38.5 weeks - check-in

We had another non-stress test (NST) today and it showed continued contractions every 4-5 minutes (no shock there) but it also confirmed that I am not only good at identifying contractions, but I am pretty good at judging their strength.  It also showed baby is a stud and not only is playing on his own, but he does really well during contractions, actually having accelerations at the same time, showing he is very healthy.  I asked if I could talk to Dr. Paek (the other doctor I have a seen a few times) about this continued labor and the stress on my body.  They were able to arrange it (which was great considering how crazy busy the office was today).  Charles and I spoke to her and she recommended we not check my cervix because the act of checking it can actually stir the pot and make things worse (and not necessarily in a productive have-a-baby way, just in a discomfort way).  She agreed that I should go up 1 mg on my prednisone since I started flaring again yesterday. 

Hopefully that will help.  She was also reassuring that this kind of protracted early labor can happen and just keep doing what we are doing.  The baby is doing great so there is no concern about keeping this process going.  She also let us know she is on call all weekend, which is great because if I do go into labor anytime until my own doctor (Dr. Kline) is back, I will have Dr. Paek, who I at least know and like, even if she isn’t as familiar with me (or me with her).  I haven’t met anyone else in the practice, so I wasn’t excited to deliver with a total stranger. 

At this point, I am hopeful baby will hang on until Monday to get things going.  My plan for now is to lay pretty low (activity definitely encourages the contractions), and hopefully get rest and stay as comfortable as possible.  If contractions really pick up and it seems like labor is starting, I will probably move around to get it going because if it gets too intense, prolonging it will just drain me.  Monday my appointment is early morning, so we can work out a plan with Kline, but my preference will be to be very active on Monday to hopefully get labor going instead of having any intervention on Tuesday or Wednesday with the planned induction. 

I am getting a little tired of this process, but I am still thankful that we won’t have to do a really hard induction and I am super grateful for the wonderful support of family and friends and especially Charles and our Doula. 

Here’s a picture of me yesterday.  Still not looking huge, but when the baby turns his head towards my back he sticks out considerably more than when he is laying sideways (yes in these pictures he is the “bigger” position).