Pregnancy Update

I've been silent on the blog for a bit and that's mostly because I've been going through the toughest part of this whole pregnancy, the end, which is accompanied with the waiting. And for the record, I hate it.

I mostly hate the fact that with our due date being moved up by the ultrasound technician in January from March 22nd to March 14th, it forced me to get things ready more than a week ahead of schedule, in case he were to arrive in the "2 weeks early" window.

38 weeks

Last night, March 25th, from about 6pm till midnight, I charted some great contractions. They were strong and what I would describe as uncomfortable most of the time and a little more intense and a tad painful at other times. They averaged about every 20 minutes and lasted between 30 - 40 seconds.

39 weeks

Then this morning, from around 9:30am - 1:30pm, I charted more contractions. These were a bit stronger than what I experienced last night and averaged about every 14 minutes and lasted more around 2+ minutes each.

Anita. our midwife, has told me that these contractions are all good and mean that my body is most likely taking it slow in preparing for full non-stop labor.

40 weeks

Also this morning I met Anita, at the Oregon Imaging Center for a Biophysical Profile (BPP) Ultrasound.

Due to the discrepancy in the baby's ETA, and because the State insurance we have won't allow Anita to treat us if we go over 43 weeks without it, they offer a BPP to rule out any cause for concern once you've passed the due date on record - their due date on record is March 14th.

The Biophysical Exam checks for 4 things:

Heart rate variability
Volume of Amniotic Fluid
Fetal body movement - both kicks and response to pokes
Fetal breathing movement of the chest and stomach muscles

The test is scored and the baby rated for health and well-being. Our boy scored 8/8

This is all good information, and even more so, better news that he is healthy and thriving and there is no concern that he hasn't made his appearance yet. But the best part in all this was getting to see his little sleeping face, half covered up by his arm, but so precious non the less. (sorry no pictures, it wasn't that kind of ultrasound.)

In other news from the Ultrasound, the tech kept stressing to me that Ultrasounds past 12 weeks are unpredictable at depicting due dates and that the results should always be taken as estimates. When I asked how much of an estimate when it came to the ETA, the reply was "It's off typically from 1 to 3 weeks in either direction." Which means it's typically off by 2-6 weeks! Crazy.

With the "estimate only" in mind here's the ultrasound stats from today:
He measures at 39 weeks 4 days, and around 8lbs

I'm feeling really good, and am in a happy place. My stress and worry that he won't ever be here has been silenced by listening to my body and paying attention to the work that it is doing to be prepared for his arrival. I can say in all honesty that whenever he arrives it will be the right time and we will learn patience until he's here...and then we'll learn a whole new kind of patience.

Thank you all for your love, I certainly feel it!
Whoa - there went another little contraction...things are definitely working in there!