40w5d and counting! I have really started to swell up this week. My ankles keep sock indentions for the longest time and my fingers are so stiff that they don’t bend all the way anymore. It is really time for this baby to come out!!!
On Wednesday, I tried a new at-home induction technique that my friend Nico had been told about. She called it Comino Tea. She brought me some of the comino seeds over and told me to boil about a tablespoon in 2 cups of water then drink the water. Since it is an ordinary spice that I eat anyway, I gave it a shot. It is supposed to work in a similar fashion to castor oil (by cleaning you out) but be much less severe. I have to say it did get the ole bowels moving, but nothing too drastic. I made plans to do it again after my Dr. appt. I did put my comino in a can of chicken and rice soup though- and it tasted pretty good! Afterwards I looked at the can and realized I had just eaten 100% of a whole day’s sodium! Argh! So much for no weight gain due to swelling and salt!!
My last OB appt was on Thursday. It was very frustrating! Not only did I NOT progress any this week, I went BACKWARDS! Brendan decided to climb back out of the "well" and float again and thusly, my 2 cm went down to 1, maybe 1 1/2!!! Talk about frustration! I could hardly believe it! I did another NST afterwards. He didn't move as much as last time but she said he still looked great and said (this time in a questiony sort of way) "See you next week?" LOL, at least she is sympathetic! She wants me to get another U/S to see how much he's grown, so Wed afternoon is that and Thursday afternoon is my next appt. I have a SERIOUS feeling that things are swinging the way of a C-section! Serious enough that she might talk to us in her office after my next exam. I don't know if I know HOW to talk to her when I am not practically naked! Hahaha. I estimate he'll measure 10 pounds on Wednesday! Let's see how close Mommy Intuition is!
I gained another 4 pounds (my comino soup really was lethal!). Urine was perfect, B/P was my best yet (go figure). We did go see the newborn nursery again and found out where the rest of the nursery was. Apparently, the open area is for new arrivals but most of the babies are kept around the corner. We followed a mom and pretended to be with her so we could see some of it. Her baby had jaundice and was under the bili lights. That was interesting to see.
As you can imagine, I was a bit down after this appointment. This is not going at all like I imagined. And I have that sneaking suspicious that if I had just broke down and complained or cried or SOMETHING, that I could've had him the next day. But I really don’t want to extra pain of being induced, even though I want a small baby. Looks like both might be happening now. Argh. Since Brendan was deemed “uncorked” again, I gave up on the comino tea idea.
Friday was a really fun day. I was determined to not sit around and mope so I invited Nico and Chris to go eat lunch with me. We went to Souper Salads- a pretty healthy buffet with salads, fruits, soups, etc. plus all the ice cream you can eat. We laughed on the way there about the looks we’d get, being two obviously huge pregnant women together! When we got up to the cashier to pre-pay, I asked her if she was going to get a soda. I told her I was because I was tired and since we were going to follow lunch with a visit to the baby nursery at the hospital (since Nico hadn’t yet seen it), I figured we’d be doing a lot of walking. So she thinks it over for a moment and says (thinking like me), “Yes, I think I will, especially since we are going to the hospital after this…” We both laughed when the young teen boy at the register’s eyes popped wide open and he took a few steps back. It was hilarious, because he just assumed we were both in labor!!
It was so great going to see the newborns with her! There were sooo many that day and were of all varieties and sizes so there was a lot to see. We actually spent about an hour and a half just watching all that was going on and oohing over them. We were both really excited because I was “any day now” and she was already set to be induced in 3 days. She even got the courage to go ask a nurse to give us a tour of a room! She hadn’t had the opportunity to tour the hospital like I had. So we got to chat with a really nice nurse for awhile. It was great and just what I needed to get back to my normal optimistic self!
On Monday morning (yesterday), bright and early, I get the phone call that Nico was indeed being induced that day and I head over to the hospital. She was already hooked up to the pitocin and starting to have contractions when I arrived. The nurse came in and checked her at that time and she was still the 3 cm she had been at her last Dr. appointment. It was about 8:30. So we chatted excitedly for about 2 hours. Her Dr. visits and says she expected a baby by noon and they decide to get an epidural going. At about 11:00, a nurse checks her again- and she’s at 10 cm!!! So everything gets set up for the pushing. The nurse gets Nico in position and tells her to give her a push. Immediately she says, “No, no, stop! The baby’s head is right there (it was at +3!!). We’d better wait for the Dr!!!” So we wait a bit for the Dr. to show up and baby Mia is born 4 pushes (without waiting for contractions) later! I told her later that that was the easiest labor and delivery I had ever seen or even heard of and it was a totally unrealistic introduction to my own upcoming birth. She just laughed. Mia was so alert and weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was 20 inches tall. She is beautiful and makes the funniest squeaks and snorts!!!
