May 22 marked our 6 year wedding anniversary. It was also our 39 week appointment to check on Mr. Baby. I’ll start with the baby updates first:
I’m 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced, which is good and means my cervix is doing its job right now, but the baby is still kind of floating because I have so much fluid. So until my water breaks or until my contractions get stronger, he’s not going anywhere. (Side note: previous exams to check dilation were uncomfortable but this one was downright painful – to the point where she had to remind me to breathe because I had stopped and was holding my breath through it. It took my body a few minutes to recover from it. Ouch!)
She also felt around on my belly and monitored his heartbeat for awhile. I guess she was just checking to see how responsive he was because she’d push on him a little and his heartbeat would go up and she’d smile, saying he was getting all excited by the movement. She also said she thinks he’s going to be about a 9lb baby (even though we were estimating 8lbs last week) but we didn’t talk c-section so I’m trying not to freak out about it.
So! With my due date a mere 4 days away, she scheduled me for an induction on May 31st. That way, she’s giving nature (and the baby) about 5 days of wiggle room from my due date to do this thing naturally. (Apparently most women have their babies within five days – before or after – their due date, so she wants to make sure I’m given that amount of time to go on my own.)
I mentioned losing my mucus plug on Saturday but her response – or lack of – indicated to me that it pretty much meant nothing. She was just like “Oh yeah, you’re going to lose a lot of mucus, and some falls out every time we check you.” And here I was all excited about it. Oh well.
I also asked about membrane stripping and if that would help. She said she tried to do that a bit while she was checking me, but there’s so much fluid that it was difficult to do all of it, or something like that.
Basically, when my water breaks, it’s going to be Niagara Falls.
After the appointment, hubs and I went to the Italian district of the city (aka The Hill) for a nice, celebratory dinner at Dominic’s. We were there so early that we joked about trying to get a senior special. For a place that normally requires reservations, we were the ONLY patrons. But it was kind of nice, having a fancy restaurant and multiple waiters dressed as butlers all to ourselves. We started with the calamari appetizer, and the hubs had a glass of chianti wine. I took a tiny sip – the first sip of wine I’ve had since finding out I was pregnant – and let me just say that it was one of the best things I’ve tasted in MONTHS! I’m craving a glass right now, just thinking about it.
They were featuring a veal and mushroom ravioli in a rich cream sauce so I ordered that (and it was amazing), while the hubs ordered lobster ravioli. Then they surprised us with a piece of Italian-style cake (chocolate with rum custard layers and something else, I don’t remember) with a candle and little “Happy Anniversary” card on the top. I only ate a few bites because I wanted to save room for the gelato place down the street. It’s hard to find good gelato in St. Louis but Gelato Di Riso on The Hill is fantastic. We were both too stuffed to eat anymore though, so we got a big container to go.
I know six years isn’t anything super fun or remarkable, and I was kind of sad we didn’t have a baby on our anniversary, but it was nice to spend some quiet time – just the two of us – before shit gets real around here. Sure, it wasn’t drinks on the beach in Maui at sunset like last year, but it was still a pretty good day and a reminder that I married the right man, and there’s no one else I’d rather be on this journey with.
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