Any Baby Yet?

See, this delay in the baby's arrival just makes me think even more that Craig paid off the doctor and ultrasound techs to show me pictures and play me heartbeats from some other woman's pregnancy, and that I'm just terribly fat, haha!  Which would mean all the baby movements I have been feeling were just gas!

40 Weeks Pregnant

No, I don't really think that, but I am not the most patient person in the world and waiting for our little one to make his/her debut is somewhat tedious, especially now that I'm on maternity leave.  The house is officially spotless - the windows & curtains are washed, the floors are vacuumed & mopped, my craft closet is reorganized, all the laundry that could be done is finished and put away.  I think all that's left is to empty the refrigerator, wipe it down, and reorganize the groceries.  (Frankly, I would rather wash windows at five other houses than do that!)

So for everyone watching and waiting (and blowing up my phone daily like it's Grand Central Station), there is no news yet and yes, we'll be letting you know when there is, so you don't have to worry!  I truly am grateful for all the caring calls & texts, but I promise we won't be waiting any longer than we absolutely need to in order to spread the good news about baby's arrival.  (Grandparents get first dibs though!)

I started seeing my friend Emily for acupuncture again as of Tuesday; there are some papers out there that talk about acupuncture for labor induction, but nothing conclusive.  I like having an hour to be totally "unplugged" from the world when the needles are in, so it wasn't really a hard decision for me to try it (especially when I had such great luck with it regulating my cycle over a year ago).  I have daily appointments scheduled through Saturday and am hoping it helps the process a little.

This morning we had a LONG appointment at the doctor's office.  First was a non-stress test to check on the baby's heartbeat during his/her movements.  A fairly boring test, in my opinion, as I just laid there strapped to a monitor for 20 minutes and pressed a button when the baby moved.  The test looks for an increase in baby's heartrate when s/he moves, which is exactly what we saw with our little one.  The nurse even put Craig to work holding the fetal monitor pressed against my belly in the correct position.  I was pretty excited when I could see the heartrate increase in number just before I felt the baby kick!

Then we had a 40-week ultrasound to check the baby's growth and the level of amniotic fluid remaining (this is called a biophysical profile).  I was really nervous we would accidentally see the sex of the baby (well, we've waiting 40+ weeks and I didn't want anything to ruin the surprise at the very end!), but it was fun to see the baby again (though it would be better in-person!).  Baby wasn't too cooperative and was positioned so low that the face pictures (below) aren't spectacular and the tech wasn't able to get a profile view.

Baby at 40+ weeks

A little camera shy!

 Finally, we rounded out the morning with an appointment with the doctor to get all the results and see if there was any need to think induction at this point in time.  As it turns out, my cervix is still not dilated at all, so I'm heading back to the doctor on Sunday after church to get another nonstress test and an exam.  The doctor hopes that I won't still be pregnant by then (us too!) , as things can happen quickly at any time, but if things are still closed up by Sunday, we will have to have the induction talk.

Honestly, I would prefer to deliver by the end of this week, but I keep reading about one medical intervention (induction, for example) leading to others (like C-sections), so I prefer we wait him/her out if we can.  I read somewhere that anxiety about labor & delivery can keep your body from relaxing enough to actually get labor started, so I'm trying to remember that God will guide me through this process and I only have to rely on Him.