40 weeks - It's my due date!

Well, today has come and (almost) gone with no baby. Not that I really expected to have Thea on her due date, but it's the type of marker that everyone likes to pay attention to and every pregnant woman hopes to have their baby by or at least on the 40th week mark. I think pregnancy would seem like an impossible eternity if there wasn't some type of "end" in sight. However, I'm fully aware that a lot of women go beyond 40 weeks and I will not begin to pretend that I understand how they must feel. My son was born a few days early so there wasn't much waiting involved and certainly no over-due waiting, which is a whole different form of waiting as far as I'm concerned.

Last week Thea's parents arrived from Wyoming and have been patiently waiting. We've spent a little bit of time together but it's not easy for this pregnant lady to get her ol' bones out of the house lately so it's just been a few short-but-sweet visits so far.

I started having regular contractions and cramping about a week ago and they haven't let up at all. ALL NIGHT and most of the day I have them 5-10 minutes apart so I am tired and worn out already, and that's a terrible way to start labor. I keep trying to tell myself that they are doing work and to just be patient and that any time now I will start active labor, but it's discouraging and exhausting none the less. While eating dinner with the IPs and my son on Saturday evening I started having strong contractions every 5 minutes. I timed them for almost an hour and then decided to call my midwife to see what she thought I should do. She thought it was go time and told us to go to the hospital to get checked out. Well, after 2 hours of walking the labor and delivery halls nothing changed. My contractions didn't get longer, stronger, or closer together and my cervix didn't dilate at all, so they sent me home with an Ambien to try and sleep through the pain. Nothing changed the next day, still 5 minutes apart... and then today I woke up and they were 15 minutes apart!!! I was so freakin disappointed. I had a midwife appointment today and she said my cervix was 3cm and 70% effaced, she also stripped my membranes and we had a nice little talk about induction possibilities. We came to the decision that if by 6pm on 11/1/11 if I hadn't gone into labor that she would break my water for me and get this party started! I asked what their protocol is for administering antibiotics and/or pitocin after AROM and she said they don't have any type of time frame and they will just let my body do it's thing. This made me feel good because although I'm confident that my body will start turning these contractions into the real deal and we'll have a baby in no time, it's nice to know that they won't rush me if it doesn't do it quickly. I still hope that I start labor tonight and everything can happen more naturally but considering our circumstances I think this is a good option for us and I'm glad that there is a game plan.

I am very ready to meet this little girl and let her start her life with her family. They've waited so long for her and I'm beyond excited to give her to them. Seriously, BEYOND excited!

So, my bag is packed, Zeppelin is with his dad till Thursday, and I'm ready to "do the labor" (as my sweet 4 year old says). Wish me luck! I'll be sure to update when anything happens.

10/31/11 40 weeks

-Lady Stork.