39th Week Appointment

This afternoon I had a weekly prenatal visit. My weight is up, in fact I've gained somewhat more heavily than I'd like this week, and last week, too. My CNM hasn't mentioned it though, so I'm not going to worry about it. I don't care at this point. I am looking forward to getting in shape once I have recovered from the birth but until then, don't care. My blood pressure and the baby's heart rate were both good (again... I may as well not write that out every time!), and I was measuring perhaps a few days ahead.

I had an internal exam once again, and learned that I am now 80% effaced and 4-5cm dilated! So I am now halfway there. It's pretty crazy - this is as far as my sister got after 30 hours of regular contractions... I find it interesting, all the different ways labor can go. I wish hers had gone better but she seems to be dealing with it well. I am feeling less traumatized about it today as well.

Another piece of news... my CNM is going to be out of town starting Saturday, until Wednesday. So once again she asked me about induction. Now previously I had thought she was going to be out of town starting June 9th, at which point I would be past 41 weeks and probably willing to have an induction, so I was thinking it would be better to induce than be delivered by some strange obstetrician I'd never met. The baby is low but not engaged so she wouldn't be able to break the water to start induction but she said she could do pitocin. That is really not the route I want to go. At this point I feel it is better to let the baby come when it is time, and not induce just to have my care provider deliver. Of course I feel it is better to have my CNM deliver rather than the on-call OB (especially if it's the asshole my sister got stuck with, the fucker. He wouldn't even look her in the eye. If he's on call and I go into labor when my CNM is gone we'll be delivering the baby in the parking lot by ourselves.), but still I think the baby being ready to be born is the most important thing. Especially since we are going to try to stay out of the hospital until the last minute. We hopefully won't be dealing much with the on-call OB if I do go into labor while my CNM is gone, since the L&D nurses do most of the work. My husband is prepared to fight for the things we want to happen and against the things we do not, in the event that labor leaves me unable to voice my desires. No amniotomies, no episiotomies, no IV, no forceps, no vacuum extraction. Etc, etc.

Anyhoo I have been having my usual contractions... I will have periods where they come 1-2 minutes apart, and last for about a minute, and they are mildly painful but never go anywhere. And then throughout the day/night I have some that are less obviously patterned; if they aren't coming close together I don't even bother timing them. My uterus and I are getting lots of practice at the whole contractions thing.