41 weeks- induction!!

      I worked on Wednesday, while my co-workers scolded me and told me I should be at home resting!! After getting off work at 4:30p I stopped by Arby's for a yummy "last meal," got home, finished re-packing my hospital bag (had to re-do it in anticipation of a longer stay), and was in bed by 7:30p! The plan was to nap until 11:30p and head to the hospital. About 7:45p I was JUST getting into bed when my phone rang. It was the hospital telling me that "everyone was getting induced before the storm hit and they currently didn't have a bed for me." I was asked to call back at 11:30p to see if anything had changed and if they could take me. Thinking positively, I continued with my nap. I woke up right at 11:30p, called the hospital, and was given bad news. To "get some rest and I would be called when a bed opened." Needless to say I had a lot of trouble getting back to sleep. 

     Oh, and did I mention that there is a freakin' hurricane coming directly towards us?!

    

     Yep! Hurricane Matthew! The light rain has already started. My husband and I just wanted to be able to be in the hospital before the storm hits, because God knows we don't want to be driving 30 minutes in winds over 60 mph!

      I got a snack and ended up going back to sleep around 3:30am (hubby got to bed around 3am). Hoping for some good news tomorrow! Stay tuned! 

40.5 weeks- stress test

      

     At this point I'm certain that my doctor must be tired of seeing me every week!! Today I went in for my stress test. I didn't really know what to expect and I hadn't done my research on what exactly it was (shame on me!) so this appointment was more of a surprise for me. They brought me back to a room, had me sit in a comfy leather recliner, reclined it to prop my feet up, and fixed 2 circular censors to my belly. The censors were attached to a machine that kinda resembled a lie detector machine. It monitored the baby's heart rate, my contraction line, and there was also a button that the nurse put in my right hand that I needed to push whenever I felt her move. I sat and watched tv for the next 20 minutes, listening to Aurora's heartbeat and clicking the little button. You should hear every little movement she made, even ones that I couldn't feel! The best part was when I would talk to her, all movements would stop and you could just hear her steady heart pumping, as if she was listening to every word I was saying! So sweet!  

     I passed the stress test with flying colors; she has a strong heart, tons of movement, but my contraction line was pretty much completely flat. Dr checked my cervix again (still completely closed- surprise surprise!) and told me my induction was set for 1am Thursday morning!! I'm so ready to meet my daughter!! 

40 weeks- EDD

     40 weeks, and it is Aurora's Estimated Due Date... but still no Aurora... This is one of the most frustrating things ever!! To think and dwell on a date for 9 months, to anticipate a time when you'll be able to hold your child, and to watch that day come and go. In fact, her actual due date was pretty anticlimactic! I was off from work so I just sat and watched tv all day!

      My 40 week doctor appointment was the same stuff. Blood pressure great, baby's heartbeat great, cervix check. I held my breath and hoped for a least 1cm dilated so we could do the membrane sweep. I confessed to my doctor that I was DONE being pregnant, and the cervix check felt a lot longer and a bit deeper than previous checks had been (I think the doctor was really trying to find SOME kind of news to give me) but, alas, I was still completely closed. I could immediately feel tears starting to form but I held it together. The doctor then asked me if I wanted to go ahead and schedule to be induced or keep waiting (they would let me go to 42 weeks before inducing if I wanted). Which do you think I went with?! "Ummm...induction please! ASAP!" I was told it couldn't be until I was 41 weeks or later, so Dr set a nurse to schedule it on Thursday (exactly 41 weeks!) He also informed me that I would be given a stress test (for the baby) on Tuesday and the results of that test would determine what kind of induction drugs they start me on.

      Instead of crying when I got to the car I was a wave of emotions. Naturally I was still upset that I wasn't dilated and that Aurora wasn't in a hurry to meet me; but I was also extremely happy to have an actual date of when things would start happening. Now I KNEW that I would be in the hospital and that baby would be in my arms by the next weekend! It was a planners dream! 

     

     Also, look at these amazingly adorable pieces my friend made for the baby!! An Ewok outfit and a house-elf cap! These are the cutest!! 

38/39 weeks... a waiting game

I might look happy in this picture, but I did NOT want to take a weekly progress photo! After my 38 week Dr appointment, I just felt defeated. I was still completely closed when the Dr did my cervix check... No thinning, no dilation, nada! I guess I can't be all that surprised as I haven't had any contractions or any other signs of upcoming labor. The dr talked to me about stripping my membrane next week, as long as I was at least 1cm dilated! After I looked into it, typically the membrane stripping leads to labor occurring the same day! So I guess I have something to look forward to for next week! While I was there, they told me that has flu shots to give out if I wanted one. Man, it was a nice sharp pain and another pain when the medicine was entering my body! Ugggh! Meanwhile, I'm still working, but I dropped down from working 40 hours to working 32 hours. 

     

     I was so excited for my family to come visit me from out of state! They were hoping that baby Aurora Quinn would have been here by now, but she is holed up in my belly and is quite comfortable in there! So instead, my family got to be a part of my 39 week progress picture!! My brother, his girlfriend, and their daughter (my niece) Juliette also came to visit. Little Juliette (9.5 months old) would not stop staring at my belly and she would often try to reach for it! Makes one wonder if she could sense that her cousin, and future best friend, was in there! 

     So onto my 39 week dr appointment- which was another colossal failure! I was excited for the membrane sweep that my doctor talked to me about last week! I read that it hurts a little so I was thankful that my husband was by my side for a hand to squeeze! Unfortunately I was still completely closed! I was dumbfounded! No progress still... What the heck was going on?! So another anticlimactic appointment. I got to my car and just burst into tears. I want nothing more than to meet my daughter and it's so incredibly frustrating to see nothing happening. My husband does what he can to make me feel better, but I usually just need to have my own pity party, cry it out, and be done.

     One week until my baby's due date and I'm fairly certain now that she is going to be very overdue. Let the waiting continue...

37 weeks- time goes by so slowly

     This has been a crazy week! My discomfort continues to increase and it's really affecting my mood. I wake up feeling ok but by mid-afternoon gravity has done it's work on my body- leading to super swollen legs, ankles and feet. That, coupled with the increasing pain in my hips, all lead to a general unpleasantness that makes me something much less than the "glowing, happy pregnant lady" facade!

     Also exciting and note-worthy, I went to another audition this week! I got myself into a dress, actually shaved my legs (at least, to the best of my ability) did my hair and make-up (took 1.5 hours to straighten my hair, so you know I was invested in this audition!) The audition was for a couple of Christmas shows at another theme park, so rehearsals and performances wouldn't start until after baby Aurora is born and I've recovered. The entire audition was a great experience! Aurora got her own audition number, and mom got a callback! 

     For the appointment this week, I was all alone. 😕 My husband wasn't able to get the day off and I knew nothing monumental was going to happen, so it was ok that he wasn't there. Dr. checked my cervix- still closed... I felt like screaming! I wanted SOMETHING! Even 1cm dilated, just something to suggest that labor was imminent, but NOPE! Instead, I'm fairly certain that I'm going to go past my due date. Dr. also told me that the strep test was positive. He said that 1 in 5 women are positive, and it just means that I'll be on antibiotics during labor. Nothing major. This is actually the first hiccup in my entire pregnancy. (No morning sickness, perfect blood pressure every appointment, passed first glucose test with flying colors, no food adversions, etc!) At my appointment, the doctor even remarked on how smooth of a pregnancy I've had. Even so, I'm really ready for it to be over. Time to hunker down for another week of carrying this child! 

36 weeks- final ultrasound & 1st cervix check

     It's 36 weeks!!! Just 4 incredibly long weeks until my little ones due date. Honestly, I am counting down every second, minute and day until she arrives. But while the countdown to birth goes down, my level of discomfort goes up. I am getting so big and my body feels heavy. The excess weight has really started taking it's toll on me. In addition to the edema that I mentioned last week, my hips are in constant pain. It feels like I've just spent hours riding a horse! This little girl has a few precious weeks inside me before she's gotta go! 

     The exciting part of this week is that we got our final ultrasound! I LIVE for ultrasounds- the chance to actually see my mini-me moving around inside my belly and watch her little heart beat! Just look at those little pouty lips!! 

     After the ultrasound, I saw the doctor for my first cervix check, and for a strep test. The strep test is an easy enough thing- Doctor takes a double-ended q-tip and swipes inside my vagina with one end, and then around my anus with the other end. Honestly, I was a bit nervous about this as I'm pretty self-conscience about my "lady bits". But my doctor is pretty amazing! While he was down there doing the cervix check, he swabbed and it was all over with 60 seconds! I had read on some of my mommy blogs that many women found the cervix check to be a painful experience, one women even said that she would bleed afterwards every time. My doctor mentioned that I would feel some pressure, but it was nothing more than putting a tampon in. Piece of cake! For this first check, Dr said I was closed. So, it looks like I'm settling in for another week of "joyful" pregnancy. 

35 weeks- football and edema

     Last week I hit 35 weeks of pregnancy. So to celebrate, I went to a football game! I am a Miami Dolphins fan (this year is our year!!) and my husband is an Atlanta Falcons fan, so when we heard that they were playing a preseason game against each other in our backyard, we HAD to go! We were pretty high up in the stands but luckily the stadium had an escalator so no stair climbing for this lady!! I did pretty well until the long trek back to the car after the game. I had to ask the group to slow down significantly because I couldn't keep up! But all in all it was an amazing time!

     Also in this, week my legs have started to feel the burn. My ankles, which used to be so delicate and dainty, are gone. My legs below the knee are getting a bit swollen. And shin splints have started to set in. So standing or walking for anything more than about 15 minutes is very uncomfortable. After looking into it a bit and talking to my doula, I discovered that I have edema in my legs (more specially "pitted edema"). If I press a finger into the skin on my lower legs or my cankles it leaves a depression in the skin for a few minutes. My legs are just holding in so much fluid, but it's my body preparing for the baby. If I said it once, I'll say it a hundred times: "pregnancy sucks!"