You know it is not NORMAL to be pregnant for 41 weeks when you start to receive emails congratulating you on becoming a new mom and informing me what to expect during my baby’s first week AND YOU ARE STILL PREGNANT!
Edited 12.15.08 at 12:42pm to add:
And now my baby has simply disappeared from the Baby Ticker I have been following this entire pregnancy. OHTHEHUMILITY!
In less than 36 hours we will be heading to the hospital for a scheduled induction.
In less than 36 hours we will be on our way to FINALLY meeting the little squatter baby that refuses to budge from my gut.
In less than 36 hours my body is going to be pulled and stretched and maybe even (gulp!) sliced and diced in ways I could only have nightmares about.
OHMYFREAKIN’GODWHATDIDWEDO??!?!?
I hate to continually complain that I have YET to have a painful contraction — but seriously? — six days after the due date and still nothing? I’m starting to wonder if my uterus is broken or just plain lazy? Or is all this torture the fault of a baby that is just not ready to come out? I realize due dates are just estimates, but I am 110% POSITIVE of our conception date and IT’S BEEN SIX BLOODY WHOLE DAYS AFTER THE ESTIMATED DATE! I think I have been more than flexible considering what my body has and is about to endure.
As much as I want this baby out of me, I am feeling unsure about scheduling an induction to kick this kid out before it or my uterus is obviously ready. People have been doing this to me for my entire life — rushing me to keep to someone else’s schedule — and now here I am doing the same thing to my poor kid. But fear prevails and I am worried that my aging uterus is just not as safe anymore as it would be in my arms. What if my uterus never contracts? What if the fluid levels in my uterus suffer from a small leak that I don’t notice in time? And perhaps just as important, what if the baby isn’t ready until CHRISTMAS and I am stuck in a hospital eating hospital food ON CHRISTMAS?
When we originally scheduled the date, my biggest hope was that having a date would force my body to labor on its own. But as the days remaining turn to hours, I am not so confident that my body would ever go into labor on its own before it became too dangerous for Baby. I just hope we are making the right decision.
The appointment today confirmed it: I am a laboring failure.
Four days past my due date and I STILL have not begun to dilate. For the first time this entire pregnancy the OB/GYN actually seemed concerned with our progress — or lack there of — and sent us downstairs for an ultrasound to assess the condition and fluid levels of my uterus. The ultrasound found that the baby and my uterus looked good but the OB/GYN recommended that we not go any longer than 42 weeks so an induction was scheduled for Tuesday, December 16.
The ultrasound also confirmed that our baby has a big, but beautiful, head. With jowls?
My cervix may not ever dilate, but at least I can cook ‘em nice and plump.
