38 Week Check-up

Brian and I went in for our 38 week check-up today. Nothing much new to report though.

Here are the stats:

• Fetal Heart Beat = 148 bpm
• No weight change - Still at 10 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight
• Blood pressure = 102/50
• Cervix is closed :(
• Couldn't check effacement because of closed cervix
• Fetal position is good :)
  
• The head is at station -1 (almost fully engaged - more on this below)

In our discussion with our midwife, Nell, she was impressed by the location of the baby's head and said that this could explain my recent sharp pains in the area "down-there". I had to do some research about the stations of the head in the pelvis when I came home, and because I don't have a medical degree, I am going to share with you what I found, instead of trying to explain it...

"When the widest part of the baby's head has settled into the birth canal, it is said to be engaged, or positioned for the second stage of labor. At this point, your contractions may slow to four or five minutes apart and become less intense. Your birth attendant will encourage you to push when each contraction begins and will monitor the baby's “descent” on a regular basis. When the baby's head is even with the lower bones of your pelvis, its position will be recorded as “0” station. As the baby's head continues to move through the birth canal, the stations will be identified as +1, +2, +3, etc., in reference to the baby's progress in centimeters.

The second stage of labor officially begins when the baby's head settles into the upper end of the birth canal, 3 centimeters from the center of the pelvis. When the top of the head reaches the center point, the baby has achieved “0” station. Three centimeters later, the baby has reached the lower end of the birth canal, and delivery is underway. This centimeter-by-centimeter advance can last more than 2 hours—or be over in 15 minutes."
~Information from http://www.healthsquare.com/fgwh/wh1ch26.htm

So, even though my cervix is closed, the head will be fully engaged in the pelvis after one more centimeter (and a few more of those sharp, shooting pains). Of course, none of this means labor is imminent.

Before we left the birthing center, Nell said, make sure you call us when your contractions are 4-5 minutes apart. Our response was, "so even though the cervix is closed, we could still go into labor say, tomorrow?" She said, "Certainly!" So, it could be tomorrow or it could be weeks from now. The good news is, God is in control and Sierra is certainly still enjoying her warm, comfy, watery home. :)

We have our next appointment scheduled for Tuesday, April 1st and I am 99% confident that we will be attending that appointment - Still pregnant! :)

Until then...