The Final Countdown

This morning brought flurries of snow and our final doctor's office check up for this journey through pregnancy. We first spent some time on the fetal monitor, where BabyJ looked like a strong, healthy little girl, like usual. As she has grown, her kicks have become more forceful and obvious to everyone around her; as soon as the heartrate and movement sensors were held in place on my belly with the elastic straps, she kicked like crazy in protest from the tension (or maybe she was just showing off). These kicks were clearly visible to Jeff and the nurse strapping me in! I had several obvious contractions during the monitoring session, and though they aren't really painful, they are different in quality than they were a couple of weeks ago. It's hard to explain exactly what I mean, but I'll try.... Though they are still sporadic and unorganized, they seem to have more intention and purpose to them, and instead of the tension being mainly located "up high" (= above the navel and below the ribs), I am now feeling the tightenings more globally in the abdominal region. I take this as a good sign, and hopefully these warm-up exercises for my uterus are continuing to set the stage for a normal, natural birth. We'll see!

The doctor talked with us for awhile about how we'd like to proceed from here, if I don't go into labor on my own. We agreed to tentatively schedule an induction for next Tuesday or Wednesday (which day depends on how busy the birthing suites are next Tuesday). However, she does not believe we'll need to worry about inducing -- she thinks my body is ready for labor, possibly as early as later today. Yikes! She made this proclamation after assessing my effacement and dilation, both of which have advanced markedly from last week's appointment. So we are really in the final countdown to meeting our daughter, with no more than 8 days from now to go. Who knows, maybe she'll beat the odds and arrive on her due date, tomorrow!

We've prepared our home as thoroughly as we can for BabyJ's arrival, and our bags for the hospital are also ready to go. Check back here soon for BabyJ's first photos outside of the womb.

!!!