36+ Weeks

Last Sunday marked my 36 week check point. I had my doctor's appointment yesterday and things are looking just great. Every time I go to the doctor I feel blessed that I don't have any complications or things to stress over. I know some people look for the excitement of high blood pressure or breeched baby just to get their baby out sooner but I really feel grateful that I never have any of those problems. At this check up they monitored the baby's heart rate for 30 minutes and it looked great. They also did the strep-B test which I have yet to find out results. Hopefully it will be reassuring as well. The doctor said the baby's head is exactly in the right position which is locked into the pelvic cavity. He showed me how to feel the head and it was pretty neat. He said the baby is super low which means the process of thinning my cervix is already underway. This is the same thing that happened with Jane. She was super low every time I went to the doctors and I think it made for an extremely easy delivery. My plans with this birth is to have him come naturally (not talking pain, just no induction.) I want him to come when he is ready, not when I feel like I'm ready. This is why...

Jane was induced a week early because my doctor whom I adored was going to Hawaii with her husband and family. At the time of induction I was having some painful contractions but very spread apart. Since the process of natural labor was already beginning on it's own (I think she would have come within a few days if I weren't induced) the induction process was super easy and super fast. I think I was dilated to a 3 and like 80% effaced when I went in to be induced (I'll have to go check my stats :) Anyways, she was induced early, it was easy and quick but she was tiny. 6 lbs 7 oz....not actually tiny but to me she was just so skinny. It made me a little sad because her legs were like chicken legs where Zoey's actually had some healthy meat on them. She was also very yellow or jaundiced in the days/weeks/ months following her birth. The doctors were never concerned about this and the times I insisted they test her billiruben (sp?) levels, they were always in the safe range. I think the jaundice showed more on her because she is so fiar skinned. She was also a pretty fussy newborn and had some gas problems. Nothing too terrible but I couldn't help but think that she needed a few more days in the oven. I think her liver would have been more developed, she would have gained a little more weight, and maybe her digestive system would have been more ready to handle things. SO, with that being said I really don't want to be induced if I can help it. I'm obviously not against an induction for health purposes but I don't want to schedule an induction just because it's my due date or whatever. My doctor says he'll let me go a week over and then the risk of infant fatality rises so he would strongly advise that we induce. I think I'm ok with that but I just hope he comes before it gets to that point.

I'm guessing this baby will come on/around his due date. He'll probably be similar in size to my girls, maybe 6,7, or even 8 pound range. I hope my body will just do it's thing like it has done twice before and we'll have an easy and fairly quick delivery (not too quick though!) Wish me luck. If anyone has any advice on what I've talked about here, let me know. I would love to hear.