2003-09-03 - 4:31 p.m. - Cycle day: 40 weeks, 3 days

My first post-due-date OB visit brought in the following numbers:

Weight: 140.5 lbs
Blood pressure: 108/75
Fundal height: 40 cm (new nurse)
Fetal heart rate: 155 bpm
Dilation: still 1 cm
Effacement: still 70-80%
Station: -1 to -2

The good news is, even with numbers looking pretty stagnant, Dr. Hippie seemed pretty confident that I'm in good shape and could be on my way at any point - he predicted within the next few days, actually. He said having my cervix be low, soft and thin already was a great sign, especially for a first-timer. He said all we can really do now is just wait for that mysterious, complex chemical interaction to get going and take things the next step.

The bad news is, if I haven't delivered by this time next week, he wants to start talking about ways to help things along. He didn't say exactly what that meant, although he specifically said that he wasn't talking anything as major as pitocin, or anything else that would require an IV. The only other intervention I can think of would be a cervical ripener, and since I'm pretty ripe already, I don't see the good in that. Maybe he means sweeping the membranes or some other non-pharmaceutical tactic. Or maybe not.

I'm not even quite sure how I feel about that. I definitely want to avoid induction, but I also want to avoid a c-section for fetal distress. Part of me questions my body's ability to go into labor, based on the problems I had getting pregnant in the first place. My hormones have been doing their job for the last 40 weeks, but they needed some help prior to that point. I couldn't get pregnant on my own, so it's harder to have faith that I can go into labor on my own. Although the fact that I've made some early progress is an encouraging sign. Heck, I've seen women on A Baby Story go into the hospital when they're less in labor than I am right now. So, for now, I'm trying to focus on the "within the next few days" part of Dr. Hippie's spiel, rather than the "increased risk of meconium aspiration" part of it.

Oh, by the way, I think I forgot to ever mention that my group B strep culture came back negative. That was a massive relief. I think it would be very hard to be at this point and not know my status. It's one less thing I have to worry about.

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