almost there!

So we had our 39 week appointment this morning.  I can't believe I only have one more OB appointment!  Wowza.  I'm at the same time very ready not to be pregnant anymore and really surprised that the long awaited moment is almost here.

I didn't gain any weight since my last appointment and my blood pressure is "great."  His heart is still beating, she didn't say anything about it so I'm assuming all is well.  I forgot to ask about how big he is.  I wanted to see what she would estimate his weight, but we got to talking about the whole birthing process.

I wanted to ask her what she thought about the directive pushing vs. laboring down since I hadn't heard of laboring down.  On "A baby story" I've only seen directive pushing so I knew what that was.  It wasn't so much that I wanted to ask her permission, but just her opinion since she's delivered tons of babies and she'll be delivering mine. 

My doctor explained that it just depends on how the labor is going.  I guess some doctors keep upping the medications and say that they are letting their patients "labor down" while they run errands, but she doesn't do that.  If the woman can feel the contractions she encourages her to go with it, but if you have an epidural sometimes you can't feel it.  She said that she likes to wait or turn off the epidural so the woman can feel some pressure, which makes pushing easier and that sounds good to me.  She also said that if you're not having an epidural you can give birth in any position you want, but if you have an epidural your options are pretty limited, they don't do walking epidurals at my hospital.  She mentioned that epidurals have really changed the whole process of giving birth and lead to more interventions, which is pretty common knowledge.

I like the idea of not having any medications, but I'm not against getting an epidural.  If I happen to be a freak of nature and end up progressing really quickly it would be great to go natural.  What is more likely to happen is that I will get induced and labor for 18+ hours.  In that case I will definitely go the epidural route.  I'm just not into pain that much and I don't feel prepared to be in excruciating pain for days.  It's going to suck either way, but I would like it to suck less thankyouverymuch. 

Maybe the next one will come quicker and I'll know what contractions feel like and I'll go au naturale.  Every birth is different and every woman is different.  Any woman who carries around a babe in her womb and goes through the process of getting that baby out (whatever that may be, they all sound pretty bad to me) deserves a metal and some serious props.  I have really come to respect those women who decide to give their baby up for adoption.  That's an incredible sacrifice to go through all that for a baby you won't get to raise.

On Monday we will set a date for the induction which will be either February 21 or 22.  Of course if he comes before that on his own that would be fabulous, but the risk of fetal death increases after the due date and the doctor doesn't want to risk it unless I really want to wait, which I do not.  My mom is coming on February 23 and I'd love to be on my way home when she gets here so we can take full advantage of her help.  I have to learn how to take care of the little guy after all.  Luckily she has lots of experience in baby care and breastfeeding.

I'm going to be a mom in two weeks (or less)! Can you believe it?  I can't.