I had an ultrasound first where they checked fluid levels and her heart beat. Everything looked good which was great! She was so low in my pelvis and smooshed up and out of room that was hard to get a good look at her, the tech kept having me flip from side to to side to see if we could get her to wiggle around a bit more but she was content where she was. They did say she was sunny side up which confirms my suspicions because of all of the start-stop labor I've been having. Apparently babes in the position can sometimes have a hard time putting enough pressure on the cervix to keep things going or contractions will start up to try and flip the baby and then fizzle out if the baby isn't turning.
After the ultrasound I went and grabbed lunch to try and get something in my belly so the baby would be more active for the next appointment and then after that I headed to a non-stress test. You guys, I would totally sign up for a non-stress test at every month in my pregnancy if I had to. I literally sat in a recliner with monitors on my belly watching HGTV for an hour. It was like getting a little nap!
They were monitoring fetal heart rate and contractions and I got to push the button anytime I could feel baby movement. Thankfully my lunch kept her moving for the first 30 minutes but she decided to settle down for a nap the last half of the test and literally didn't move at all. She's been way less active this past week or so which has worried me a few times, but I can always get her to move with some encouragement and a cold water and thankfully the Dr said she was doing fine. I only had 2 contractions the whole time though. A mama on the other side of the curtain was apparently having a lot of contractions and they kept saying it may be time for her to head to the hospital and I admit, I was a smidge jealous.
After my nap test I had my regular check up. I weighed 178 lbs.... so definitely a bit more than I did with Reaghan by the end but not as bad I thought I would end up this time. I'm 5cm dilated and 80% effaced and the Dr stripped my membranes again and said she could easily feel her head. (TMI?) I secretly prayed that she might accidentally break my water while she checked. haha We talked about positional things to do to get her to flip from her posterior position and she encouraged me to come in whenever I felt I needed to. They will set up an induction date for me for next week if I don't go into labor by the end of this weekend.
I went home and sat on my ball, did side lunges, rocked on my knees and elbows and had Mark do a side lying pelvic stretch on me that was all supposed to open up my pelvis and give the baby room to flip over. I did have a lot of back cramping and contractions last night but they never established any sort of pattern so around 1am I decided to go to bed. I didn't feel like trying to keep them going just for them to die at 4 like Saturday night and leave me super exhausted. I woke up maybe once every hour with a really strong contraction in my lower back but was then able to fall back to sleep and just had some cramping when I woke up this morning.
Going crazy waiting for the baby!
After having a few contractions at breakfast I got back on my ball and my hands and knees while Reaghan watched a couple episodes of Daniel Tiger and then we decided to go for a walk. I was hoping she had flipped and that the walk would encourage her to get the pressure going. I did have a handful of really strong contractions that caused me to have to stop walking and breathe. They were definitely stronger and way more intense in my low back then they have been. They kept it up at that intensity for about an hour and a half after we got home but then they started getting all spastic again and popping up after 15 minutes, then 8 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 11 minutes then only if I was dancing with Reaghan.... Ugh.
After I put Reaghan down for a nap I definitely cried for about 5 minutes telling the Lord how exhausted I was emotionally and physically and asking if I could please just have this baby! He reminded me that he knows the details of the how and the when and so I decided to take a nap instead of doing anymore rocking on my ball.
I've been awake for an hour now and haven't had any contractions so I'm reluctantly going to go fix a dinner that I was hoping not to have to make! I'm still feeling a bit emotional and testy. Hopefully Mark and Reaghan have a little more grace than usual for me tonight and I can allow God's grace to be sufficient to get me through however much longer this girl wants to stay in her mama.
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