baby bump: week 37

Which means I am officially full term!  Baby M can arrive any day now and shouldn’t have any problem surviving on her own.  It’s crazy to think that I have a full term baby in my not-as-large-as-I-thought-it-would-get belly.  I also can’t believe that she really could decide to make her appearance any day now.

We went for our first weekly check-up last Friday.  After a lovely cervical exam (yes, that is sarcasm), we found out that there has been ZERO progress.  Not dilated at all and since she didn’t let me know I am effaced (cervix getting softer), I’m assuming that means that it’s still at zero also.  Awesome.  Not what I was hoping for but definitely what I expected since I have had absolutely no contractions (that I know of).  However, Baby M is head down, which is awesome!  I was pretty sure she was since all the rolling + jabs she is doing are at the top of my stomach.

In other progress, I’ve been getting a lot of comments about how low my belly is now.  While I have carried low my entire pregnancy, I’m pretty sure she has actually dropped a bit this past week.  I am feeling A LOT of pressure on my pelvis, which is causing A LOT of pain in my groin, not to mention the urge to pee much more often now.  If I sit for an extended period of time, it hurts to walk, so I waddle instead.  I am also not getting as sore in my ribs as I have been the past few weeks, which I think is also a sign that she’s dropped a bit.  I still think she’ll be staying in there awhile longer, so I’m definitely not getting my hopes up.

Natural Childbirth Followup
I loved all the great comments I received last week on my post about my plan to go unmedicated.  I also posted/retweeted a link to Emily’s blog about her views on natural childbirth.  While I completely agree that I will be happy just to have my baby in the end, regardless of medication or not, I am still planning on having a birth “plan”.  There are things I want + don’t want for my birth (IVs, being asked if I want an epidural, etc.) that I want to make very clear to both my doctor + the nursing staff so that I get what I want.  I still realize that not everything will go according to my plan and I am OK with that, but there are things that I want or want to avoid and I think a birth plan is the best way of getting those things.

Matt + I attended a Natural Childbirth class on Tuesday night at our hospital.  The class was so much more informative than our first childbirth class.  It was taught by a former doula, now nurse midwife who trained in Denver, Colorado where she was able to catch 50 babies whose mom’s were completely unmedicated.  We learned a few more relaxation techniques and she was very upfront about all that would or could happen in the hospital.  I think this was a more valuable experience for Matt than for myself since I have read the books and such.  I think he has a better idea of what to expect – and I think I also have a better idea of how I might feel during childbirth.

Although I am still nervous about the experience, I am confident that this is the way I want to go.  The (thankfully) positive comments I received were wonderful and helped me feel confident in my abilities to give birth naturally.  Our nurse said to surround yourself with positive comments about natural birth so that you don’t get brought down.  Going natural is in the minority, so I know not everyone agrees with me and thinks I’m crazy.  But, I know people who have done it and that makes me feel more confident that I can do it too.

Let’s just pray for her to arrive on time and without an induction – the nurse laughed when someone asked if anyone can give birth naturally after they’ve been induced.  Yup, I will do everything at all costs NOT to have one!

Wow… 3 weeks left!