My kids crack me up. With four pregnancies close together and mom on bedrest during three of the four, it’s like having little Ob’s running around the house.
Well. . . not exactly.
But take, for instance, Mara advising me this weekend when I felt very very little movement from Braxton, both Saturday and Sunday, and the movements I did feel seemed almost involuntary. (Like, when I rolled on my side, I felt his arm move.) Daniel and I were talking about this, discussing whether to go to triage. Mara, my little in-house obstetrician, says, “I think you should drink some orange juice, Mom.” Apparently she remembered me saying, some time ago, that if you don’t feel the baby moving, you should drink some OJ and lay down on your left side for about an hour.
Eventually I did go in Sunday night and naturally, when you go in, your baby’s heart rate looks great. And Monday morning, he was kicking and punching as hard as ever–like he had taken the weekend off and was back to work.
Both Mara and Micah keep asking, “How many more weeks, Mommy?”
Earlier this week, when Micah asked, I said, “Not much longer now, Buddy! He could come any time!”
Micah is at this annoying stage of repeating almost every. single. thing I say in the form of a question. So with genuine excitment he shrieked, “Not much long-er?!?!?!?! An-y time?!?!?!?! . . . So, Mommy! Go to the doctor and let him cut your tummy open!”
Yesterday Mara asked again, ‘how many more weeks.’ And I said, “Just two and a half weeks left.”
“Two and a half?” she said dejectedly. “It seems like he should be here by now.”
Tell me about it.
I had my real ob appointment on Wednesday the 13th. Dr. Z told me that we need to go ahead and schedule a c-section, in case I go overdue. Since I’ve had a prior section, they won’t induce me and they say there is a danger of rupture if I go too far overdue. So it seems like, very worst case scenario, I could have up to three weeks left. It was just the same with Carissa–after all the preterm labor issues, it is almost depressing to discuss needing a c-section “if you go overdue.” With these last two pregnancies, we have been “prepared” for every possible scenario!
Dr. Z said I’m between 2-3 cm, 70% effaced, and the baby’s head is “definitely lodged in there” at a station of -1. She also stripped my membranes, and afterwards she was very optimistic about my chances of going into labor. “The last two women I did this for–one was right before lunch. She went into labor right after lunch. The other went into labor the very next day. Sooooo. . .”
But with Carissa, I was 39 weeks when Dr. M stripped my membranes, and despite having strong contractions for a few hours afterwards, I didn’t deliver for four more days–until my due date.
So I’m not holding my breath. But I’ll admit there was part of me that got excited thinking, ‘It could be tonight!’
I went to Carter’s again. I had a coupon, knew they are still having their clearance sale and figured walking the mall couldn’t hurt–and found a couple great deals for each of the kids for next year. I know I won’t be going to the mall very much once little Braxton arrives.
In the meantime, I–like the kids–keep asking, “How many more weeks?”
🙂