Meighen

So after watching my blood pressure rise since my last OB visit on Tuesday she said to head on over to triage this afternoon to start induction. After getting my husband from work we arrived at the hospital around 3:30 and by 6:00 I was given the gel that should get me ready for dilation. I was still only 1 cm by that point. After giving some blood and a couple fetal monitor sessions it’s now 11:00 pm and Ben and I are in a private room waiting for something to happen. It can take up to 24 hours for this goop to kick in. My next check up is at 6:00 am tomorrow so we’ll see what happens.. fingers crossed somethings started by then. If not, I’ll stay put till 6:00 pm tomorrow night and go from there. I’ve started having mild contractions and the baby’s in fantastic condition. It’s just a waiting game for now.

Ben’s Dad stopped by tonight and my sister too (she’s the 2nd support person after Ben). My folks will come down tomorrow and stay at my place till the baby’s here so the dogs aren’t completely alone. I imagine they’ll stop by tomorrow for a quick visit. I bet Mom’s going nuts being so far away right now. She’s already called the hospital once… heh.

So that’s about it for now, gonna try to get some sleep before the nurse comes back to strap me to the fetal monitor again at 2:00 am.

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It’s now noon on Friday and we’re 18 hours into the induction. I didn’t get much sleep last night between fetal assessments and Ben’s snoring. At least one of us will be well rested when my body kicks in. Needless to say nothing’s happened yet. I’m achy and having mild irregular contractions but no sign of baby coming soon. 6:00 pm will be the 24 hour mark and they’ll do an exam to see if I’m dilating and if not, decide the next course of action.

There would be a line up for inductions today!

Saw the anesthesiologist this morning and all she did was go over what’s involved with the epidural. I’ve read enough and took the class so I really didn’t get any new information. We then waddled (well I waddled, Ben walked) over to the OB to see if she was going to induce today. Apparently there’s a line up of women who are being induced today and it’s quite busy. She said since my blood pressure is back to normal I’d just be at the bottom of the list and why wait there if I could go home. So, I’m to call her around 5pm and she’ll let me know if there’ll be room this evening. If not, I have an appointment with her on Friday at 9am (if I don’t go into labour on my own by then). She’ll probably arrange for the induction either Friday or during the weekend.

Regardless.. baby is coming soon!!
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Well the doc called at 5:30 and said the line up for inductions was going down but they were expecting a few more ladies to arrive today. She said she’d try to call around 7:30 and we’d make a decision. It’s 8:15 and we’re still waiting for the call.

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We never got the callback last night so we’ll wait till Friday when we see her again. Hopefully she’ll do it then. I’m really tired of this.. “Let’s induce.. come back in a few days”. I’ve been hearing that for almost every appointment the last few weeks.

So today’s ultrasound was fine (as were the last four over the past couple weeks) and my blood pressure is still a bit high but waaaay better than before. I see the anathesiologist tomorrow as “pre-admission” then my OB wants me to swing by her office. Since I’m not really dialating (still one cm) she might start the induction tomorrow (she’s on call so I may not even see her). She thinks it would be a long induction… can’t wait. Luckily I won’t need the IV till I’m actually in labour so that’s comforting. That and I heard you’re not allowed to eat (just ice chips) during induction, she squashed that myth too! Good thing we’re downtown – Ben can keep me fed.

If I’m not induced soon she said they won’t let me go more than a day or two over my date (she goes by June 30) since baby’s a good size and my bp is still a bit high. Mom seems to think my feet have been turning colours so I told the doc about that too.

We’ll see what happens… but by this time next week we’ll probably have her or be having her.

We’re down to one week till our due date (June 28) and I just got back from five days in Brighton. Seeing that I finished work on June 13 Mom felt I needed a week in the country relaxing with my beagle before becoming a Mom myself. I had a nice visit with lots of mother/daugther talks.. something I’ll be doing myself in the future with my little girl. We toured around Price Edward County, had lunch at the Waupoos Winery, drove around Presquille Provincial Park and got a hair cut (back to short short). Although it was nice to be pampered and looked after for a week I’m glad to be home with my husband and stuff.

My next OB and ultrasound (enough already!!) is on Monday and I think I’ve progressed over the past week – we’ll see what she says. Hopefully I don’t go too far past my due date. While one part of me is anxious to get her out and have my body back but I’m also glad she gets to develop a little more and come when she’s ready. I’ve read that inductions come with a higher chance of C-section (something I’m trying really hard to avoid).

I can’t believe we’re still getting gifts!! We got two amazing gift bags of ointments, lotions, a breast pump and accessories from my cousin and his wife. Since I’m already leaking all over the place I’m confident breast feeding won’t be a problem. If she doesn’t latch at least we have the pump to ensure she’s getting lots of good ol’ breast milk. I really don’t want to do formula but if it comes down to it, what can we do?

Some of the ladies at Ben’s office threw him a little shower this past week and also gave us an amazing gift bag including the famous “Sophie the Giraffe”, the softest receiving blanket ever, a couple books and plush squeaky toy. That’s very sweet and generous of them considering he’s only been there a couple months. While in Brighton Mom picked up our baby’s first Roots sweater (so cute) and Roots bag. Those who know Mom know she loves the high quality paper bags you get at certain stores (Roots, Starbucks, etc.)

That’s about it for now! We’re fully stocked, packed and ready to go when baby is.

I had another OB/US today and things are fine. Blood pressure is back to normal and the baby’s ok. Still in position and breathing with a good heart beat. They’re estimating she’s at 8.21 lbs already and will likely only gain another half pound in the next two weeks. So, there’s no need to induce at this point and I could be stuck waiting it out till she arrives on her own. I’m so over being pregnant I hope it’s sooner than later. I’ll lose my mind if I’m overdue!

Now that I’m officially on mat leave and the nursery’s done I’m going a bit mental sitting around. I might take off for a few days and come back this weekend. I’m supposed to go back to the OB on Friday but I’m personally getting sick of multiple visits and ultrasounds each week – what’s the point? Nothing’s changing, everything’s been fine and when things weren’t fine they still didn’t induce. I’ll probably cancel Friday and rebook for Monday. If anything changes and I go into labour on my own I’ll just book it to the hospital. Since baby’s fine I should really worry about my mental state or lack thereof.

Yet another OB/US today. The baby wasn’t very active during the first ultrasound today so they had me drink more juice and redo shortly after. That still didn’t work very well – she was too busy sucking on her toes! She’s breathing great (well simulating breathing) and her heartbeat is strong so they’re not too worried. I feel her move lots in the afternoon and evenings. The amniotic fluid level is getting low but not at the dangerous level. I go back for another US on Monday to check fluid.

After that I saw my OB. She said if my blood pressure was still high she might induce me this weekend. Well it was 147 (higher than last time) but she said to come back on Monday … whuhuh? So, no baby this weekend. She said to monitor my BP at Shoppers this weekend and if it’s over 140 to go to triage at the hospital. Well, if it’s 147 now and she said come back on Monday why would I go rushing to the hospital if it stays the same this weekend? I figure unless it jumps to 160 or something I’ll just stay put this weekend and see her again on Monday. Either way my bag is packed and ready to go! Oh yeah – I’m also 1 cm dilated so far. It’s not huge progress but at least my body’s started getting ready for labour all by itself!

So much for seeing the OB weekly after 36 weeks, I get to see mine twice a week! The blood pressure was a bit high today, nothing alarming but she wants me to go back on Friday for another reading, another bio-physical ultrasound (to check baby’s condition) and possible exam to see if I’ve started naturally progressing towards labour (had a few symptoms). Not sure what’ll happen if my BP is still high… possible induction? She can come whenever she likes – the nursery is done!

This is my last semi-week of work. I’m in today, Wednesday and Friday and I’m done! I just gotta get my maternity benefits enrolled online and keep them updated on my status.

I’m very thankful she’s a June baby. I couldn’t imagine being this pregnant in August! The heat has been unbearable and sleeping with this belly has been even tougher. Our central air went down a few weeks ago and we’re getting a new one (and furnace) put in tomorrow – wohoo! No way would I be on mat leave all summer with no air!

That’s about it. If anything does down I’ll be sure to post.

Well we’re done! Ben hung the last few things in the nursery last night and we’re ready for baby! I’ve added pics on Facebook and the photo album here. We love the room! Ben jokes that he wants to move back in – purple, flowers and all.

Last night we unpacked the video monitor and gave it a try. It’s pretty cool – thanks again Aunt Kathy! We just need to mount it in on the wall for a nice ariel shot of the crib and we’re set. My Aunt’s also ordered us the bassinet – she’s spoiling us rotten! I spoke with my cousin’s wife yesterday and their gift to us is a breast pump. The company she works for does pumps so we’re getting a nice little gift pack of stuff. Ah the days of having a company product stock room – how I miss it!

So, all is done. The nursery is ready to go, all clean and fully stocked! My next OB is on Monday and I’m hoping to put in three days of work next week before starting mat leave on the 17th. I’m now 37 weeks along and baby can come whenever she likes, we’re ready!

Tonight I took myself shopping! Today was my baby shower at work and I got a lovely Babies’R'Us gift certificate. Right after dinner I waddled out to the stores. I got a couple things from B’R'U that I couldn’t find elsewhere and am saving the rest for either a bassinet or breast pump (might be able to borrow both from my cousin). I then went over to Wal-Mart to pick up a whole bunch of small things – baby sleeping wedge, matress covers, fitted sheets, washclothes, towels, more burp pads, head hugger and more! Tomorrow I’m going to hit Sears with the last of the that gift certicate for the stroller sheild, change pad and covers. We’re almost there! Nursery wise, I just have to get a few things hung and we’re all done. I put up the flower and butterfly decals last night and will get the rest of the things organized in there tomorrow on my day off. When Ben gets home he can hang and we can call it a finished nursery! I’m so excited.

Well it’s June now, that means we’re probably having a baby this month! Craziness.. the end is near. Thankfully!!

I can’t really complain. This has been a smooth, problem free (except for last weeks blip), and easy pregnancy. This past week and a half my feet have been swelling and it’s really hard to roll over in bed but otherwise it’s been really good!

I went to work yesterday and half of Monday and go back tomorrow. I’ve got two days off this week and two – three next then I’m done! Tomorrow’s my work shower. I know they got me a gift certifiate to somewhere but not sure where. Once I know I can head out and get the rest of the baby’s stuff. I can’t wait to shop again hehe. Having a baby means a lot of shopping (if you do it a bit at a time) and it’s so fun – specially for a little girl.

The nursery is looking fantastic, it’s totally amazing. I’m so pleased with it! All the things are almost set up and put in their place. I was hoping to finish tonight but last night Ben tore off half a toenail and was in no condition to be hobbling around putting hanging things in the baby’s room. He’ll do that tomorrow and being off on Friday I’ll probably spend a few hours in there making sure it’s all in place. Then I’ll post pictures in the photo album here and in Facebook. I can’t wait to show it off!! I also can’t wait to show Mom when she’s down for Father’s Day. Without her a lot of it wouldn’t have been possible (painting, reno advice, some baby items she picked up). Actually without our friends and family it wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you everyone who came to the shower and have helped us with hand-me-downs. We appreciate it!