Ohhh emmm Geeeeeee!!!! Can you even believe it?!? Today, my friends, marks the first day of being considered FULL TERM! Holy Moly! Good God Oh Molly! We did it! We made it! The impossible has now been proven to be possible!
Have you ever felt in awe of your own body? Because that's exactly how I feel today! I feel proud. I feel strong. I feel like a fighter. I feel like an amazing woman. For seven years all I encountered was doubt, and shame, and grief, and death. But today....today I am celebrating confidence, and pride, and healing, and life. And of course feeling as though I could pop any minute!
Baby M and I have made a great team together. We both seem to have strong-willed personalities and a desire to persevere against all obstacles. He has not let his cord insertion cause him any distress. He continues to wiggle and roll inside of me and his breathing has become a lot more consistent on our weekly ultrasounds. I was, however, anticipating being told today that he was measuring over 8lbs and was kinda shocked when the sonographer told me he is measuring 6lbs 15 ounces. Three weeks ago he was measuring 5lbs 11 ounces and two weeks ago he was measuring 6lbs 13 ounces. So you could imagine my state of shock. How could he only have gained 2 ounces in two weeks? Is he not growing or did they get his weight that wrong two weeks ago?! At the same time, you could also probably imagine my state of relief......this means there is really no way he's going to be 10 lbs when I get induced at 39 weeks! The good thing is he is still over the 70th percentile with his weight and we continue to have twice weekly testing to monitor his growth so there is no need to be worried right now.
Speaking of getting induced.....we are exactly two weeks away from our induction date! We did have a bit of a false labor experience last Friday though....so maybe, just maybe Baby M will come out on his own before August 6th. Last Friday I started having some moderately intense cramping that started in each of my hips and moved inward to my mid belly. It was uncomfortable and happening pretty frequently towards the end of my shift at work so I decided to download a contraction timer app on my phone. When they were timing exactly 5 minutes apart and lasting anywhere from 40 seconds to a little over a minute....I thought I was possibly going into labor. I called my husband when I got off work and told him what was going on. We decided it was best for me to drive myself 10 minutes from the hospital that I work at to the hospital where we will be delivering instead of driving an hour home. My husband was funny....he got all excited and started asking me what all he needed to finish putting in the hospital bags that I had started. I told him it was okay if he wanted to wait until I got there and got triaged to figure out what was going on but he insisted that he was packing up our bags and heading to the hospital! I had my last intense contraction walking into the hospital....of course! Once I got hooked up to the monitor there were no more contractions...just a really really irritable uterus. The nurse checked me and I was still 1 cm dilated. My doctor was actually on the floor delivering another baby so she came to talk me and let me know "you will have a baby Lindsay...just not today." So there ya have it.....I've now experienced false labor and got sent home. My husband was about half way there when I called him to tell him he could turn back around. As ready as we really are for this baby to fill our arms...I am glad I have been able to make it another week and can officially say we are full term. The likelihood of a NICU stay now is very very slim....still possible...but slim. The knowledge that I will be giving birth to our baby that we will be getting discharged home with two days later is pretty amazing:)
I haven't really had any more contractions since last Friday. Maybe some mild ones....but nothing alarming to me. I just feel like a turtle turned over on my shell when trying to get out of bed which can be pretty uncomfortable to the belly. I wasn't checked for dilation at all this week either but I go back to the doctor on Monday for my last scheduled NST and will most likely be checked then to see if I've made any progress. For right now, I will just bask in the glory of knowing in two weeks or less our baby boy will be filling my arms and joining us as an official member of our families!
Baby M and I have made a great team together. We both seem to have strong-willed personalities and a desire to persevere against all obstacles. He has not let his cord insertion cause him any distress. He continues to wiggle and roll inside of me and his breathing has become a lot more consistent on our weekly ultrasounds. I was, however, anticipating being told today that he was measuring over 8lbs and was kinda shocked when the sonographer told me he is measuring 6lbs 15 ounces. Three weeks ago he was measuring 5lbs 11 ounces and two weeks ago he was measuring 6lbs 13 ounces. So you could imagine my state of shock. How could he only have gained 2 ounces in two weeks? Is he not growing or did they get his weight that wrong two weeks ago?! At the same time, you could also probably imagine my state of relief......this means there is really no way he's going to be 10 lbs when I get induced at 39 weeks! The good thing is he is still over the 70th percentile with his weight and we continue to have twice weekly testing to monitor his growth so there is no need to be worried right now. 
3 comments:
When they measure the babies in utero they can be + or - 1 lb. I use to work in radiology and that's what the sonographers use to say.
They could be way off on the weight either way...I was told 7 pounds 6 oz and mine ended up being 8 pounds 15 oz lol!!!! :) can't wait to hear if your baby announcement. I've been following your blog since before you were pregnant!!
I know you've been waiting so long for a baby to bring home, but just remember that this will be the last 2 weeks that it will just be the two of you at home...enjoy it as you prepare for that baby to come home!
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