Weird Week

Is it weird that I picture my baby wearing an all white suit, holding a microphone, and belting out Boyz II Men "End of the Road" inside my uterus? Because that's how I see this kid right now.

"Although we've come to the end of the road, still I can't let go."

And I all want to say is "Let go, kid, let go! It's time to come out!"

It's been a very interesting week. Last Friday, I went in for my 39 week appointment.I wasn't dilated at all. My blood pressure was unusually high (140/100). My doctor explained that pre-eclampsia was a possibility. He instructed me to collect all my urine for 24 hours in a weird jug on Saturday, and to turn it in to the hospital on Sunday to have my protein count analyzed. If my protein was too high and my blood pressure remained high, then I would have to be induced that day.

This all freaked me out. I have been trying to avoid induction and pre-eclampsia was a scary thought. I felt like we were running out of time to get everything ready! It was a pretty stressful Saturday, thinking about everything. Luckily, Jordan was as cool as a cucumber about the whole thing. He even took my blood pressure himself on Saturday and told me that it was totally normal.  On Saturday, we decided to have a nice date since there was a chance we would have a kid soon. Because of all the outstanding reviews we heard about it, we saw the Lego Movie. (I was amazed that Jordan agreed without any hesitation. He normally groans when I make him "watch cartoons" with me.) It was really funny. We both laughed out loud quite a few times and it made me excited to play with legos with our boy someday. Then we got some delicious pizza.

Sunday morning came and we went to the hospital for the blood pressure test and urine analysis. My blood pressure was totally normal, and my protein level was just fine. Phew! Glad I worried about it for two days straight! Sheesh.

On Tuesday, I decided to take a walk to try to jiggle this baby out. On my way home, I lost my footing and fell forward. I landed on my hands first, but my belly did hit the ground, too. I was a little shaken, but otherwise ok. I called my doctor's office to report the fall and asked if I needed to do anything. My doctor's nurse said that the protocol was to go to the hospital (maternity triage) and have fetal monitoring done since I was 39 weeks along. I immediately went to the triage unit and felt like an idiot.

Triage nurse: Can I help you?
Me: Yeah, uh....I fell down on the ground and was told to come here...
Nurse: Oh! Are you OK??? Did you land on your stomach?
Me: Kinda?
Nurse: Any cramping? Contractions? Headaches? Discharge? Bleeding?
Me:....no....
Nurse: Did you hurt yourself?
Me:....um....no....
Nurse: OK....anything feel wrong?
Me:.....uh....no... I was just told to come here.

I was hooked to a fetal monitor for about 40 minutes and everything looked fine. Once I got the go ahead, I was able to leave. The next walk I went on, I was extra careful and aware of my footing.

Yesterday, I went in for my 40 week appointment. Once again, I was not dilated at all. D'oh! My doctor explained what the foley cervical balloon is and I agreed to try it out (we have been discussing this balloon for several visits). Basically, it's a medical balloon that they insert into the cervix and then fill with saline. Then it just sits there and the pressure of the balloon helps "ripen" the cervix (ew) to help make it dilate and prepare for delivery. I started having contractions shortly after I got home, but then they went away. We will see if anything exciting happens. Stay tuned...

So that was my week. We are hoping this kid will come soon!