Due Date Update

Excerpted from an e-mail to my wonderful mother-in-law. If you're not into the details of pregnancy and labor, you may find this TMI. In that case, skip it. Suffice to say I'm in a lot of pain for part of the day, it's not labor, but we hope labor is coming SOON.

The time is definitely getting close. And none too soon! The baby likes to drop in the evenings and crawl back up in the mornings. When she's dropped, her weight plus her tendency to work out for a few hours around dinnertime makes my life Very Painful! She's exacerbated my leftover tissue damage from celiac disease, and every day (especially as she gets bigger) it hurts worse. Last night, I couldn't walk for at least an hour if not longer, I was in so much pain! It's definitely not labor however, but it means I can't wait for labor to start. It seems to be predictable in the evenings but she can drop and kick/punch low at any time, meaning I never know when it's going to start or for how long. I'm happy for her though, she is getting in her exercise! So I tend to laugh through the groans! =)

Yesterday, the doctor said I am just barely dilated and 40% effaced. It could still be days however before labor begins, so the doctor tried something that tends to speed up the process. She's not sure it'll work in my case but I'm hopefull! I don't think I can take many more evenings of increasingly painful poundings. Happily, this morning I "lost the mucus plug", which can also happen days before labor (or not at all, but when it does occur is definitely a pre-labor sign). Hurray!

Regardless, if she doesn't come on her own, we are scheduled for an induction at [the hospital] at 7:30 AM next Saturday. I think she'll come before then on her own, but just in case. James and I would go into the hospital at 7:30 on Friday night and stay over, and the baby would probably be born Saturday afternoon (at the earliest) or overnight.