Yesterday's Visit

The visit to the doctor yesterday was not quite as encouraging as I had hoped but thankfully Adelaide's still as healthy as ever. I had to have an ultrasound done and a non-stress test (NST). The ultrasound showed that the placenta looked fine, there was plenty of fluid, and Adelaide looks like she's around 7 lbs. 2 oz according to the measurements (of course the sonographer said that could be off by a pound or so). We got to see her face which looks like she's got my big baby cheeks. Unfortunately the pictures aren't very good or I would post them.

After the sono, I went into the NST room. It was nice and comfy. I sat in a recliner with my feet propped up. They hooked me up to an external fetal monitor and gave me OJ to get Adelaide moving. I just sat there and pushed a game show like buzzer any time I felt her move. Rocky and I just sat there for about 20 minutes while the machine recorded Adelaide's heartrate and my contractions (of which there were none). The nurse came in and said the strip couldn't have looked better. She was very reactive which means her heartrate goes up when she's active and slows again when she's chillin'. The doc said this means she's still thriving from the placenta.

All that was definitely good news. The not so encouraging part was when they did my exam. Since I'd lost my mucous plug last week, I was hoping that I'd be dilated a bit more. However, Chalasani said I'm still just dilated to a 1 and that my cervix is not favorable. The problem with this is that if that have to induce (which is becoming more and more a likelihood every second) that they'd have to not only put me on pitocin, but they'd have to get me on a cervix ripener first. This would mean all night on that drug and then potentially all day on pitocin. Definitely not ideal especially for the birth plan. The doctor said it would probably be a very long and hard labor. She didn't beat around the bush at all.

So that's definitely the discouraging part. Making a decision about when to induce, if we should wait it out, what drugs to use, etc. I'm definitely still hoping that things happen on their own but am beginning to give up hope of that. The doctor did strip my membranes yesterday which combined with sex (yes, this is what she told us) will soften up the cervix. It works about 50% of the time anyway. She almost didn't do it cause she didn't want to hurt me, but I told her to try it. Why not? It wasn't really bad at all, like a really uncomfortable annual exam. She said I was tough and that she was surprised it didn't bother me more.

Chalasani was very encouraging. She said she'd pressure us if she felt it our decision thus far wasn't a good one, but she feels confident in us waiting since Adelaide's so healthy. I've got to go back in on Friday for the same tests. If everything looks the same, it sounds like she's gonna want to do the induction on sunday night. This is where we'll have to make a decision-- hold out against her wishes hoping that things will progress or just go with it. It looks like Adelaide's size isn't going to be the issue. She's most likely around 8 lbs. right now.

Right now we're researching induction medications. The one Chalasani recommended isn't approved for induction so that freaks us out a bit and once it's given there's no turning back (unlike pitocin which has a 10-15 minute half life) so we're trying to figure out which would be best. We are major dorks but just want to do what's best for all of us.