40 Weeks and 2 Days

Sorry that I did not post sooner, but I didn't get home until late last night and I was exhausted. Our sonogram appointment was at 115pm and our doctor appointment was at 145pm. We checked in right at 115pm. We were there about 5 minutes and the receptionist called me up to the desk and told me that Dr. Stevenson had been called away to a delivery and probably wouldn't be able to see me today. I was so let down for two reasons. First of all, someone else gets to have their baby today, why not me? Secondly, I told the receptionist that I was past my due date and was hoping to get some answers today. She told me to go ahead with my sonogram and she will see if she could get me in with Dr. Reyes.

So 30 minutes later, we were called in for our sonogram. She performed what is called a biophysical profile (BPP) to be sure Kiley is still thriving. This test is an ultrasound to look at her overall movements, breathing movements (movement of her chest muscles and diaphragm), the amount of amniotic fluid that surrounds her which is important because it's a reflection of how well the placenta is still supporting her. They also checked her Fetal heart rate. She scored an A+ in all of these areas, which basically means that all is well in there and there really isn't any urgency for her to come out.

After the sonogram, I told Mikey that he could go back to work since it didn't look like they would be rushing me over to the hospital and I wasn't sure how long I was going to have to wait for either Dr. Stevenson to come back or to get in with Dr. Reyes at the last minute. His appointment cancelled, so he decided to stay. We were only in the waiting room for about 5 minutes and they called us in. That must have been a record. My weight still has not changed in the last month, and my blood pressure was a little high. She checked me for dialation and I was at a little over a 1. At least I had made some kind of progress in a week.

Next we talked about plans. The last thing I wanted her to say was to schedule another sonogram and appointment for next week. Luckily she didn't!! She decided to start me on what is called staged induction. This is where I go into the hospital for a couple of "cervix ripenings" and then they induce. We were really trying to stay away from an induction because we are trying to avoid a C Section if at all possible, but we are also getting really anxious to meet Kiley and I am getting a little tired of being pregnant. Almost 50% of inductions result in C Sections which is a pretty high number. So we worked with both doctors to put a plan in place that seemed to make the most sense for us.

We went directly over to the hospital yesterday after we met with Dr. Reyes for my first ripening. After we checked in, they monitored me and Kiley for about 20-30 minutes before the procedure. The procedure only took about 5 minutes. They basically inject a liquid into my cervix to help it get ready for labor, and then they have to monitor us both for 2 hours afterwards. Mikey had a 430 appointment, so he left for that and Mom came to sit with me for the rest of the time. I had contractions for the entire two hours (which is what the liquid is supposed to cause), but Kiley was a trooper through it all, so they let me go home. They checked my cervix once more and apparently it is still posterior, which they are hoping that these ripenings will help correct.

I spoke to my doctor before I left the hospital. She is going to call me today to schedule another ripening for Friday. Then we will check into the hospital on Sunday at 8pm, where they will do some other 12 hour procedure to continue the ripening and then they will induce on Monday morning. Originally we were going to go in tonight and induce Friday morning, but we decided to give Kiley a little more time to come on her own without going past the 41 week mark.

So that is the plan. Kiley will definitely be here by Monday, November 10th! I was a little discouraged after we switched from Friday to Monday, but I know it is better for both of us and at least we have a plan in place now. Something to look forward to, finally! So we have a wedding and a baby shower this weekend that we better start planning for! We still pray that Kiley comes on her own in the next couple of days. I will keep everyone posted!