Week 39 1/2 Update

Well, it is the middle of Week 39 and here's my update... No progress... Today's doctor appointment showed no progress. Shelby still sounds fine and everything. I guess she's just pretty comfortable in there for now.

My doctor made a hospital appointment to have me admitted this Tuesday evening (10/21) for an induction. At that time, they will give me some Cervidil to "ripen" the cervix and then give me Pitocin on Wednesday a.m. to start contractions. In the meantime, I'm trying to find out what I can do NATURALLY progress this along as much as possible.

You may ask yourself, what does "ripen" the cervix mean exactly? Well, I didn't know until I went through a childbirth class so don't feel silly if you don't know. Here's my Cliff Notes version.

When it comes to childbirth, there are two very important concepts: Effacement and Dilation. Effacement is the thinning of the cervix and dilation is the opening of the cervix. Yeah, Desma, that sounds great but what does that mean? Ok, ok... think of a ketchup bottle and a mayonnaise jar. The neck on the ketchup is long and the opening is skinny (0% effacement and 0 cm dilation). Now think of the neck on the mayo. It is short and the opening is wide (100% effacement and 10 cm dilation). During the process of effacement and dilation, the cervix softens (ripens), getting ready for the little one to make its way down the birth canal. If the cervix doesn't soften up and contractions are induced too early, hemorrhaging can occur (which can't be good for mom or baby). There could also be other complications as well.

So basically the cervix has to go from being a ketchup bottle (tall and skinny) to a mayonnaise jar (no neck and wide) for Shelby to drop down in the birth canal and come out. That is why they want me to go in on Tuesday night to take the Cervidil... to ripen the cervix and get it ready for contractions. When Shelby comes out, I should be 100% effaced and 10 cm dilated. When I think of the bottles, it starts to make sense.

So, unless our daughter decides to be a rebel, she should be born 10/22! Wonder if anyone predicted that date... I'll have to look at my notes.