40 Weeks and 4 Days

Ok, I give in, I am finally counting.

Yesterday we had an appointment with the midwife. She did a cervical exam and the good news is that we are making progress. At the clinic I have been going to, they are not crazy about doing cervical exams because the numbers really mean nothing in relation to when the baby is going to be born. Every birth is different and some people go straight from no progress to birth, whereas other people hang out partially dialated for weeks.

So as of yesterday afternoon, my cervix is soft but in the posterior position, I am 70% effaced, 1 CM dialated, and the baby is at -3 station. Basically, there is a lot that needs to happen still. I've had some contractions, but they are random with no pattern and not very intense. Today I've started to have some "bloody show" (I really wish there was a less gross term for it) so hopefully that means little Speckers is on his way soon.

If I haven't had the baby by Friday, I have to go in for an "NST & AFI". The NST is a non-stress test, just to make sure that the baby is still responding correctly to external factors. The AFI is a measure of how much amniotic fluid is still in there. Assuming those test results turn out OK, Speck gets to keep on hanging out till he thinks it's a good time to make an appearance.

In the mean time, leg cramps are still torturing me. Today I seem to be able to make it a little bit further before they flare up, but they are bad enough that I'm letting the mail sit in the box which is only about 3 houses away for fear of having leg cramps on the way to the mailbox and having a neighbor think I'm having contractions.

Tomorrow is a full moon. They say lots of babies are born on full moons, and frankly, I think it would be kind of cool to have the baby on a full moon. Wish me luck.