our little man

11.07.2006

40 week appointment

we had our appointment this afternoon and actually ended up not scheduling an induction afterall. dr. bitler had made it sound as though she would definitely schedule one if i made it to my appointment this week, but i saw dr. o'hare today and she didn't think it was necessary yet if i wanted to wait it out a bit longer. ideally, i'd love to go into labor on my own - so waiting a little longer is ok with me as long as its ok with her. she listened to the heartbeat (140 bpm) which she found a lot lower on my belly this time, so at least he seems to be making some downward progress. during the internal exam, she spent some time stripping my membranes, which is basically a term for an aggressive exam - "The provider will sweep a finger in a circular motion between the cervix and the amniotic membranes. Studies have found that more women go into labor after their membranes are stripped than if no such intervention has taken place; however, many women find this a painful procedure." it certainly wasn't comfortable - a lot of pressure and some cramping, but it wasn't especially painful - and it was over in just a minute. who knows if that will help speed things along, but it doesn't hurt to try.

we talked about the next step, and since i would like to give ben a bit more time to pick his own birthday, she said to go ahead and schedule an appointment for next week. she wants to see me monday, and if we make it to that appointment, she will schedule an induction for tuesday morning. so even though we didn't actually schedule anything today, we did leave with an "at the latest" date. it's nice to see that definite end in sight. she also said that she would be really surprised if we made it that far - in fact, she said she expects to see us back in tonight or tomorrow while she's on call at the hospital. i'm not being quite that optimistic, but its nice to hear it. maybe we'll be able to go into labor naturally after all.

posted at 5:46 PM by aimee // 0 comments