Sunday, March 5, 2017

Baby Butler #3 is 41 Weeks & Counting…

**I wrote this post the night before heading to the hospital for the induction.

Today, 2/22 I am 41 weeks & 2 days. I looked back on my app where I tracked ovulation, etc. & it looks to me like based on conception that my actual due date is 2/16 (which puts me at 40 + 6). They don’t move your due date if you’re within a week of what they’re showing, but it did bring me some reassurance to see that I may not be quite as far along as they’re thinking since I know risks can increase the further along you get. I am currently scheduled to go in to be induced in the morning (Thursday, 2/23) at 5:30 am. They are planning to break my water & see what happens from there. My prayer is that I’ll go into labor on my own before then sometime, but even if not, I know a vaginal, natural birth is still possible. (My best friend did it!) My prayer is that if they do have to break my water, that I at least won’t need any Pitocin at all. It’s considered safe because I’ve had a successful VBAC, but still not ideal since I do have a uterine scar & he’s been just growing since he’s been in there a little extra time.

There have definitely been a few mental battles and I’d be lying if I told you both me and Jonathan have both been super positive and full of faith over the last 2 weeks. I will tell you I’m in a really, really great place now, so huge thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. I definitely feel them and it has been a great reminder to trust God’s sovereignty. Reciting Scriptures, praying aloud, worshipping, and staying busy with my mom and the boys for the past couple of days has really helped me get back to being at peace. We know that God is good, He ALWAYS works for the good of those who love Him, and He will never leave us nor forsake us. He has been faithful before, and He is the same now as He was then, so we are clinging to His promises and trusting that His ways are higher than ours. We are trusting His good & perfect will to bring sweet Beau into the world in the Lord’s perfect timing & way.

I am not overly anxious or impatient to have him, but I also know you begin reaching a point where it becomes unsafe and risks greatly increase, so I am cool with being induced if he hasn’t arrived on his own. I would never do anything to put us at risk, as healthy baby and healthy mama is 100% the ultimate goal. I trust the doctors and their opinions, of course. I still fought for the latest possible (still safe) moment they’d let me come in to give my body a chance on its own though.

Here’s a replay of the last few appointments.

Friday, 2/17:

I was 40 + 4. Blood pressure looked great. Haven’t gained any more weight, but belly is definitely still growing and widening out on the sides especially. Baby is moving well & I pay close attention to movement. First he checked me and I was 1 cm, 75% effaced, –2 station. He said the head was low & in a good position. They took me to a room for a non-stress test next and laid me back in the chair. This baby does NOT like when I’m on my back, & he started going wild in there as soon as they laid me back. He shifted to the complete opposite side of my belly as the cold jelly & monitor. He got all worked up and his heart rate was high for a while. One of the nurses came in to check on us because the monitor kept beeping since his heart rate was high. (In the 170s a good bit.0 It took about 15+ minutes for him to calm down and finally got to somewhat of a baseline around 160s, sometimes a little lower… but Dr. thought it was from him moving SO much. He said “Man, that’s wild- you can see him from across the room.” I’ve seriously never seen anything like the way my tummy looks when these babies are moving. It’s crazy! I went in for an ultrasound next to check my amniotic fluid. Ultrasound tech kept saying I was out of room & there didn’t look like much fluid left, & I could see that Jonathan looked a little anxious. I knew she hadn’t calculated it though, & I knew there was more than she was thinking. Amniotic fluid was 13, which is actually pretty good at this time in pregnancy & everyone was good with that. She was very surprised when she did the calculations, & Jonathan said later he wished she hadn’t said anything until after. We met back with the doctor in the room & he asked if I had a game plan in mind. I told him I’d really like to ride it out if that was okay, so he scheduled me to come in the following Tuesday and said he hoped I wouldn’t make it to then. He was very nice & Jonathan liked him a lot.

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That night we ate an early dinner at Provino’s. I got eggplant parmesean and then we went to Home Depot with the boys. I had a couple of good contractions. Only like 2-3, but they were good ones!

Tuesday 2/21:

I spent the morning walking the mall with mom, Presley and the boys. When we were getting ready to leave for my appointment (which was at 2 pm), I finally had 2 big contractions. Only 2, but I was thankful for them & they left me feeling really excited and optimistic.

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My appointment was at 2 pm. I was 41 + 1 at this appointment. When the nurse first came in to take my blood pressure, she dropped the BP cuff & it broke so she had to get a different one. When she came back in the second time, she couldn’t get the little puffer thing to work right at first, and I also had on a sweater that was probably a little too thick. She looked at me a little nervous after she took it. She tried the other arm immediately after and said it was 144/88. My BP typically runs around 96/62, so that would be CRAZY high for me. I felt good, wasn’t dizzy or having headaches or blurred vision. I didn’t really feel nervous, so I felt like in my gut that wasn’t right. When the doctor came in, I asked her if there was any way it was wrong and we could recheck it. She seemed like she might have thought I was in denial a little bit. She said they were going to have to probably induce me the next day at the very latest with my BP running that high because my body wasn’t tolerating it anymore and we needed to get baby out. She told me she’d let me keep going till 41+3 (our practice’s “cutoff” since risks start going up pretty significantly at that point) if I was fine, but my body was obviously telling me it was time. I pretty much begged her to let me retake it after they checked me because I KNEW there was no way that was right.  I also asked her to sweep my membranes. Baby’s heart rate was in the mid 140s and sounded strong. I was measuring right at 40 weeks. She said my cervix was a very soft 1, maybe even a 2, and she worked to “stir things up.”  A different nurse was taking care of us now & she was super sweet. She took my BP again with the machine (& my sweater off) and this time it was 120/77. MUCH better! (And this was after talk of induction, checking me, etc.) Next we did the non-stress test and I asked if I could sit up more this time. They agreed if they could get a good read on his heart rate, which we did. I stayed on the monitor for what felt like forever. For at least 30 minutes of the time he was solid in the 140s-150s, but when he would move, the monitor would lose signal so it would jump around. It was showing a few contractions. Since they lost signal so many times (even for short periods) because of his movement, they wanted to do an ultrasound. By this time, I’d been at the office for over 2 hours and hadn’t eaten in about 4 hours. When we went in, I knew he was going to be asleep. Sure enough, he wasn’t moving much at first and she sounded nervous about it. She started poking him trying to get him to wake up, and of course he did and started moving very well so she sounded totally relieved. She was able to see his little lungs working and practicing breathing. My fluid was at a 9 this time, which is still decent for this point in pregnancy. She went and told the doctor the results, and they agreed to let me wait till Thursday morning. They gave me a card & piece of paper. We were both pretty happy to get out of there & get home. The worst part of the whole thing is that the rooms are NOT sound proof at all, so you can hear everybody’s business and hear the doctors talking to one another. I overheard a few things I wish I hadn’t, but they were just confirmation for me exactly why I was fighting to wait to have the baby.

I had contractions the rest of the evening when we left there (we went to dinner and the grocery store with my parents) and I was hoping they’d pick up and I’d go into labor. Unfortunately they stopped when I went to bed, but I was thankful for a good night’s rest.

Wednesday 2/22: 40 +2, set to go in the morning. Decided to swing by the office in the morning about 9:45 am for the midwife to try sweeping my membranes. It was not comfortable, but not as bad as I was expecting. My blood pressure a little high so I went to pharmacy 2x later that day to check it and it was normal (100/70 the second time). No contractions all day – took the boys to the cutest little indoor playground place & they had a blast. Tried to take a nap that afternoon but couldn’t. Lost some of the mucus plug around 8 pm and finally started having some contractions around 9 pm. Not super consistent or painful, but they are doing some work. I am praying they pick up and take over! I know for sure I am in early labor, but praying it turns into active labor ASAP.

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During all of this time, I tried every “natural method of inducing labor” you could think of! Walking, pineapple, reflexology, massage, sex, eggplant parmesan, spicy food, acupuncture, bumpy car ride, foot massage. Nothing worked for me, just like it didn’t with Kade. I thought I learned my lesson with him that they come in the Lord’s timing, but I was desperate, so figured it was worth a shot. And let’s be honest, I enjoyed most of them anyway!

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Off to meet our baby unless he makes an appearance on his own before morning…

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(P.S. We ate Chinese with mom for the first time in YEARS, and this was my fortune. Funny, huh?)

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