40 Weeks

A mother's seventh (and final) journey through the wonders of pregnancy.

Monday, May 15, 2006

38 Weeks, 5 Days

Not surprisingly, tomorrow's induction has been cancelled. The still-unnamed baby was breech today, and not showing any signs of being in a hurry to escape the womb. My doctor says I'm a puzzlement, because given my age and the fact that this is my sixth baby, my placenta should be showing signs of aging by now and I should be 2-3 centimeters dilated. Instead, my body is acting like it's pregnant for the first time, with no placental aging or cervical dilation. The baby looks healthy and happy, I'm healthy and ... eager, and no one is in any hurry to speed things along.

The plan at the moment is more of a holding pattern than a plan. The doctor is willing to wait up to 2 more weeks before doing a C-section, but doesn't really want to wait longer than that because of the increased risk of having to do an emergency C-section in the event of spontaneous labor with the baby in a bad position. K is going to check baby's position every morning before work at this point. If baby is obviously transverse (sideways,) I can go back to sleep. If baby is not obviously transverse, we'll go down the road to K's office for a sonogram to determine with certainty which end is down. If baby is breech, the day will proceed normally. If baby is head down, K will call Dr. Powers, who will call the hospital and see if they have room for an induction. If not, the day will proceed normally. If they have a spot for me, we load up the car and head for the hospital. The doctor will determine whether baby is still head down, then attempt to rupture the membranes (break the bag of water surrounding the baby,) though this promises to be difficult and painful considering the fact that the baby is still high and my cervix has not even begun to dilate. Why not wait for it to change, then? Because if baby changes position again, which is likely, I may end up with a C-section. The doctor says that since my crystal ball works just as well as his, I can make the call whether to come in or wait. He doesn't mind the C-section nearly as much as I do, but I've had to recover from an abdominal incision before, albeit not a C-section, and I don't relish the idea of doing that again, especially with 3 small children at home who love being picked up.

Assuming the successful rupture of membranes, I'll be left alone for a while (I'm hoping this means no permanent attachment to restricting monitors, but that will depend on whether they've already inserted the epidural) in the hopes that labor will start on its own by morning, at which time the pitocin would likely be started to speed things along.

5 Comments:

  • At 9:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hi, Nikki!!!

    Don't you hate waiting!! :P But all's well that ends well, and two months from now you'll be sitting pretty with your sweet family and have a great story to tell. And we women do love to tell our labor stories!

    Hope you get to "have it your way," but even a C-section can have its benefits. You just lie there, and the docs do all the work. Your makeup doesn't even have time to wear off. No episiotomy, no hemorrhoids. And if your dr will get you a nice wide belly-binder support wrap, you really can walk without feeling like your guts are falling out.

    But we'll just hope for the little guy to stand on his head. I'll be checking back for updates...

    Love,

    Jeanne

     
  • At 7:15 AM, Blogger Nikki said…

    Testing ... I've been trying to post for two days with no luck! Not sure if it's blogger.com or me. I'll try again if this comment sticks. Thanks, Jeanne, for your words of encouragement!

     
  • At 7:31 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Our internet's been intermittent the past week or so... bummer!!! I couldn't post at all yesterday.

    I saw the entry about your girls' butterfly garden. That is so sweet. I bet they would be thrilled to see the celebration in their garden!

    Waiting "patiently" for word of your little guy's arrival. Probably a lot more patiently than you. :D May he be a cooperative little guy and come soon.

    Love,

    Jeanne

     
  • At 8:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Baby boy Rehman born 12:13AM, Saturday, May 20, 2006:
    6 pounds, 14.3 ounces, 19 inches;
    Nikki had a tough time toward the end due to the epidural not being deep enough and apparently slipping out enough that she did not receive the pain medication she requested during the last hour or so; however, although the baby took forever for his head to come down into position, he finally was born naturally and Nikki was able to avoid the c-section one more time! The name is still pending... sorry!--Mimi (Nikki's mom)

     
  • At 2:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Awwwwwwww!!!! Welcome, little guy!!! And thanks for the update, Laurel!!

    (The name is "Still Pending"? Nikki, I thought you weren't giving him a middle name!?)

    :-D

    Congratulations!!!

    Jeanne

     

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