that the baby is a girl because the heart rate was in the 150s or 160s (boy's heart rates tend to be lower). Of course, that's no guarantee, but I thought it was cute how right before she told me she hesitated and asked me if I have a gut feeling before sharing her thoughts. I think she was relieved when I said I think the baby is a girl (though I'll admit that I have my moments when I think it's a boy as well).
The bad news? I'm not really sure if you can say it's bad news, but the midwife did say that there may or may not be any signs of labor before I actually begin the process.
What about braxton hicks contractions (false "practice" labor)? Nope. Not everyone gets them, especially first time mothers.
What about being a little dilated beforehand? Nope. The cervix can stay long and closed up until the day of or you can be 3cm dilated and not go into labor for a couple of weeks. Besides, they don't start doing pelvic exams until 38 weeks.
What about the water breaking? Nope. That isn't as common as movies make it seem, but even so it's not a guarantee that labor will begin.
What about the baby dropping? Nope. Not every baby drops into the pelvis before going into labor.
Come on! You have to give me something?!? Maybe I should have asked if severe lack of motivation at work is a sign of labor. Or if wanting to clean the house is a sign of labor (shhh... let's forget about the concept of spring cleaning).
I don't do well with spontaneity. My version of spontaneity is to plan something at least a week in advance. It just seems crazy that in this day and age they can't give me any warning of when my baby will pop out and say hi.
2 comments:
Hehe...I walked around for 5 weeks 5cm dilated and 90 effaced. I never felt BH contractions, but my midwife would tell me I was having them during our exams.
Did your classes ever get better?
That's crazy! Did your labor end up going quickly once you started? It seems like it would have if you had that much of a head-start.
We only had the one all-day class, so no chance of it getting better, but our doula gave us a book to read that was very helpful and made both of us feel much better.
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