Welp, if you have been keeping up with my more recent posts, then you know I am pretty overdue to have my baby. And by "pretty overdue" I mean, I am 41 weeks 5 days pregnant and I just had my second midwife appointment since 41 weeks.
As per the plan (which you can find here if you want to hear about it) I was checked for dilation after having 3 nights of Evening Primrose Oil under my belt (no pun intended haha) and guess what? Nada. Nothing. 0. No dilation. She said my cervix is soft, but I am not open at all.
I'm not really sure how I feel about it all. On the one hand, I didn't think I was dilated. Even though I just entered the 10th month of pregnancy, I have not felt much different in terms of my pelvis. I also know that dilation is a crappy method of determining when the baby is coming. Some mom's are dilated to a 4 for weeks. while others are not dilated at all and then give birth that same day. Still though, it would have been nice to have had at least SOMETHING going on down there in terms of dilation. But alas, there is nothing and there is also nothing that I can do to change that.
It obviously was not all bad though (and I am not even sure I would consider my lack of dilation to be a bad thing, but more on that later). My midwife seemed to be surprised by the progress she HAD made since Thursday, and especially since I am not dilated. Her head is significantly lower in my pelvis and when she did check me she seemed surprised at the amount of pressure her head is putting on my cervix, though since I am not open at all, she obviously could not feel her head.
She also let me know that I AM having Braxton Hicks, which I did have sometimes more in the beginning of my pregnancy, but they feel significantly different now, so I didn't recognize them. The only real reason we even found out that I am having them is because I was having one when my midwife was checking her position. She asked me about it and told me it was a contraction. Which, now knowing that, I have been having them every night for at least a week now, and I REALLY have them when I am walking or bouncing on my birth ball and they have increased slightly over the past 2 days.
So here's my theory: I think she just started really moving down over the last 2 days because that is when I started having more contractions during the day instead of just in the evening. I think the Evening Primrose Oil is helping to soften my cervix, but that I was not dilated at all because her head really just started pressing down there in the last two days.
The dilation though, from what I have heard does not seem to really actually matter that much. Some mom's can be dilated to a 4 for weeks without going into labor, and on the contrary some mom's can be closed tight and have their baby the same day. Different bodies make and have babies differently, this is just how my body works best and I am confident that she will come at the perfect time.
In terms of the plan not much has really changed. Obviously I can't get a membrane sweep right now since I am not dilated, so we are not even really thinking about that. Cynthia will be coming out again on Thursday to check things, Friday I am going to get some acupuncture done and Saturday we are going in for a non stress test.
We were really trying to avoid getting more than one ultrasound, but at this point we are in a position of you win some you lose some. All signs point to her being fine right now, but we just want to MAKE SURE before continuing the pregnancy past 42 weeks.
I have to say though, again, being THIS pregnant is a peculiar thing. Not only am I dealing with my own "why is she not here yet" feelings, but I am also having to answer questions from other people. I knew that going past 40 weeks was not common, but I'm learning it's entirely less common than I ever imagined. Not only is it a bit alienating, but there are not really many people who get it. In a world of I want it here, now, fast, quick, and with a cherry on top, not having a medical induction at this point is really hard for anyone to understand, that though is a post for another day.
Until then, just wish me luck and lets hope this little girl makes her appearance soon!
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