In the past, the 2-week-wait was all about looking up early signs of pregnancy and waiting to take a test to see if I was or wasn't. I spent the time hoping I wouldn't get my period and feeling so nervous, excited and a little scared, not knowing if I was going to get good news or bad.
Now I'm a little less than 2 weeks from my due date and I'm starting to feel anxious. There are no early symptoms of impending labor to look up or wonder if I'm feeling, so my only choice is to wait. This time there's no wondering what kind of news I'm going to get--I know I'm going to have a baby! I admit I do have some nervous feelings thinking about his birth: I just hope he's born strong and healthy. I have no reason to believe he won't be healthy, but I still won't feel completely at ease until I'm holding him in my arms.
Because he's my first baby I am still trying to be patient. I know he'll come when he's ready and some babies need a little more time than others. I'm trying to keep busy, but some days I feel like I run out of things to do...those days feel a little long. I'm usually really good at finding ways to stay busy at home, but lately I've been feeling too antsy and not very easily entertained; I guess I'm just too distracted with all these baby thoughts, looking forward to busy days to come.
The 2 things that seem to make the time pass are counting down the weeks (I look forward to Wednesday every week as that is when my weeks change) and the more frequent doctor appointments. We have appointments every Friday to check my progress and thanks to a little condition called gestational diabetes we now also get weekly ultrasounds to check the fluid level with a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor starting next Wednesday. If the fluid is too high it that indicates that the baby is peeing too much which means my blood sugars are not being controlled as well as we thought. If the fluid is too low, that indicates a problem with the placenta. In either instance it they would induce me early. Even though being induced means knowing when baby is coming, I would still rather he come on his own time.
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| Still Growing...38 weeks, Wednesday April 15, 2015 |
At my appointment this week I was still only dilated to 1 centimeter, but now 70% effaced, so I'm still making progress. I'm measuring five days ahead at 39 weeks, but it seems I've fluctuated between right on and five days ahead the whole pregnancy, so that's nothing new. Basically we are still just waiting. Our doctor said she usually lets patients go up to a week overdue, but with me it will all depend on my blood sugar levels, the ultrasounds and how fast I progress (my cervix thins and opens). She doesn't want to force my body into labor before it's ready, but there's a possibility it could be necessary to keep the baby safe...we just have to let them keep monitoring me and waiting to see what happens.
Another way this is different from the 2-week-wait to find out if I'm pregnant is that this time around it's really 2 weeks, give or take. Very few babies are born on their actual due dates. Our baby could really come at any time. We might not have to wait the full two weeks, but there's also the possibility we will have to wait longer than 2 weeks...or so I thought until Friday afternoon!
About an hour after we got home from our appointment, our doctor's office called and said our doctor has decided that in my case she thinks it will be best if I don't go over so if our baby doesn't come on his own before then, I will have a procedure called cervical ripening done on the 29th and that doesn't kick me into labor, I will be induced on the 30th! One advantage of IVF is that we know our due date is exactly right, so I am sure that is why she is comfortable inducing before 41 weeks. I have also measured exactly on or ahead the whole time and have the gestational diabetes, which can get worse (and has...I have had to be more and more careful with my diet the further along I've gotten) and put me and baby more at risk for complications the longer I am pregnant.
We are so excited to have date to look forward to! Of course every day Ryan and I both wake up and hope today will be the day (and I am sure we will continue to do so). Every night I go to bed thinking I could wake up to labor pains or wet sheets. Whenever this boy of ours decides to come we are ready!
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