End of days

I haven't written down any of the details of this pregnancy anywhere and since the end of this one has been so different I thought I would document it a little bit.

The beginning of this pregnancy was fairly similar to my other pregnancies, though more difficult since I am older and had more weight to start with. I was very sick at the beginning of this pregnancy, which made me think that we were going to have another girl. But there has been no question that we are getting another little boy, and we couldn't be more excited!

By week 16 I was able to feel him moving around, which was at least 4 weeks earlier than any of my others! And he has proven to be quite the active baby throughout the entire pregnancy! All the way along I have measured either right on, or maybe one week ahead, as far as centimeters to weeks of pregnancy. Then I went to my 34 week appointment. It had only been 2 weeks since my last appointment, but in those two weeks I grew 5 cm and gained 8 pounds!! They were concerned about what would cause such a huge growth in such a short amount of time, but I could really feel it. So they did an ultrasound and sure enough, he was measuring almost 4 weeks ahead. So they told me that they wouldn't change the due date but that there was a possibility that he could come early, or he might just stay nice and toasty and be a very big baby.

Sure enough, at 35 weeks I started having false labor. I had contractions about 7 minutes apart for about 6 hours, but they were only about 30 second long, so I knew it wasn't time yet. Since then I've had at least 2 other false labors for hours at a time, but nothing that turned into the arrival of our newest family member. But it sure makes for a tired and very sore mommy the next day when I've been in labor for hours.

Over the course of the next few weeks I didn't have any huge growth jumps, but lots and lots of contractions, both practice and intense. Each week as I would go into the doctor I would get the bad news that I was still only dilated to a 1 or slightly more than 1, but that all of the labor I was going through really wasn't doing a whole lot, except exhaust me. By 38 weeks I wanted to go in and have them schedule an induction for 39 weeks, however the doctor did not agree with that I had quite the miserable day. They did another ultrasound which estimated the baby's weight to be at 9 lbs 11 oz and said that there was excess fluid around the baby, but my cervix "was not favorable for induction." The doctor then proceeded to scare me with the possibility of the baby delivering the head, but the shoulders getting stuck, which can cause bone fractures and other major problems for mother and baby. So I came home and cried all day. A c-section would solve the problem of a big baby, but would mean that I would not be able to travel to Utah for my brother's wedding and a much longer and more difficult recovery time.

Over the next couple of days with lots of prayers and some fasting I was able to find some people who were able to comfort me and I felt that I would be able to delivery this baby vaginally and that everything would be okay. I had been given a blessing that things would go smoothly, and I was determined to have faith.

Today I had my 39 week appointment. I am still only dilated to a loose 1, but baby's head is quite low. I am now measuring 44 cm!! Today's ultrasound showed a weight of 9 lbs 4 oz, which is a whole pound smaller than I thought it would be at this point, but still a pretty big boy. My blood pressure was VERY high when they first took it, but I think this was aided by the fact that I was crying and very upset. So they got pretty concerned and started checking other measurements and statistics. They agreed to induce tomorrow morning. :) The baby looks wonderfully healthy and plenty strong. He is doing "practice breathing movements" which show that the lungs should be fully developed and he is moving and active and still a big chunk.
The kids are thrilled to meet their new baby brother tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited about having this cute little wadded up baby on the outside of me rather than the inside. I just love newborns. We are still praying that everything goes smoothly and that we will not need to do a c-section. If everything is great and I'm recovering properly and the baby doesn't have any problems with jaundice or anything else, we will still be able to leave in a little over a week for Utah and make it to the wedding.

Rigdon, we are so thrilled to have you join our family and can't tell you how happy we are that it is almost time to meet you!