15 July 2009

July 15, 2008

What a difference a day makes.

Just to recap from where I left off... at my 37 week appointment I was 3cm and 80%, told not to go down the shore {ha!} and I was given an induction date of July 26th.

Okay, so.... I went straight from work to the doctor's office for my 38 week appointment on Tuesday, July 15th {though I wasn't officially 38 weeks until Friday, July 18th.} My sister, Kacy, was with me. She wasn't sure if she wanted to come back with me to the exam room or wait out in the waiting room until I was finished. I told her, at this point, I don't really care who sees my stuff, so she came back and kept me company for, what would be, my very last regular appointment.

On the drive there, Kacy and I were making stupid jokes about questions I should ask the doctor during my appointment. Like...
  • "Okay, so I ate a burrito at lunch and I feel some kicking. I'm not sure if it's gas or if I could possibly be pregnant... what do you think?"
  • "So how does this work from here? Do you knock me out and then the baby comes while I'm sleeping?"
  • "Once the baby is here, what happens? Who is responsible for paying for food and everything... is that something you take care of?"
  • "Wait, so the baby comes out of where??"

You get the idea. We were having a good ol' time coming up with questions, and I wish I could remember them all. This continued well into the visit and we were dying laughing =)

My {wonderful!!} doctor finally came in to do the exam. I was still 3 cm and 80% effaced... {though I had lost my mucus plug while down the shore just after my 37 week appointment... um... grossiest. thing. ever.} She also checked my blood pressure and it was extremely high, like usual. She mentioned it to me and I laughed it off... it's always high! But, this time, she gave me a serious look and said "Don't laugh dear, I'm about to send you to L&D for an induction." I was like "Wait, what???"

To try to lower it a bit, she made me lay down for 15 minutes before taking it again. It was still pretty high, but she decided to let me go home if I agreed to her terms...

  • She was still very concerned about the size of Carter, but she still wanted to try an induction instead of going straight for the c-section {good plan!}
  • My high BP and pre-eclampsia were not helping the situation. At all.
  • At this point my induction was scheduled for July 26th, but she said I wouldn't make it until then.
  • She made me agree to come in on Friday, July 18th at 8am for a blood pressure check. If it was high, I'd be sent directly to Labor and Delivery for an induction.
  • If my BP was considered "safe" on Friday, then my new induction date would be scheduled for Monday, July 21st.

She was actually fighting with me about coming in on Friday morning. Friday, July 18th was my last day of work before my maternity leave started. I kept telling her "I can come in for an appointment in the afternoon!" She was like "this is not a request, you ARE coming first thing in the morning and you will most likely have your baby in 3 days." That's when it finally hit. 3 days. I gave in and agreed to stop working on July 17, 2008.

I remember it being so surreal. "I'm having my baby in 3 days. What do I do?" After 9 months of waiting and waiting, and then waiting some more... it was finally here. In a way, I think sometimes it's better to not know when you might go into labor. For a second, I was sad that the element of surprise was taken away from me. The whole time I was PG, I was wondering what birthday CARTER would pick, not what birthday the doctors would pick for him. But after thinking about it that night, I got excited. No, happy is a better word. Happy for him to come. Happy to know that the end was near. Happy that my baby would be in a healthier environment after delivery because of my high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia. Just.... happy.

More to come...

3 comments:

~Mrs. JMS~ said...

I know exactly what you mean! I wanted Andrew to pick his bday too....not me or the doc.

For someone who plans EVERYTHING this is one thing I was willing to let go of and just enjoy the surprise of it all. Crazziness!

Anonymous said...

Why do the posts of how a baby came into this world make me cry? I'm just way too emotional lately!

Susan F said...

Jenni, you may not remember me from Delaware nesties (skirk429) before I moved down to NC, but I wanted to say hi and I still follow your blog! I gave birth at 38 weeks to a boy in March with the same thing - high blood pressure, lots of swelling and finally induced after a regular appointment. I was kind of sad and scared to be induced, but I was so happy to be done with the swelling and discomfort. And he was 8 pounds 5 ounces, so he was ready :)

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