Another Late One

Well ladies and gents, yesterday was my due date and Nugget was a no-show. We also had our 40-week OB appointment. I brought the little blanket that I finished for Nugget over the weekend. It was just a panel that I found at the fabric store. I could have simply finished the edges and been done, but the backing was so ugly I just had to find something else to use. The panel itself is a collection of cute little jungle animals all gathered together as if posing for a photo. It’s edged in blue, then giraffe print. I found a soft flannel giraffe print and backed it with that, instead. Looks much better, and Mum seemed pleased with the blanket altogether. I therefore call the project a success.

While waiting to be called in, Mum mentioned that she was going to “beg” Dr. Colorful to strip my membranes. We discussed the possibility that this might not work, but that I was certain we didn’t need to beg – he’s pretty willing to do whatever we ask, within reason.

The appointment went the same as always – everything looked good. I didn’t gain any weight between last week and this week, my blood pressure was well within the normal healthy range, Nugget’s heartbeat was great, s/he’s measuring right on for dates, etc.

Toward the end of the appointment, Mum and Dad asked about non-pharmaceutical or “at home” ways to induce labor. Dr. Colorful said the only good, safe way to do that is the good, old-fashioned way. This has been tried but I don’t wanna push Hubs too far, given that he’s laid up from foot surgery and even a strong jiggle of his foot causes discomfort for him. So Mum went out on a limb and asked if Dr. Colorful would be willing to try to push our induction date up a few days.

As I predicted, he went out to the nurse’s station and asked if they could contact Labor & Delivery to see if they had a bed open for me that very day. They were 80% full at that point, so yesterday was a no. They therefore scheduled me for today, with the understanding that if someone else came in who was already in labor, I’d likely get bumped to tomorrow. But either way, I’ll have Nugget today or tomorrow.

Needless to say that after years of hard work and heartbreak, Mum and Dad are beside themselves with excitement. As for me, I think I’ll have a chat with an anesthesiologist early on in the process to see if maybe Hubs is right, and an epidural might be more successful if not initiated during hard labor. If not, oh well. If so, cool!

STFU Contractions

Everyone’s predicting delivery dates and labor times for Nugget. So far no one, not even the doctors, have hit it. To be fair I’m not due until Monday, but I’m still not holding out hope that I’ll have the baby without being induced.

I AM fairly certain that Nugget has finally engaged. Last night Mama and I went out to dinner and I had an appetizer-sized bowl of macaroni and cheese, followed by a flat iron steak, shrimp, asparagus and fingerling potatoes, smothered in a delicious red curry sauce. By the end of the bowl of macaroni and cheese, I should have been overfull and ready to puke my guts up, but even after the entrée I was still fine. Laying down after a big meal has been the bane of my existence for months, but even after I got home and flopped on the soft living room carpet (to be near Hubs, who’s relegated to the couch after his foot surgery), my gorge didn’t rise and I needed no antacids. The only explanation I can think of to explain this phenomenon is that Nugget engaged. That, and there’s a ton of pressure on my pelvis, so I absolutely cannot walk straight at this point; I can only waddle.

Tuesday I had regular, strong (but not painful) contractions about every 8-10 minutes, all day. By bedtime they had tapered off and gone away. Mum was disappointed, as was I, but it just wasn’t to be. I told her that if my water broke or if I started having regular “STFU contractions” STFU stands for "Shut the F*** Up, if you're not familiar with the slang. These contractions, in other words, are contractions so strong that I have to stop talking and just breathe. If they happened every five minutes or so, lasting a minute or longer – then she should jump in the car and come up. Otherwise, I thought it best for her and Dad to sit tight.

Today I decided to take a long walk to get lunch and wound up coming back and sitting down just in time for a good, long STFU contraction. I’m still having strong ones, but I’m hesitant to start timing anything until it’s at least another STFU. I don’t want to get Mum’s or my hopes up only to find out that it’s nothing. I did tell her that I had one, but that I’m going to wait and see if they persist.

I was thinking earlier that it might be neat if I could say that I gave birth to two late babies, one early baby and one genuinely punctual munchkin. But again, I’m not holding out hope.

Eviction Date: Set

Hoo boy, have I been slacking! Okay, so last Monday – September 15 my appointment was done solo – Mum and Dad are understandably saving up their respective leave times for when Nugget actually gets here. Nothing to report at that appointment; Dr. Colorful didn’t want to do a lot of cervical checks because it could cause early membrane rupture and expose Nugget to Group B strep. While it’s not a giant issue, waiting until baby has reached FULL, full term, decreases the risk of the baby being affected even a little bit by GBS. After my appointment, I scurried downtown and picked up the best falafel ever for a late lunch. I don’t often get to Ahli Baba’s Kebab Shop because of scheduling, traffic, etc., so when I do it’s a real treat.

Friday of last week, Hubs had surgery to repair some bone issues in his right foot. A triangular piece of one bone in each foot never grew together in utero or after birth. He had his left foot repaired a couple years ago, and just recently the right one started to bother him so we opted for surgery sooner rather than later. This involved a synthetic bone graft that requires a bit of the recipient’s bone marrow in order to activate it. Or at least, that’s what the doctor said.

Hubs was doing fairly well until this past Saturday night, when he reported a severe burning sensation in the top of his foot. A five-hour visit to the ER Sunday morning (into the afternoon) revealed that something about the cast the podiatrist had put on him had compressed a pressure point, which affected blood flow and caused a nasty raw spot across the top of Hubs’ foot. The ensuing podiatrist appointment Monday morning has him in a splint with petroleum jelly and antibiotic ointment pads on the sore spot as well as the incision and marrow-draw sites. As soon as the patch was put on the sore spot, Hubs said it felt better. It still pains him to put his foot down, but he is reporting each day that the pain isn’t as bad as it was the previous day, so that’s progress.

Yesterday afternoon Mum, Dad and I had our 39-week OB appointment. I got lots of belly rubs in the waiting room. I love belly rubs, especially when my belly is Buddha-sized. And Mum scolded Nugget a little, telling him/her to “GET OUT!”

Dr. Colorful brought a student in with him, and agreed to schedule us for induction “just in case” I haven’t gone into spontaneous labor before Monday. Our induction date is October 6. So at least if Nugget doesn’t make his/her appearance before then, we DO have a decisive end-date. Mum and Dad weren’t too excited about the date just because it feels like forever to them, but agreed that at least by that point there won’t be any more guessing or hoping; we’ll KNOW that that’s it.

I did get a cervical check this week, and I’m a definitive three centimeters dilated and am still hovering at a healthy 50% effacement. Nugget still isn’t engaged, but Dr. Colorful says that this is normal for someone who’s had three babies already, and that full dilation, effacement and engagement can all happen very quickly during labor. In short: everything looks good and he’s not worried.

He did repeat that he doesn’t think I’ll make it to my due date before going into labor. I told him that he’s been saying that since 36 weeks, and nothing has changed. He also gave me a fairly rough exam, which could theoretically, possibly, “accidentally” encourage membrane rupture and therefore labor. We’ll see. I’ve lost two noticeable pieces of mucus plug this morning, some of it streaked with blood (which is normal and good), so perhaps Pooka was right on Friday when she said I wouldn’t finish another four full days before I went into labor.

Still Not There Yet.

So let’s see… What’s happened since last Tuesday? OH! On the way out of our appointment with Dr. Loud last Tuesday, I noticed that under “GBS” on the little slip that gets paper-clipped to my chart, there was a plus sign with a big old circle around it. The medical assistant who checked us into the room had handed us a pamphlet about Group B Strep, but neither she nor Dr. Loud bothered to actually TELL us, out loud, that I have Group B Streptococcus.

I had to find out by calling My Favorite Nurse, who gave me the full run-down. Yes, I have it. No, it’s not a big deal. It’s found in 30% of women. It’s not an STD; it’s not caused by any unhealthy behavior. It’s part of the normal bacteria found in the birth canal of the human female. The risk that it poses to baby is that if baby aspirates it on the way out of the birth canal, there’s a possibility that the bacteria could cause pneumonia. So they treat the mother/carrier with intravenous penicillin during labor. No big.

My Favorite Nurse made sure to note on my chart for this most recent Monday’s appointment that I should be told that I have it, and that the information she passed on to me should be reiterated. I’ve notified Mum and Dad, and they seem fine with it.

I’m still at 2-3 centimeters dilated and about 50% effaced – normal for this stage in pregnancy for someone who’s had babies before, and isn’t moments from labor. Nugget is still head-down and still not engaged. Blargh.

Dismissed Again? I Want My Regular OB!

Soon, my pretties; soon I shall pop and it shall induce tears and laughter and probably involve all manner of other bodily fluids, because birth does that.

We had our 36-week ultrasound yesterday afternoon. Mum and Dad attended, of course, and so did Mum’s parents. They all got a huge kick out of seeing Nugget on screen, especially since the ultrasound tech was able to get them some really good 3D pictures of the baby’s chubby little face.

Whatever gender this baby is, s/he is a little porker. S/he’s measuring a week and a half larger than s/he is. We’re talking 7.5 pounds NOW. If by some strange twist of fate I make it to 40 weeks, we’re looking at a 9-pounder, easy. Anyway; the ultrasound went off beautifully and Mum and Dad got to take home some adorable pictures of their little Stay-Puft Marshmallow baby.

Our OB appointment was, yet again, irksome. We saw Dr. Loud who, as it turns out, isn’t so much loud as well, a little bit racist. It turns out that it was I.F.’s “foreign” accent that caused the doctor to yell him, through the entire appointment. Because, you know, speaking louder makes English more comprehensible to “them ferners.”

Dr. Loud measured my belly (37 cm, I believe) and tried to listen to Nugget’s heartbeat, but couldn’t really find it. Now, I’m not exactly excited about cervical checks, but as I understood it, they were supposed to begin around 36 weeks. We told Dr. Loud that my last pregnancy ended at 36 weeks, 3 or 4 days. To me, this suggests that I should be checked. I’m really confused as to why we had to ask him to check me yesterday; but we did. He said I’m 1-2 centimeters and didn’t mention anything about effacement. He did say that Nugget is not engaged, and so we shouldn’t expect anything too quickly.

Mum and Dad were not impressed with Dr. Loud’s dismissive attitude. Dr. Colorful might reassure us that we had a while to go yet, but Dr. Loud just seemed downright annoyed that we were asking him to do what we are all fairly certain is routine for this stage of pregnancy.

Anyway: I lost at least part of my mucous plug this morning. No bloody show and no leaking yet, but it’s a sign that labor is to be expected soon.

Dr. Know-It-All

Last Wednesday I waddled into the Big Hospital for my OB and Group B Strep test. Group B Strep is a bacteria that sometimes makes its way into preggosauruses. It doesn’t affect us, but can lead to health complications for baby if it’s present in the birth canal during labor and delivery. It’s not an STD and isn’t indicative of risky behavior or anything – some women just have it and some don’t. Thus far, I haven’t and don’t.

I saw a doctor I’ve only met once before, for an ultrasound; and her student. Ladies and gentlemen, I was not impressed by this doctor. I get that when teaching, a doctor needs to be professional and knowledgeable; but there’s something to be said for teaching a student to listen to patients rather than talking over them, interrupting them and dismissing their comments.

First off, the student completely skipped over my pelvis and started trying to measure from my “bits.” I had to stop her and tell her, “My pelvis is right here,” and guide her to it. Then the doctor and I argued over whether or not the doc’s measurement was correct, because she did so mid-Braxton-Hicks-contraction. After that, we listened to Nugget’s heartbeat for a second, and they did the Group B Strep swab.

I asked if they would be willing to check me, because I was curious to see whether or not I was at all dilated.

“It’s not going to affect what we do here,” she snapped.

“I understand that. I’m just curious,” I replied calmly, though my patience was waning.

She did the check, and snapped at me again when I told her that my uterus is ever so slightly tipped. She reported that I was 2 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. As she did so and withdrew her fingers, I felt a gush. I don’t normally gush after an exam, and told her so.

“It’s just discharge,” she sighed and then informed me, “You’ll have a little bit of spotting for the next few days. It’s nothing unusual;” and left.

I checked out at the front desk and went to the bathroom, having gushed a little bit a few more times after that. Called Mum and chatted a little bit, explaining what my level of dilation meant (not much yet) but that I felt the gush was significant. I haven’t had any more since Wednesday, but my Braxton-Hicks contractions are growing ever stronger and there’s regular pressure down in my pelvis.

Today we find out whether Nugget is indeed engaged, and whether s/he is breech or vertex. Crossing my fingers for engaged and vertex! Dr. Colorful said that my most recent pregnancy is the most indicative as far as what to expect this time. If that’s so, then I should be popping any time this week, MAYBE next week.

More later!