40 Weeks

Today is the due date and it has come and almost gone with no excitement.  We slept in until noon today and Ryun played video games all afternoon while I spent a few hours taking a bath.  Tonight we hung out with friends, Michele, Kaci & Jeremy.  It has been a very low-key day.

This past week wasn’t too busy either.  Mom and Dad left on Tuesday morning.  Later that day I had my prenatal appointment with Maureen.  I am now 4cm dilated and 70% effaced. 

Ryun and I went out for supper at Red Lobster on New Year’s Eve.  That was about the extent of our partying.  :)  We’ve spent a lot of our evenings trying to help the baby turn.  She is head down and engaged, but she is posterior and the optimal position is anterior.  See www.spinningbabies.com.  There are certain exercises that are supposed to encourage the baby to turn.  I don’t think she’s budged an inch yet!  :)

On New Year’s Day we went out for a late breakfast with Kaci and Jeremy to the Uptowner Grill on Grand. 

Ryun set up the birthing tub a couple weeks ago to make sure he knew how it worked. 

How your baby's growing:

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.
See what your baby looks like this week.

How your life's changing:

After months of anticipation, your due date rolls around, and... you're still pregnant. It's a frustrating, but common, situation in which to find yourself. You may not be as late as you think, especially if you're relying solely on a due date calculated from the day of your last period because sometimes women ovulate later than expected. Even with reliable dating, some women have prolonged pregnancies for no apparent reason.

You still have a couple of weeks before you'll be considered "post-term." But to be sure your baby is still thriving, your practitioner will schedule you for testing to keep an eye on her if your pregnancy continues.

You may have a biophysical profile (BPP), which consists of an ultrasound to look at your baby's overall movements, breathing movements (movement of her chest muscles and diaphragm), and muscle tone (whether she opens and closes her hand or extends and then flexes her limbs), as well as the amount of amniotic fluid that surrounds her (important because it's a reflection of how well the placenta is supporting your baby).

Fetal heart rate monitoring (called a nonstress test or NST) will generally be done as well — by itself or as part of the BPP. Or, you may have what's known as a modified BPP, which consists of an NST and an ultrasound to assess the amount of amniotic fluid.

If the fetal testing isn't reassuring — the amniotic fluid level is too low, for example — you'll be induced. If there's a serious, urgent problem, you may have an immediate c-section.