Last weekend we were saying how there was no way that Eric would hold off until the 14th, but I guess every once in awhile even we are wrong. :) Of course, not thinking that he would reach the due date, we thought it even less likely that I would still be pregnant on Mauri's birthday today. We had always laughed about how they could share a birthday. Now, though, it's looking like even that isn't going to happen unless things pick up pretty quickly.
We've been keeping busy with the basement and garage. Maybe Eric has decided to wait because he figures it will give us more time to get everything fixed up before he's born. He doesn't realize, though, that the sooner he is born, the more time he will get to spend with his daddy before he has to go back to work on the boat.
On Tuesday I went to the hospital in the morning for my first monitoring session and due date check-up. Although my first appointment was at 8:45, and there were a few other couples already waiting there when we arrived, they didn't start with the appointments until around 9:15. (So, maybe the problem is that Eric has a few too many Spanish genes, and is following typical Spanish timing. Had he been more punctual, like his mother, he would have been born right on his due date!)
Anyways, they called in 4 couples at once for monitoring. There were 4 small rooms with cots and monitors, and I was told to go wait in one of them. The nurse eventually came in and hooked me up to the monitor, which has 2 sensors that are strapped to your belly. One of the sensors, placed low on the belly, is basically like a doppler, and detects and baby's heartbeat. The other sensor is placed a bit higher, and it detects the contractions. Both are recorded on a graph. The nurse asked me if I had eaten, and I said that I hadn't, just in case. So, she gave me a glass of juice to get the baby moving a bit.
I was having contractions that morning, so we watched the graph as each one went by. We noticed that the baby's heart rate would slightly drop during the contractions, but would go back up when they were over.
The nurse came back and took my blood pressure, which was once again slightly high. I told her that it had gone up over the last 2 weeks or so, so she left the cuff on me, and came back a few times to re-check. My bp stayed around 130/90, but they decided that it was OK.
After about 30 minutes or so of monitoring, I was starting to get uncomfortable in the cot. Not only was there a pole on one side, which allows for an IV solution to be hung, that kept getting in my way, but there wasn't any place to rest your arms on either side of the narrow cot. With my hands hanging down, I could feel them swelling up even more than they already were. I looked across to the girl in the room across from me, and she seemed to be just as uncomfortable, and just as fidjety with her arms. Mauri came to my rescue, and stood by the cot and let me rest my arms on his. Luckily, the nurse came and unhooked me from the monitors. She told me to go wait outside for my 2nd appointment, but that it would probably be awhile.
I was supposed to have my second appointment at 10:00, but it was already after 10, and my turn didn't come for another half hour or so. Finally, I was called in to see the doctor. I was a little worried because I saw it was the male doctor who I have had at the last couple of ultrasound appointments. Like I have probably said before, I don't dislike him, but he isn't exactly gentle, either, and can sometimes cause a little more pain than I think is actually necessary. I have many times imagined that I would get stuck with him at the actual time of birth, and that he would impatiently just yank Eric out of me.
When we went in, the doctor was grumbling about how slow the computer system was, and how it just shouldn't be like that. He was typing my information into the system, and the assistant had me go into a small bathroom to get ready for an exam. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about having the exam with this particular doctor, but it was over before I knew it. Mauri seemed to be a bit taken aback by how abrupt the doctor's movements were too, and I have to admit that even I was a bit surprised. On the other hand, like I said, it was so quick and to the point, that I barely knew that the exam had been done. About 10 seconds after the exam had started, I was told that it was done, and to move to the other cot for an ultrasound.
One thing I do like about this doctor, despite his dry, apparently conceited personality and less-than-gentle handling of his patients, is that he does seem geniunely interested in obtaining a view of the face of the baby for the mother, and he has no problem printing out multiple pictures for her to take home. As usual, he rested his arm on my leg, and quickly ran through all of the measurements, giving a quick explanation of some of what we were looking at. I have had so many of these by now, though, that I really don't need much of an explanation anymore. :)
So, with that, we were finished. The doctor gave me a new appointment for next Tuesday, and told me we would do the same thing next week if I don't go into labor before then. After the next appointment, the exams get closer and closer together, every 2-3 days, until I hit the 42 week point, at which they will induce me if Eric hasn't been born by then. So, I have less than 2 weeks to go now, no matter what happens.
We quickly left to go head to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Mauri and I were both really hungry after being stuck in appointments all morning. On our way there, though, I got a surprise.
When she hadn't been at the last 2 classes, and the midwife had told me that the girl "that I had been talking to" had had her baby already, I had assumed it was her who had already given birth. It turns out, though, that she was there for her 41 week appointment, and was saying that she couldn't take any more!! (She hadn't been going to classes because she was just too tired!) I couldn't help but laugh when I saw her, and I told her how I thought that she had already had her baby weeks ago.
She also told me that she wasn't looking forward to her appointment because she knew it was with the doctor that I had just seen. She said that he's good, but very "bruto" (rough). I was glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who thought the same thing. Mauri then said that he thought the doctor was lacking a bit of friendliness. Truthfully, he had been very dry at that visit. Both the other girl and I agreed that it really depended on the day, though. Like I said, on the one hand, he barely said anything to us during the visit unless we speifically asked, but on the other hand, he tried to get good pictures of the baby's face for me (even though I'm really close to being able to see him in person), something that not even the private doctor had done at the last visit.
So, hopefully, her appointment went well, and she won't have that much longer to wait. Maybe we'll even be at the hospital together (hopefully soon). It's looking more and more likely now.
Mauri and I headed to the cafeteria to eat a very late breakfast, and then went home to go back to work on the basement and garage.
Since then, things have been pretty much the same. I've been having some strong contractions today, but they are irregular. I'm getting to the point that I don't pay any attention to them, because they never seem to mean anything, and just try to get through them. Hopefully I'll know when the time comes... or maybe I will wake up some night to the baby crying between my legs and the umbilical cord still attached!
My emails don't say much anymore, because it's assumed that my baby is already formed, and most likely born by now. I did see that 7 out of 10 girls have had their babies by the end of their due date. Seeing as I'm not one of them, we'll see if I am lucky enough to be one of the 9 out of 10 girls who have had their baby by week 41! hmmmm
I guess we'll just have to wait...
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