Today's appointment

Just a quick update from today's appointment with Dr. Pare...

We are getting close! I was 3 cm dilated, my cervix is soft, and her head was all the way down! Wahoooo! I was so excited to hear that all these random contractions were actually getting us somewhere. After checking me, Dr. Pare said that my body is ready and "on the launching pad" to have a baby and he thought that we would probably get to meet our sweet girl in the next 3-4 days with no intervention. 

He said we could go ahead and set a date for induction for Monday, July 25 in case I hadn't delivered by then, and that this is perfectly safe because my body is "ready to have a baby," but that there was a good chance I'd deliver before then anyway. It made me feel better to have that date set to have a light at the end of the tunnel :) So, he told me to get dressed and he went to call the hospital to check availability. 

The nurse came back in and said the doctor wanted to check me one more time. I was a little confused, then Dr. Pare said the hospital had no elective induction bed availability until next WEDNESDAY (7/27)! So, he decided to "put a little more pressure on my cervix." He warned me of some pain, and I quickly learned he stripped my membranes... I won't go into detail, but it's a way to jumpstart labor. He said we'll leave my name for induction on 7/27, but that there's a good chance I'll see him in the next 24 hours :)

So, here we are....that definitely caused lots of contractions today. After work, I tried the castor oil trick, took a short nap, and I've been walking, walking, walking. Contractions have been 2-5 minutes apart for an hour, but have slowed down since I sat to type this, so I'm heading back outside! Scotty surprised us and came home tonight, so I have my whole family keeping me company on these walks. Stay tuned!