Are we there yet? (week 39)
"When are you due again?" That's the most popular question at this phase...along with "Have you had the baby yet?" People ask when I'm due, as though that's some sort of indicator. I mean, it is technically, but really once you're at 38 weeks the answer is "could be an hour, could be 3 weeks." It's a bit unnerving, really, because unlike a wedding, or opening night, you have no way of knowing how much time you have left. It's like a surprise party combined with an opening night..."Surprise!! You get to put on a huge show, right NOW!"
And of course then people say, "I'm sure you're more than ready to be done with the pregnancy." It shocks people when I say that I'm fine, actually. Don't get me wrong, my lower back hurts after 5 minutes of cleaning a toilet and I get tired just by getting into my car, but still, yesterday I got allergy shots in Palo Alto, then went to work in SF and saw a director speak and trained my temp a bit, then went to my OB's office to pick up some paperwork in Mt. View, then met up with my sister for coffee and some Xmas shopping, then picked up Mike at Google and came home. I was pretty exhausted but I could do it.
Part of why I did all of that is because at my OB appointment Wednesday my Doctor informed me that I am at 1cm dilated and 70% effaced. Just for some reference, effacement is simply the cervix thinning, and of course the scale is 0 - 100%. Dilation is the cervix opening, and the scale there is 1 - 10cm, although normally after about 5cm your labor is active, women do walk around at 3cm for several days sometimes, so neither of these things mean labor is imminent. However, they do signal that my body is actually preparing to do this birth thing, and probably sooner than 3 weeks from now.
That was kinda shocking to me - I guess I assumed I would just be late, ya know? Which is weird, because anybody who knows me knows that I'm NEVER late, haha. But that's also been my way of not sitting here like a kid waiting for Xmas - "are we there yet? Are we there yet? How about now??" My doctor seemed to imply that I am moving along well, but then she also said that once I'm one week over my due date we could have a discussion about how I was feeling, so who knows? Nobody, it turns out - science has yet to figure out what exactly triggers labor, so your guess is as good as anybody's.
And of course then people say, "I'm sure you're more than ready to be done with the pregnancy." It shocks people when I say that I'm fine, actually. Don't get me wrong, my lower back hurts after 5 minutes of cleaning a toilet and I get tired just by getting into my car, but still, yesterday I got allergy shots in Palo Alto, then went to work in SF and saw a director speak and trained my temp a bit, then went to my OB's office to pick up some paperwork in Mt. View, then met up with my sister for coffee and some Xmas shopping, then picked up Mike at Google and came home. I was pretty exhausted but I could do it.
Part of why I did all of that is because at my OB appointment Wednesday my Doctor informed me that I am at 1cm dilated and 70% effaced. Just for some reference, effacement is simply the cervix thinning, and of course the scale is 0 - 100%. Dilation is the cervix opening, and the scale there is 1 - 10cm, although normally after about 5cm your labor is active, women do walk around at 3cm for several days sometimes, so neither of these things mean labor is imminent. However, they do signal that my body is actually preparing to do this birth thing, and probably sooner than 3 weeks from now.
That was kinda shocking to me - I guess I assumed I would just be late, ya know? Which is weird, because anybody who knows me knows that I'm NEVER late, haha. But that's also been my way of not sitting here like a kid waiting for Xmas - "are we there yet? Are we there yet? How about now??" My doctor seemed to imply that I am moving along well, but then she also said that once I'm one week over my due date we could have a discussion about how I was feeling, so who knows? Nobody, it turns out - science has yet to figure out what exactly triggers labor, so your guess is as good as anybody's.