37 Weeks!

Well, I finally hit the milestone I have been looking forward to for the past 13 weeks or so.....I am 37 weeks along and the baby is considered full-term! It feels fantastic to be at this "safe" point now. I've known for the past three weeks that if I went into labor my doctors would not do anything to stop it, but honestly that made me nervous since I knew that I would still have a preemie on my hands, which is something I did not want. It's nice to know now that Hailey isn't considered a preemie anymore!

Ever since I started to have pre-term contractions and issues with my irritable uterus at 24 weeks, I have been on some type of bed rest or restricted activity. After my initial visit to labor and delivery at 24 weeks, I had two more scares that required monitoring my contractions and the baby with a Non-Stress Test in the office: once at 33 weeks and once at 35 weeks. During both of those "scares" my contractions got very close together (between 3 and 5 minutes) for hours at a time (the second time it actually lasted over 12 hours and kept me up all through the night!). At 33 weeks my cervix was open on the bottom but closed at the top; at 35 weeks I was dilated to a 1 but with no effacement. When I was 35 weeks along my doctor told me to no longer be concerned with how close together my contractions got, but instead to only call if they were painful or my water broke.

Just at the end of last week I got the okay to be on my feet as much as I feel comfortable with. So I have been cleaning my house, organizing the girls' room, and playing with my daughter. I also took Savannah to get her two year portraits done (my mom helped me with this!) and ventured out to Starbucks. And......I have been contracting, A LOT. And.....I'm still pregnant! I never knew a person could contract this much without it progressing into active labor, but I am learning that it is indeed possible. I'm enjoying being more active, but today I am having a restful morning after a night of contractions that remained 4 minutes apart for many hours, tapered off, and then picked up again when I woke up. I am just tired! I wish I could avoid feeling any more contractions until it's the real deal, but I don't think I will be that lucky.

My experience this time around is very, very different from my pregnancy with Savannah. With her I didn't feel any contractions until I was 39 weeks along. My labor with her was also an induction; I had pitocin and the doctor broke my water because she wasn't moving and didn't look great on her NST and ultrasound. (She was born with the cord wrapped tightly around her neck twice. She wasn't crying and had a low apgar and needed assistance to start breathing, although thankfully within a few minutes she was crying and breathing on her own.) So, I don't actually know what it feels like to start labor on my own, and I'd like to experience that this time.

I'm trying to be patient but I'm starting to wonder if my body is confused! It seems to know how to get things started, but then it all just fizzles out, and we repeat this cycle until I am tired and losing my mind! :) I'm hoping and praying that I don't have to endure too much more of this false labor before little Hailey is truly ready to join us, although of course I want her to be big enough and have mature enough lungs before she enters the world. Savannah was barely 6 pounds at two days shy of 40 weeks, and if Hailey is like her sister I'd rather have her pack on some more fat before she joins our family!

Stay posted.....my next post may just be a birth announcement!