Good news #1: We saw the midwife Friday and she checked my hematocrit (iron) levels. They are up from 9.5 to 11.9. Much better! I'm still going to be diligent about eating lots of meat and taking my Floradix but just knowing I'm out of the official anemic zone is a huge relief.
Good news #2: She didn't check me this week but she did last week and I'm 90% effaced and ~3.5-4 centimeters dilated. This is a good sign and points to my having a quick labor!
Bad news: I'm still pregnant and getting exponentially more uncomfortable by the day. And whatever the good news #2 says about my potential for a quick labor once it starts, it says pretty much nothing about when it will start. I've had periods of 1-2 hours with contractions coming regularly but just about when I think I should maybe start timing then, they go away. I told Craig that at this rate I will be having a 48 hr labor, just in 2 hr increments. Intellectually, I don't actually mind because I know my body is preparing and this way I at least get to rest in between and sleep at night but it is doing roller coasters with my emotions. It's tricky because I'm supposed to ignore them but not too much since my midwife doesn't want me to wait to call her as much as she would want most first time moms too. The easiest thing for me to do is just go try to take a nap. I figure if I can sleep through them, it's to early to call her. And so far, I've been right.
Well, that all sounds pretty exciting to me. Contractions! That's a big deal!
ReplyDeleteI'm praying for you! Know that (and I'm sure you do) one of these times you most certainly will not be able to sleep through them...and the midwife will be called..and a baby will have a birthday!
ReplyDeleteAs a mama with unrelentless prodromal labor experience, I can relate. I know it really works on your mental state! It's always better when you don't have to go off to the hospital..cuts out all that worry about when to leave, how to know, etc.
You are doing great, and it's wonderful you are focusing on the positive of being able to rest a bit. Good job on the hematocrit! It's always a blessing for energy and post partum recovery, to have nice high iron levles! Keep up the Floradix, and feel free to add in some alfalfa and chlorophyll if you aren't already!
God Bless!
Hang in there! My mom claims she was in labor with my baby brother for two weeks because she had off and on contractions for that long.
ReplyDeleteFortunately none of my girls have done that to me. ;)
Rest while you can. Praying for and thinking of you!
Andrea - Thanks for the reminder about Alfalfa. My pregnancy tea recipe has quite a bit of it but I've been slacking off. I need to make up a fresh batch and start drinking!
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