Harumph

I had my last OB appt today. No progress. I am still one cm dilated and 50% effaced. Baby is at -3 station And the baby is still head down, but has flipped from side-facing to sunny side up. The OB "changed" my induction date which annoyed me. For weeks, we have discussed December 2, but now we are on definitely on the hospital schedule for next Friday Dec. 5. Meanwhile, starting on Monday, I go in once or twice a day for cervical ripening. Such fun.

Thankfulness

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued the following proclamation [in part]:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. . . . No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

I have been so incredibly blessed this year- not only with a baby on the way, but also a husband who loves me, a family who cares for me, and material wealth and security so far beyond what most of the world's population can even imagine. With gratitude in my heart, I give thanks beyond what words can speak.

Alpha and Omega

On Thursday, I sent out two cards. Interestingly enough, both to the same town in Texas to two families who don't know each other and probably never will.

The first is to celebrate the joyous arrival of Benjamin. I can't tell you how excited I am that this little ivf miracle is here. His mama and I have "known" each other online for over two years. I imagine that one day our babies will finally get to meet and play together.

The other card was a sympathy card for a family who lost a beautiful 31-year-old woman. Although I knew her only through her sister-in-law who is my friend, I felt a certain connection because I knew she was "one of us"- an infertile. I didn't know all the details, but knew how long they had tried and didn't seek medical treatment. I often wondered how she dealt with the news of both of her sisters-in-law being unexpectedly pregnant within minutes of their weddings even though they were married years after she was. This year, they finally decided to pursue more testing and found out that she had severe endometriosis. So severe that a hysterectomy was recommended-ending all hope for a biological child. What a blow that must have been. But her infertility journey was not to end there. Tragically, during surgery her aorta was punctured and she bled to death. And now her young husband is left only with grief.


A beginning and an end.

Last day of work

and still have on heels (albeit a fairly boring pair of 2.5 inch T-strap Mary Janes).

Inching along

Well, centimeters actually, but that doesn't work well in verb form. I am 1 cm dilated and the OB could feel the baby's head. I had a handful of mild contractions on the NST. My fluid ultrasound was a robust 14. The OB is concerned about the size of my "very narrow" and "triangulated" pelvis (oh and hadn't she mentioned this before?- um no, but thanks). So, she launched into the c-section spiel- how I shouldn't be surprised or disappointed if it ended up that way. SHe was doing quite the job of letting me down easy.

I quickly reassured her that I am not one of those women that has any particular notions about my "birth experience"- just get 'er done. The baby is of a size not to be concerned with a vaginal delivery, but she is concerned about the big head (I am blaming DH for that one) fitting through my narrowness. I have had a feeling all along that a c-section was the mode I woud be going, so I wish we could just schedule it now. Anyhow, at next week's appointment, we are to "make a plan" depending on what the ol' cervix is up to.

Full term

Yup, 37 weeks today. It's so surreal to think we are going to have a baby in less than two weeks' time.

Planning Conception and OB update

Last Thursday, I had my final appointment with the pregnancy and diabetes clinic. As part of the spiel, they went over my risk for type II diabetes in later life and gestational diabetes in subsequent pregnancy. The nurse gave me a rather long lecture aout how important it is to have my blood sugars in line at conception and through 10 weeks because of the risk of neural tube defects. She advised that "the minute" I go off birth control, I have the OB test my fasting levels. Umm, yeah, like I am going on birth control and like I have any idea at the possibility, not to even mention, the actual timing of a subsequent conception. I was trying not to snicker because she was so earnest.


Last Friday's OB appointment included my first cervical check which hurt more than I believed possible. No dilation going on, but I did have a contraction (which I didn't feel) on the NST.

Not a ten-pounder

I had my growth ultrasound today. Baby was at 67th percentile again and estimated to be 6 lbs. 10 oz. Baby is still measuring about two weeks ahead overall, but that huge head is at over 39 weeks. The head is already a little over 9 cm. I am not sure how that is going to work since dilation only goes up to 10 cm?

But at least we are talking more like an 8 lb baby if I go to December 2, which is only THREE weeks from today. The very cool thing is I got to see baby "practice breathing." And I had a significant contraction on the NST today, so that was something new.

NSTs

Rachel asked for a description of NSTs, so here is a rundown.

The nurse puts two straps around or a belly band (they used the belly band at the hospital). Two monitors are used; they are basically just plastic discs of a few inches in diameter connected by wires to a machine. The first is placed high and measures uterine contractions, the second they use the ultrasound gel and aim for baby's heartbeat based on what we know of positioning of baby. The monitor plots on the same page both the baby's heartrate and uterine activity- think a printout like an ekg.

Increased heartrate indicates movement, so they are looking for a certain number of increases within a specified time. If the baby isn't showing movement, which is often the case with me because of the time of the test (too bad I couldn't do these at about 8 p.m.), they have me drink cold water (juice would be ok for non-gd situations) to get baby moving. After about 30 minutes, if the nurse thinks there has been sufficient movements (they usually make me go 45 minutes, at least, due to my sleepy baby) she will tear off the printout and bring it to an OB to review. Often, the monitor will not show the actual movements I feel, especially with the straps rather than the band because the baby's movement actually causes the monitor not to pick up the change in heartrate. Even if baby is not terribly cooperative with the accelerations in heartrate, it is reassuring to hear that thump-thump for so long.

I am sure the sperm were really relaxed

I had my usual fluid check ultrasound on Friday, but had a new tech. She commented on the bruises from my insulin injections and also the scars from the gall bladder surgery (rather impertinent, but she said, she "didn't want to hurt me"). After explaining both, I commented that this hadn't been an uneventful pregnancy and I threw in, as I often do, that it had been a while in coming. She then asked if we had done fertility treatments. Not one to be shy about infertility when asked, I explained that we had but that this baby was a result of an unassisted cycle just prior to a planned ivf cycle.

Then, she made the cardinal sin of saying, "That happens a lot. I think it's because people relax." I replied with the sarcasm dripping as loudly as I could get the faucet going, "Since our infertility was exclusively male factor, I guess it was that the sperm just needed to relax in order to multiply sufficiently." She actually said, "That must have been it." And she meant it.

I really hope I don't get her again.

Show and Tell through Cross-Pollination

Today's post is from a guest blogger, courtesy of the Great Blog Cross-Pollination set up by Geohde. Check her blog for a list of participants, and from there try to guess who wrote this post and leave your guess in the comments. And THAT is where you'll actually find Mrs Shoes today.

Show & Tell: The Table

Awhile back I shared some souvenirs we brought back from the 2 years we lived in the Middle East. Today I'm showing and telling about the gift I got for my husband's birthday in 1998, from the souk in Damascus.

It's just a table.


That opens up.

For cards.

Or checkers or chess.

Or backgammon.

Mostly, it's a decoration. We haven't had time for such games in, oh, 7 years or so.

For more Show & Tell, check with Lollipop Goldstein the teacher.

Advent

From Wikipedia:

Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming") is a season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, in other words, the period immediately before Christmas.

Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming. Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure as they await the second coming of Christ.

Advent begins on November 30 this year. The Christmas season and especially the waiting nature of Advent has always been a special time for me. Even though I am now in my (ahem) mid-thirties, I love the wonder and magic of the anticipation. Not just for the presents (although I am quite the gift lover), but the feeling of something coming. The music in church during Advent is my favorite and I truly do see the change in strangers faces as get closer and closer to the celebration of Christmas, even those who do not celebrate it as Christ's birth.

I realized a few weeks back that this year I won't be experiencing much of Advent since I will be home with baby. (And I am of the old-fashioned ilk who won't want to take baby out for a while.) Baby will go to church for the first time on Christmas Eve.

But that sense of Advent, of anticipation, of coming, has been present for me in the form of this baby. The last few weeks of pregnancy are my own personal Advent where I wait "expectantly." So many questions, so many hopes and dreams. All on the verge of being realized. It makes me remember what Mary must have felt as she prepared for the blessing of her miracle child (whom mine can in no way compare, of course). And like Mary, I have "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 2:19)

Stubborn (like mama?)

Our child is most uncooperative at these NSTs. The nurses tsk-tsk at me as if I have anything to do with it. The baby's heartbeat is always very strong and steady, but often the monitor does not show the change in heartrate associated with movement, despite the very strong kicks to the ribs that I experience. So, they make me lie there what it seems like forever and suck down cold water as if I was in the Sahara. And without fail, as soon as the nurse sighs at the not-so-stellar monitor strip and removes it to be checked by the doctor, the little bugger does all kinds of neat patterns on the monitor strip.