I am now 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant. This past week has not been one that I would want shown as a highlight of my life…ever! In fact I think that the last 10 months should probably just be wiped from my slate come judgement day…all women are allowed the pregnancy waiver, right?
This week has been by far my most trying yet as a mom-to-be. I started having ‘B-H’ contractions, which I fondly refer to as BS contractions cause they hurt like hell and for no reason but to remind you that yes you are still pregnant and yes the real ones are going to hurt a lot worse. AWESOME! I seem to have reverted back to a 3 year old emotionally. I cry when I’m told no, get defiant when I am told what to do, lose everything I touch and often forget that I was the last one to touch it, cry some more for no reason, and have absolutely no idea what I want, but its probably not anything you offer. And to top it all off my body is going through more changes than I can keep track of. My hips are sore and sometimes sort of give out when I get up to walk, yes much like those of an 80 year old woman. My calves, thighs, and butt cramp throughout the night waking me with the thrill of a midnight charlie horse…and my hubby wanders why I wake up grumpy. And the pressure of the baby who has now dropped keeps me from being able to cross my legs, adds a great challenge to putting on socks and pants, and shaving my legs is like the shower Olympics and requires two showers to finish since the water gets cold after finishing one leg. Yes week 39 of pregnancy was absolutely thrilling! As you can imagine when I went for my weekly check up I was just an absolute peach!
I walked into the doctors office, already in a bad mood thanks to my new sleeping habit of 30 minutes rest, wake up with cramp, 20 minutes rest, have to pee and so on. I do not advise morning doctor appointments late in pregnancy because you have not had enough good things happen yet that day to knock you out of the abomination that is waking up in the morning. Needless to say as the smiling receptionist bid me good morning and asked how I was in her jovial over-caffeinated way I resisted the urge to slap the smile off her face and instead gave her a “Oh just great” laced heavily with sarcasm and the most insincere smile I could muster. The poor hubby smiled at her sympathetically; he really has no idea. Once we were in our check up room the nurse asked how I was and I made sure she knew EXACTLY how I was. Tired, too pregnant, and I want you to do whatever is necessary to get this little girl out of me ASAP. She smiled and said she would let the doctor know and took a little too much pleasure in handing me my paper ‘skirt’ and letting me know the doctor will be in shortly. Can’t wait! Nothing beats your weekly maternity check ups! I was praying for good news. The best thing I could hear was ‘congratulations you are 3 cm dilated and should go get your bags and get to the hospital you are going to have this baby!’ I was praying for it! What I got was the complete opposite.
I am not yet dilated. Which translated to me as, the baby isn’t coming this week. I asked her if we could schedule an induction for next Friday, the day after my due date. No, but we will schedule your induction and discuss your options next week when you come in for your 40 week appointment if you have not had her yet. And oh by the way we recommend you have an ultrasound that morning as well, to see how much the baby weighs. Which to me translated as we also want to check the weight of your baby, given the pain you are in she could be bigger that the 7-8 pounds you were promised 4 weeks ago. Then I heard exactly what I needed to hear given the miserable state I was in upon entering that office. The doctor proceeded to inform me that they are not just mean and keeping me miserable and pregnant. She explained that especially with your first baby, you want to as much as you can wait for the baby to be ready to come out. That by inducing too early she could become distressed forcing a c-section, which is not best for me or my baby. We want to let nature run its course as much as we can without interfering for the health of my baby, but also me too. I hadn’t thought about it from that perspective. I hadn’t thought about my baby girl being ready to make her entrance into this world, which is very scary and I don’t blame her for taking her time! I had never felt so selfish in my life. Here I was, wanting to force my baby into the world so that I could be more comfortable. I have officially had my first lesson as a mommy. I have to make sacrifices for my children, and right now this baby needs me to endure some discomfort for another 10 days so that she can be a healthier, happier baby. And given the lifetime of sacrifice and love I have ahead of me what is 10 more days?! So wish me luck as I practice my grin-and-bear it technique, and let nature run its course.
P.S. To all you moms that say it will all be worth it and I will forget all the pain once I hold her in my arms…You Better Be Right! 🙂 And I can’t wait to find out. 🙂