What else is an anxious expectant mom to do at 5 a.m. other than blog?  Still no sign of baby yet, but s/he definitely decided to cause a stir for us.

I went for my routine 40 week appointment with my doctor on Thursday.  I was pleased that she felt the same way as I did on membrane sweep discussion I had with the other doctors I saw while she was on vacation.  She didn’t think there was a rush.  It felt reassuring that my instincts were in line with my care giver.  All started out as normal in the appointment until things turned a bit awry.  My doctor got a heart rate reading of 110 which is concerning, so she sent me over to the early labour assessment unit for a non-stress test in which peanut decided to have some fun and startle us all a bit more.  All was fine for a while as I lie there hooked to the monitors, then for whatever reason the heart rate dropped in the 90’s for long enough to have the nurses and doctor come busting in the room to get me up, turned on all fours and given an oxygen mask.  The husband and I had no idea what was happening because it was all happening so fast.  I felt fine the entire time. 

The heart rate returned to normal and they decided quickly to admit me for further monitoring in the labour & delivery unit in different positions and since we weren’t able to replicate it again, it seemed that peanut was only playing games and seemed to be otherwise fine. BIG HUGE RELIEF!  Although I have to say, in my heart I truly felt that everything was fine and I was just waiting for them to conclude that for themselves.  Call it mother’s intuition or call it denial – who knows!  It was quite intense because while it was technically my due date that day, it started off as only a routine doctor’s appointment and all of a sudden I’m admitted into L&D with no hospital bags and not allowed to eat just “in case.”  To err on the side of caution, I was sent for a further fetal assessment ultrasound to check on fluid etc.  Baby was squirming around like a champ and hit all 8 points 🙂  The day ended well, but it was definitely intense and I felt like I was just an observer waiting to hear what they would say next.  Better to play it on the safe side for sure.  Since all seemed fine and I wasn’t showing any signs of labour, I was sent home.

In other good news, as of Thursday, I was 1 cm and 50% effaced which is definitely good!  I will see my doctor again tomorrow for a precautionary follow up to see how we’re doing, but other than that, I’m following along in the general “post dates assessment” routine which will be assessed as we go along.  The sonographer at the fetal assessment unit booked me in for another ultrasound for Thursday if no baby has arrived just to keep tabs on the little one.  She was very very nice.  Since I was there anyway, I casually asked her if she was able to determine the size of the baby easily.  The purpose of the ultrasound was to determine adequate fluid etc., but she did a few measurements to give us a general “unofficial” idea of where things stood from that perspective.  You may remember from my earlier post that the doctors have commented that they didn’t expect my baby to be “small” and felt that at 39 weeks was already in the 8.5 pound range.  The sonographer got a general rough estimate that baby was measuring at only 7 lbs which is quite a deviation from the doctor’s estimation, but perfectly fine with me!  She of course explained that it was not considered to be “accurate” and could be off +/- a pound.  In fact, she felt that the doctor’s estimate of feeling my belly might be closer.  So it will be interesting to see!

So here we are on day 3 post due date!  I’m generally feeling really well and not at all like I had expected to feel at this stage.  Everyone assumes that I must be miserable, but in all honesty, I think I’ve felt better these last few weeks than I have all third trimester so that is good!  My energy has been on the up side since I started maternity leave and a short 30 min nap seems to rejuvenate me in a big way, if I need it.  Sleeping is also better than it has been.  Okay, well yes it’s 5 a.m. and I’m wide awake and blogging, but I think not needing to be up and working has made a big difference in my energy levels.

Lucy update:  the citronella spray collar is working WONDERS!!  The collar isn’t perfect because it was set off a few times when it wasn’t supposed to which was not good and can defeat the purpose, BUT given that it worked on several occasions at the right time, it snapped her out of her barking fits immediately keeping her in a calm, submissive and unanxious state at ALL times.  It did not take long to teach her not to loser her mind barking at all.  She has been so relaxed and 100% adorable ever since causing us no problems at all.  We’ve had visitors that she didn’t know and pizza delivered, not to mention general passersby and she’s a different dog who only barks once and stops.

In fact, we keep the collar on her, but turned off during the day time and only turn it on when we’re taking her outside (where she would more likely be triggered) and if we saw someone walking down the road, we would turn it on just “in case.”  There hasn’t been as many people walking by it seems, but I think it’s just that we’re not noticing because she doesn’t lose her mind!  I can’t tell you how much of a relief it is to see this change in her with the baby coming home at any time now and it literally took effect immediately and has only been a few days.  I just hope that it’s not a temporary fix like the Guardian sonic anti-bark device was.


Now that I’ve blogged all of this off my chest, I’m getting sleepy again and will try to go back to bed for some more rest before it gets too light out. 🙂

Some of you are still in the running for the birth date points too I see!